Jay Jay the Jet Plane

Jay Jay the Jet Plane
Also known as	Jay Jay (for short)
Genre	Children's television series
Created by	David Michel Deborah Michel
Written by	John Semper Eleanor Burian-Mohr
Starring	Eve Whittle (US) Vanessa Stacey (UK) Brian Nahas (UK/US)
Voices of	John William Galt (pilot) Mary Kay Bergman (1998–2000) Debi Derryberry (2001) Gina Ribisi Chuck Morgan Marie Danielle Donna Cherry (2005) Michael Donovan
Narrated by	John William Galt (pilot series) Chuck Morgan (US) Michael Donovan (US) Brian Cant (UK)
Theme music composer	Stephen Michael Schwartz Parachute Express
Opening theme	"Gee, How I Love to Fly" (1994–1996); "Jay Jay the Jet Plane Theme Song" (1998–2005)
Ending theme	"Gee, How I Love to Fly" (Reprise) (1998–2000); "Jay Jay the Jet Plane Theme Song Instrumental" (1998–2005)
Composers	Craig Dobbin Brian Mann
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	62 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	David Michel Bruce D. Johnson William T. Baumann Chris Walker
Producer	David Michel
Running time	25 minutes
Production companies	PorchLight Entertainment Modern Cartoons Wonderwings.com Entertainment Knightscove Family Films
Original release
Network	Direct-to-video (pilot series) TLC (USA; November 2, 1998 – March 14, 2000) PBS Kids (USA; June 11, 2001 – November 25, 2005)
Release	December 13, 1994 (1994-12-13) – November 25, 2005 (2005-11-25)

Jay Jay the Jet Plane is an American live-action/CGI-animated musical children's television series which aired on The Learning Channel, PBS Kids and Smile. The series aired for a total of 4 seasons and has 62 episodes. The series is centered on a group of aircraft who live in the fictional city of Tarrytown and takes place at the Tarrytown Airport. The episodes were commonly distributed in 25-minute-long (without commercials) pairs, with one header sequence and one end credit for each pair. Each episode contains one or more songs.

The theme song and many 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. The series was created by David and Deborah Michel, and was intended to be educational with the goal of teaching life and moral lessons to children.

History

Original Series

Early episodes using physical models ('Pilot Series')

File:Jay Jay's pilot model (1994).jpg

Jay Jay's debut model (1994) as seen on the pilot episode: "Jay Jay's First Flight."

In late 1994, a short live-action series was produced at AMS Production Company in Dallas, Texas, with real model plane characters, and handcrafted human characters; they had the same personalities as in the later series. This original series was narrated similarly to the first twelve seasons of Thomas & Friends, or Theodore Tugboat. Three videos were released: Jay Jay's First Flight in December 1994, Old Oscar Leads the Parade in February 1995, and Tracy's Handy Hideout in October 1996. This original series was narrated by and features the voices of John William Galt. These three were known as the "pilot series".

CGI and live-action-based episodes

On November 2, 1998, the CGI-animated/live-action series premiered on The Learning Channel as part of the Ready Set Learn block. Voice actress Mary Kay Bergman provided the original voice of Jay Jay, Herky, Savannah, and Revvin Evan. After her death, Debi Derryberry and Donna Cherry replaced her.

In 2005, new episodes were produced featuring additional characters, including the red Latina plane Lina. Each episode begins featuring a Jay Jay's Mysteries segment in which Jay Jay and Lina explore such things that may be mysteries to the intended age group, such as how planes fly, and how the five senses are used. The mysteries segment is followed by a story that comes from the original episodes of the series, so in effect, the new series repackages previously broadcast content on the subchannel networks Qubo and Smile. It aired on Channel 5 and Tiny Pop in the UK.

In 2019 Yippee TV became the exclusive streaming service of Jay Jay the Jet Plane.

Reboot

Promotional announcement image, depicting the new design of Jay Jay.

A new reboot of the series titled The New World of Jay Jay the Jet Plane has been confirmed through Trilogy Animation Group's website. Unlike the original series, the characters' faces are completely redesigned, and made to look more cartoony. Like the original series, however, it will be CGI-animated. And will start streaming on Peacock June 20, 2022.

Production

The series was produced by Venice, California based production company Modern Cartoons at their soundstage in Oxnard, California, United States. Unlike Thomas & Friends, this series used a variety of cutting edge animation techniques:

• The backgrounds were miniature sets (usually built on two 4 by 8 feet (1,200 mm × 2,400 mm) sheets of plywood).
• The humans, including Brenda Blue, are live action people and shot in front of a greenscreen.
• The planes were computer models created in PowerAnimator in Seasons 1-2 and Maya in Season 3 and Jay Jay's Mysteries. Models from the pilot series were made for referencing.
• The movement of the planes was recorded by playing out the scene with wood models equipped with magnetic position sensors. The planes had a switch to aid landing and taxiing, due to some minor fluctuations in the magnetic positioning data.
• The planes' faces and lip syncing were done by face tracking, a technique where reflective spots are put on a voice actor's face. The voice track is digitally recorded along with the spot data. Then the face is rendered using a form of parametric animation.
• Head movement and other effects were done by joysticks.

The complex mathematical and CGI issues were solved by Frank Ford Little, PhD.

A number of proprietary software systems were used:

• Data/audio recording and smoothing were done on a Windows machine.
• Daily cuts were done on "Compaq Alpha" computers running a 64-bit version of Windows NT 4.0.

Characters

Starting in the pilot series, every character and model plane is voiced by John William Galt.

