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Jay Jay The Jet Plane - Supersonic Pals
Columbia/Tri-Star // Unrated // April 23, 2002
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Jay Jay the Jet Plane is a PBS kids series that mimics the living vehicles of past popular series such as Thomas the Tank Engine. Aimed you kids and toddlers, the show is a mix of colorful computer animation, a live-action mechanic, and stories with the morals you would expect from a kids show. The basic group of four planes and helicopters live in Tarrytown, working at the airport, aided by the local mechanic Brenda.
For those not familiar with the colorful bunch, the group has several members. Jay Jay the Jet Plane is the 6-year old blue jet for which the series is named, but rarely is he the focus of the series. More often than not the series focuses on one of the following friends. Herky the Helicopter is the rescue chopper that talks by rolling his R's and is always getting into trouble because of his adventurous nature. Snuffy the Skywriter is the youngest airplane in the airport. Because of this, he's often the focus and is used to learn basic ideas and concepts like opposites. Tracy is the pink girl jet that's the same age as Jay Jay. Like the others she has a lot to learn and is the most excited when it comes to flying. Brenda Blue is the mechanic at the airport that often dispenses advice and interacts with the planes in most episodes. Other characters like Big Jake, Old Oscar and Supersonic Savannah round out the supporting cast and appear occasionally to teach the younger ones a lesson.
Jay Jay is a great kids show that is full of bright animation and important little lessons that are taught in an easy to understand way. More often than not the little planes themselves figure out what they've done wrong or what they need to do and only turn to the adults for confirmation. Rather than being handed the solution they are encouraged to solve the problem and think independently. Occasionally the jets need help and the "adults" of the series always lend a hand. Instead of reprimanding them for what they've done wrong, the littler planes always speak up and recognize what caused the problem in the first place. The show is full of subtle ways to teach little ones to think and be responsible for themselves, but not to be afraid or ashamed to ask for help when needed.
This specific disc, Supersonic Pals, has more lessons in life and educational areas. The planes learn about different colors as Snuffy tries to pick his favorite color in order to be like the rest of the planes. In "Super Loop-De-Loop" Oscar and Jay Jay learn a complicated trick to impress one of Oscar's old friends. When the friend arrives, she tells them that she'd rather see safe them than see their trick. In "Brenda's Mother's Day" the planes learn about what mothers day means when Brenda's mother makes a surprise first visit to Tarrytown and the group learns that trying too hard can be worse than letting first impressions speak for themselves. "Tuffy the Tiny Tow-Truck" introduces the annoyingly voiced cousin of Revvin' Evan the fire engine. Evan leaves his cousin with the planes and they agree to help her learn to tow a real plane. While testing their limits the groups learns how important it is to never give up when you believe you can do something. Finally, in "Snuffy's Birthday Surprise" the snowman Jack Frosty, from an earlier episode, makes a reappearance. Snuffy can't decide what he wants for his birthday, even after asking everyone in Tarrytown. He realizes with the others help that the answer was there all of the time.
As a whole, the episodes are entertaining and educational. As I said above, they're not heavy handed in their methods and they allow the little planes to make their own decisions and realizations. Some of the animation is repetitive at times, but overall it's way better than some of the other shows on television and much better produced. Like any good children's show, the entire cast is presented as equals, while they all excel at one particular task. The inclusion of the female head mechanic is another nice touch in letting kids see that they can be anything they want to be.
The Video: Bright colors and rich saturation are everywhere in this disc. The computer animation makes for a wonderful source and it shows. Everything is bright enough to catch even the youngest eye, but nothing is annoyingly colored or overdone. The transfer is near flawless. Only a few moments of definition loss are present and it's likely from the original and not the transfer.
The Audio: The Dolby surround mix is bright and crisp and never overwhelming. Audio is often overlooked in children's titles to a fault. Poorly mixed audio can cause moments of loudness and low vocals, which are annoying to older viewers and could be problematic to younger ones. Thankfully everything is mixed perfectly and the levels are constant throughout.
Extras: The standard extras are here for a child's title. There are four sing-along songs included, as well as two "Think About" moments. These are short presentations on things like rocks and opposites that work with the episodes on the disc. Spanish audio and English subtitles are included, and so are facts about Tarrytown and DVD-ROM web links.
