Jay Jay? No way. Now, that's not me talking, that's my test group. Whenever I review a children's DVD, I always grab a couple of my kids and have them sit down and watch along with me (just the way the people at PBS say my kids are supposed to watch TV). Well, unfortunately, PBS's Jay Jay the Jet Plane: Jay Jay's Wing Wigglin' Mystery didn't do much for its intended target audience. Aimed primarily at pre-school and early elementary children, Jay Jay failed to register with my youngest children - and it certainly didn't hold my attention, either.

Premiering in 1998 on The Learning Channel, the John Semper-produced Jay Jay the Jet Plane tells the story of little Jay Jay, a jet plane who has many adventures with his extended family of planes and service trucks who call Tarrytown Airport their home. This particular DVD features three episodes from the new Jay Jay Mysteries series, which feature new character Lina, a four-year-old plane who speaks Spanish. CGI animated, the Jay Jay series main goal is educational, with each story structured to teach young viewers either a moral or ethical lesson, along with more concrete activities, such as telling directions on a map or learning how the weather changes.

I can't tell you exactly why Jay Jay the Jet Plane: Jay Jay's Wing Wigglin' Mystery didn't hold my kids' attention; it's difficult to get more than an, "I liked it; it's fun," or "I didn't like it," out of that age group. My youngest son stayed attentive for about ten minutes before peeling off to do something else, while my five-year-old daughter managed to get through one of the episodes before asking to leave. When I inquired why, she said, "Jay Jay is scaring me," and left. So....

I know why I didn't care for Jay Jay the Jet Plane: Jay Jay's Wing Wigglin' Mystery. While the CGI work is okay (I have to agree with my daughter, though: Jay Jay is a little creepy-looking with those blank eyes of his), I found the adventures pretty tame, and mired down too much in the actual lessons, rather than mixing up the learning with the journeys (something that Disney's Little Einsteins does expertly). For example, when one of the lessons is learning about directions on a compass, the visual stays on the map for quite a bit of time. That's fine for older kids, but younger ones start to get restless, especially when the graphics are as dull as they are here in Jay Jay the Jet Plane: Jay Jay's Wing Wigglin' Mystery.

I can't say I was thrilled about the bilingual Lina character, either (my daughter kept asking what was it that she was saying). While I'm all for learning a second language, I'm always slightly amazed at the cartoons that are out today that feature such characters. While the effort to get children acclimated to a second language is indeed admirable, I'm not sure why such efforts need to be in cartoons (I suspect it's another pander to political correctness, because it only seems to be one certain second language that keeps popping up in these cartoons). And if they do need to be in these cartoons, why is the focus always on teaching Spanish words to English-speaking children (such as the popular Dora the Explorer)? The assumption of these shows is that somehow, English speaking children (in a country whose official language is English, after all) are lacking in not knowing Spanish, when it's fairly clear, from most studies on public education in this country, that Spanish-only speaking students (and there are quite a few out there, to say the least) have the most difficulties in traditional schools. I would think such educational efforts in shows like Jay Jay the Jet Plane: Jay Jay's Wing Wigglin' Mystery would be more productive, frankly, if the focus was the reverse: help Spanish-only speaking kids learn English.

As well, I wasn't drawn in by the show's host, Brenda Blue (played by child psychologist Eve Whittle), as I have been with other similar shows (such as Steve on Blue's Clues). Those live segments weren't integrated into the Jay Jay sequences as well as they could be, further distancing me from the program's intent. Overall, it's not that Jay Jay the Jet Plane: Jay Jay's Wing Wigglin' Mystery is an overtly poor show; far from it. It's just that it's a fairly mediocre one, and with an increasing number of quality educational shows out there for kids, you may do better elsewhere.

Here are the 6 episodes of Jay Jay the Jet Plane: Jay Jay's Wing Wigglin' Mystery, as described on the DVD hardcase:

The Mystery of Stars
Jay Jay and Lina are introduced to constellations in the night sky, and discover that by connecting the stars they can turn the night sky into amazing pictures.

The Mystery of Weather
When Montana can't get to Tarrytown on time, Jay Jay and Lina discover that weather changes from place to place, and that several different types of weather are possible - even in the same day.

Jay Jay's Dinosaur Hunt
Jay Jay, Herky, and Tracy love movies and dinosaurs. When they set out to find evidence of a living dinosaur, Jay Jay thinks he has discovered gigantic dinosaur footprints on the Tarrytown runway.

Snuffy and the Colors of Fall
It is almost fall and Jay Jay is disappointed that the leaves have not yet changed color. Snuffy takes it upon himself to cheer Jay Jay up/

Wing Wigglin'
Ever since Jay Jay can remember, he has always done wing wigglin' exercises secretly because he thinks he looks silly. But he learns that everyone does some sort of silly exercise and it is nothing to be ashamed of.

Hide and Seek
Snuffy and Jay Jay lose a game of hide and seek because Snuffy's skywriting leads Tracy and Herky to their hiding place.

The DVD:

The Video:
The full screen video image for Jay Jay the Jet Plane: Jay Jay's Wing Wigglin' Mystery is bright, sharp and colorful, although you will notice some jaggies on your big monitor.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English 2.0 stereo mix is fine, with close-captioning options available.

The Extras:
On your computer, you can access coloring pages (which my kids found way more fun than the actual show), bios on the characters, a parent's information page talking about Jay Jay, and some matching games, that your children might enjoy with your help.

Final Thoughts:
If your children are already fans of Jay Jay the Jet Plane, then they'll no doubt enjoy Jay Jay the Jet Plane: Jay Jay's Wing Wigglin' Mystery. My children had never seen the show, and they weren't too impressed, and neither was I. I suggest a rental first, to see if you like the show, but quite honestly, these shows are on TV all the time, for free.