The planes and road 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 offscreen that would need foldaway arms (e.g. Big Jake digging holes), but those arms are never seen onscreen.

Aircraft

Young planes

• Jay Jay (voiced originally by Mary Kay Bergman, then replaced by Debi Derryberry after Bergman's death in the CGI/live action series) is a small, blue (originally brown in the pilot series) jet plane who acts as a brother figure. He is six years old. He is the titular character and main protagonist of the series.
• Tracy (voiced by Gina Ribisi in Seasons 1-2, and by Sandy Fox in Season 3 and Jay Jay's Mysteries in the CGI/live-action series) is a small, purple jet plane who is Jay Jay's twin sister and best friend. She has normal hearing, but understands American Sign Language. She is six years old.
• Snuffy (voiced by Gina Ribisi in season 1 and season 2, and by Sandy Fox in Season 3 and Jay Jay's Mysteries in the CGI/live-action series) is a small, green propeller-driven monoplane who is a good friend of Jay Jay and Tracy. 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. He is four years old.
• Herky (originally voiced by Mary Kay Bergman in the CGI/live-action series and later replaced by Debi Dewberry) is a small, yellow helicopter who is Jay Jay's friend. 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. He is four years old.

Adult planes

• Big Jake (voiced by Chuck Morgan then later Michael Donovan in the CGI/live-action series) is a silver, propeller-driven Lockheed Super Constellation cargo carrier while the front half is the inspiration to the Lockheed Electra 10e who acts as a father figure to the young planes. He married Savannah in the last episode of Season 4 and has two daughters with Marjorie: Balahoo and Banachee.
• Savannah (voiced by Mary Kay Bergman in the CGI/live-action series, and later by Debi Dewberry following Bergman's death) is a silver supersonic airliner who acts as a mother figure. She was made at Savannah, Georgia, hence her name and Southern accent. She somewhat resembles the Concorde supersonic jet. She has a twin sister called Marjorie.
• Old Oscar (voiced by Chuck Morgan then later Michael Donovan in the CGI/live-action series) is an old, green (gray in the pilot series) biplane who knows all sorts of flying tricks and acts as a grandfather figure.

Road vehicles

• Revvin' Evan (originally voiced by Mary Kay Bergman and later replaced by Debi Dewberry) is a fire engine and is the cousin of Tuffy.
• Tuffy (voiced by Sandy Fox) is a blue and orange tow truck and is the cousin of Revvin' Evan; has a speech impediment.

Humans

• Brenda Blue (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) is a woman in a blue jumpsuit and usually wears a red cap or a blue cap, as well as a pair of red high top Converse. She is in charge of the airport, and is the airplane mechanic. She does not use the airport's control tower but communicates with the planes by a portable two-way radio from the ground.
• Mrs. Blue is Brenda Blue's mother, who sometimes visits Tarrytown Airport.
• Miss Lee is a librarian who works at the Tarrytown Public Library. She is deaf and cannot speak, as she uses sign language to do so. Tracy and Brenda are able to translate her.
• E.Z. O'Malley (voiced by John William Galt in the pilot series and played by Brian Nahas in the CGI/live-action series) is the founder of E.Z. Airlines, with cousins 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'.)
• Franklin is Tarrytown's clumsy new president who is often seen preparing speeches to impress the citizens (mostly Brenda Blue). He is the owner of Tuffy, Montana and her twin sister Samara. He is played by chilean deputy Frank Sauerbaum.
• Other human characters appear from time to time.

Animals

• Breezy, a monarch butterfly who is good friends with Jay Jay.
• 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, a red, propeller-driven monoplane and Old Oscar's niece from Mexico.
• Montana, a purple and green, propeller-driven safari plane.
• Captain Bob, a firefighting plane.
• Peter Petey, a semi-trailer truck that makes funny jokes to his friends.
• Solar, a yellow, solar-powered monoplane with 6 propellers and long, wide wings covered by solar panels on the tops of the wings.
• Truckee, a dump truck.

Mentioned characters

• Fred, a fire engine.
• Big John, Big Jake's brother.

Places

• Tarrytown is a small town 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 the airport where Jay Jay and his friends live, and Brenda Blue works. It is also run by a small firm called E.Z. Airlines and consists of the following structures:
  • Main Hangar
  • Kids' Hangar
  • Revvin' Evan's Firehouse
  • Herky's Hangar
  • Observation Tower
  • Old Oscar's Barn
• Tarrytown National Park
• Smiling Meado
• 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

Main article: List of Jay Jay the Jet Plane episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired (United States dates)		Original network
			First aired	Last aired
	Pilot series	12	December 13, 1994 (1994-12-13)	October 3, 1995 (1995-10-03)	Direct-to-video
	1	12	November 2, 1998 (1998-11-02)	December 21, 1998 (1998-12-21)	TLC
	2	14	January 4, 1999 (1999-01-04)	March 14, 2000 (2000-03-14)
	3	14	June 11, 2001 (2001-06-11)	July 20, 2001 (2001-07-20)	PBS Kids
	4	10	September 5, 2005 (2005-09-05)	November 25, 2005 (2005-11-25)

Reception

Common Sense Media gave the series a four out of five stars, saying, "Parents need to know that this series offers young fans life lessons such as valuing friends, overcoming shyness, and learning to like yourself. Kids will enjoy the often funny antics of 6-year-old Jay Jay and his friends. Don't be surprised if you catch your preschooler singing along with the show's simple songs."

External links

• Jay Jay the Jet Plane at IMDb