Overall: Jay Jay is one of the more enjoyable kids titles I've had the pleasure of watching recently. It is educational, but not condescending and the characters are unique and not annoying. It seems the trend is to get characters to be overly cute (Barney / Elmo) to get children interested and that's not always necessary. The little planes and adults are all individuals that work together when needed and teach without looking down upon each other. What more could you ask for?
For those not familiar with the colorful bunch, the group has several members. Jay Jay the Jet Plane is the 6-year old blue jet for which the series is named, but rarely is he the focus of the series. More often than not the series focuses on one of the following friends. Herky the Helicopter is the rescue chopper that talks by rolling his R's and is always getting into trouble because of his adventurous nature. Snuffy the Skywriter is the youngest airplane in the airport. Because of this, he's often the focus and is used to learn basic ideas and concepts like opposites. Tracy is the pink girl jet that's the same age as Jay Jay. Like the others she has a lot to learn and is the most excited when it comes to flying. Brenda Blue is the mechanic at the airport that often dispenses advice and interacts with the planes in most episodes. Other characters like Big Jake, Old Oscar and Supersonic Savannah round out the supporting cast and appear occasionally to teach the younger ones a lesson.
Jay Jay is a great kids show that is full of bright animation and important little lessons that are taught in an easy to understand way. More often than not the little planes themselves figure out what they've done wrong or what they need to do and only turn to the adults for confirmation. Rather than being handed the solution they are encouraged to solve the problem and think independently. Occasionally the jets need help and the "adults" of the series always lend a hand. Instead of reprimanding them for what they've done wrong, the littler planes always speak up and recognize what caused the problem in the first place. The show is full of subtle ways to teach little ones to think and be responsible for themselves, but not to be afraid or ashamed to ask for help when needed.
This specific disc, Supersonic Pals, has more lessons in life and educational areas. The planes learn about different colors as Snuffy tries to pick his favorite color in order to be like the rest of the planes. In "Super Loop-De-Loop" Oscar and Jay Jay learn a complicated trick to impress one of Oscar's old friends. When the friend arrives, she tells them that she'd rather see safe them than see their trick. In "Brenda's Mother's Day" the planes learn about what mothers day means when Brenda's mother makes a surprise first visit to Tarrytown and the group learns that trying too hard can be worse than letting first impressions speak for themselves. "Tuffy the Tiny Tow-Truck" introduces the annoyingly voiced cousin of Revvin' Evan the fire engine. Evan leaves his cousin with the planes and they agree to help her learn to tow a real plane. While testing their limits the groups learns how important it is to never give up when you believe you can do something. Finally, in "Snuffy's Birthday Surprise" the snowman Jack Frosty, from an earlier episode, makes a reappearance. Snuffy can't decide what he wants for his birthday, even after asking everyone in Tarrytown. He realizes with the others help that the answer was there all of the time.
As a whole, the episodes are entertaining and educational. As I said above, they're not heavy handed in their methods and they allow the little planes to make their own decisions and realizations. Some of the animation is repetitive at times, but overall it's way better than some of the other shows on television and much better produced. Like any good children's show, the entire cast is presented as equals, while they all excel at one particular task. The inclusion of the female head mechanic is another nice touch in letting kids see that they can be anything they want to be.
The Video: Bright colors and rich saturation are everywhere in this disc. The computer animation makes for a wonderful source and it shows. Everything is bright enough to catch even the youngest eye, but nothing is annoyingly colored or overdone. The transfer is near flawless. Only a few moments of definition loss are present and it's likely from the original and not the transfer.
The Audio: The Dolby surround mix is bright and crisp and never overwhelming. Audio is often overlooked in children's titles to a fault. Poorly mixed audio can cause moments of loudness and low vocals, which are annoying to older viewers and could be problematic to younger ones. Thankfully everything is mixed perfectly and the levels are constant throughout.
Extras: The standard extras are here for a child's title. There are four sing-along songs included, as well as two "Think About" moments. These are short presentations on things like rocks and opposites that work with the episodes on the disc. Spanish audio and English subtitles are included, and so are facts about Tarrytown and DVD-ROM web links.
Overall: Jay Jay is one of the more enjoyable kids titles I've had the pleasure of watching recently. It is educational, but not condescending and the characters are unique and not annoying. It seems the trend is to get characters to be overly cute (Barney / Elmo) to get children interested and that's not always necessary. The little planes and adults are all individuals that work together when needed and teach without looking down upon each other. What more could you ask for?
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