Jay Jay the Jet Plane facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Jay Jay the Jet Plane |
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| Genre | Children's television series |
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| Theme music composer | Parachute Express |
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| Country of origin | Canada United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 62 (list of episodes) |
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| Producer(s) | David Michel |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
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| Picture format | SDTV 480i |
| Original release | December 13, 1994 – November 25, 2005 |
Jay Jay the Jet Plane is a Canadian-American live-action/CGI-animated musical children's television series based at the fictional Tarrytown Airport, which aired on The Learning Channel, PBS Kids, Qubo, and Smile. The series has 62 episodes, and is centered on a group of aircraft who live in the fictional city of Tarrytown. The episodes are commonly distributed in 25-minute-long (as without commercials) pairs, with one header sequence and one end credits for each pair. Each episode contains one or more songs.
The theme song and the majority of the other songs were written by well-known children's singer/songwriter Stephen Michael Schwartz, and sung by his popular musical group, Parachute Express. Created by David and Deborah Michel, the series is intended to be educational and to teach life and moral lessons to children (and sometimes also to teenagers and parents).
Contents
Characters
The planes and ground vehicles are CGI characters, while the humans are live-action actors.
Relationship words for the airplane characters refer to being in loco parentis for purposes of upbringing, and education, not to biological parenthood. The story says that (some of) the airplane characters were made in factories.
Some of the stories describe characters as doing actions off-screen that would need foldaway arms (e.g. Big Jake digging holes), but those arms are never seen on-screen.
Aircraft characters
- Jay Jay. Male. Child. The small blue (originally brown in the pilot series) jet plane. He is the titular character and main protagonist of the series. Voiced by John William Galt in the pilot series and in the CGI/live-action series, originally Mary Kay Bergman, then replaced with Debi Derryberry after her death.
- Tracy. Female. Child. The small purple jet plane. She has normal hearing, but understands American Sign Language. Voiced by John William Galt in the pilot series and Gina Ribisi in season 1 & season 2, and by Sandy Fox in Season 3 and Jay Jay's Mysteries in the CGI/live-action series.
- Snuffy. Male. Child. The small green propeller monoplane. He is equipped for skywriting. In episode consistency (which depends on the order), one episode says that he has not flown further away from Tarrytown than Lightning Bug Lake, but other episodes show him flying much further; in "Catch the Buzz", Snuffy still has not got rid of his original shyness, but in many other episodes he shows no sign of shyness. Voiced by John William Galt in the pilot series and Gina Ribisi in season 1 & season 2, and by Sandy Fox in Season 3 and Jay Jay's Mysteries in the CGI/live-action series.
- Herky. Male. Child. The small yellow helicopter. In the pilot series, he spoke with a stutter (like famous Looney Tunes character Porky Pig), provided by John William Galt, who voiced all the other characters. In the CGI series, he rolls his "R"s whenever he speaks, and often pronounces stressed "er" as long vocalic "r" ([]), e.g. "I'm Herky" as [aim hki], with a strong high-rising pitch accent on the last "-y". He has skids instead of wheels, and cannot taxi on the ground. Voiced by Mary Kay Bergman in the CGI/live-action series, and replaced with Debi Derryberry after her death.
- Big Jake. Male. Adult. The Silver Lockheed Super Constellation. Cargo carrier. Propeller-driven. Voiced by John William Galt in the pilot series and Chuck Morgan then later Michael Donovan in the CGI/live-action series.
- Savannah. Female. Adult. The silver supersonic airliner. She was made at Savannah, Georgia, hence her name and Southern accent. She somewhat resembles the Concorde supersonic jet. Voiced by John William Galt in the pilot series, and Mary Kay Bergman in the CGI/live-action series, and later replaced with Debi Derryberry after her death.
- Old Oscar. Male. Senior. The old green biplane (grey in the pilot series). Voiced by John William Galt in the pilot series and Chuck Morgan then later Michael Donovan in the CGI/live-action series.
Ground vehicle characters
- Revvin' Evan. Male. The red fire engine, Cousin of Tuffy. Voiced by Mary Kay Bergman, and replaced with Debi Derryberry after her death.
- Tuffy. Female. The blue and orange tow truck, Cousin of Revvin Evan; has a speech impediment. Voiced by Sandy Fox.
Human characters
- Brenda Blue: Woman in blue clothing and usually wears a red cap or a blue cap. In charge of the airport, and is the ace mechanic. She does not use the airport's control tower but communicates with the planes by a portable two-way radio from the ground. Voiced by John William Galt in the pilot series and played by Eve Whittle in the US version and Vanessa Stacey in the UK version of the CGI/live-action series.
- Mrs. Blue: Brenda Blue's mother, who sometimes visits Tarrytown Airport.
- Miss Lee: the deaf and silent librarian.
- E.Z. O'Malley: He founded E.Z. Airlines, and his cousins are Grumpy O'Malley (lives at Dewdrop Farm), Pierre O'Malley (lives in France), and Tex O'Malley (lives in Texas). (Note: here the letter 'Z' is pronounced 'zee', not 'zed'.) Voiced by John William Galt in the pilot series and played by Brian Nahas in the CGI/live-action series.
- Other human characters appear from time to time.
Animal characters
- Breezy: the monarch butterfly.
- Bobby and Billy Bee: as their names suggest, two bees.
- The lightning bugs at Lightning Bug Lake.
- The blue whale in the ocean.
New characters
- Lina: Jay Jay's new friend and Old Oscar's niece from far away.
- Montana: Safari plane.
- Captain Bob: Firefighting plane.
- Peter Petey: Big Truck. Makes funny jokes to his friends. People think he is handsome.
- Solar: Yellow. Long wide wings. 6 propellers driven by electricity from solar panels covering the tops of his wings.
- Truckee: Dump truck.
Mentioned characters
- Fred
- Big John
Places
- Tarrytown is in a hilly area with enough rain to keep the land green, and frost and snow sometimes in the winter; forested mountains and a desert are nearby.
- Tarrytown Airport is where Jay Jay and his friends live, and Brenda Blue works. It is also run by a small firm called E.Z. Airlines.
- Main Hangar
- Kids' Hangar
- Revvin' Evan's Firehouse
- Herky's Hangar
- Observation Tower
- Old Oscar's Barn
- Tarrytown National Park
- Smiling Meadow
- Sandy Landing has a waterfront area.
- Pangabula Island
- Tarrytown Quarry
- Sunshine Desert
- Tippy Toppy Peak
- Frosty Pines
- Whistlin' Pines
- Echo Canyon
- Cherry Tree Lake
- Crystal Cave
- Lightning Bug Lake
- Michael O'Tarry School
- Andy's Donut Shop
- Farmer Dale's Ranch
Sometimes, the planes taxi on the town streets.
Episodes
List of Jay Jay the Jet Plane episodes
Images for kids
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Promotional announcement image, depicting the new design of Jay Jay.
See also
In Spanish: Jay Jay, el avioncito para niños
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Jay Jay the Jet Plane Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.