Pajanimals

Pajanimals is a musical children's television series produced by the Jim Henson Company and Sixteen South Limited. The show centered around the musical adventures of four young animals preparing for bed. The characters were designed by Jeff Muncy and built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
==Series History==
Pajanimals, originally a Henson co-production with 4KIDS Entertainment, premiered on November 2, 2008, in the US (on PBS Kids Sprout). The series originally consisted of ten three-minute segments that aired on a rotating basis.
The shorts were designed to help comfort preschool viewers with bedtime themes and transitional issues such as separating from mom at the end of the day, healthy routines, sleeping through the night and being comfortable with the lights out.
In 2011, an order for new episodes in a half-hour time slot expanded the series to two eleven-minute segments, for a total of 26 broadcast episodes. The episodes debuted in October 2011. Henson and Sprout now co-produced the show with Sixteen South Limited in Northern Ireland.Northern Ireland Screen Since the premiere of these episodes, the original shorts have not aired.
The series aired on Nick Jr. in its co-producing country, the United Kingdom.
The full series focused on issues of more general concern to a young audience, such as nervousness about a dentist's visit, or learning to share comfortably, but retained a backdrop of bedtime rituals.
On July 7, 2012, the show made its broadcast premiere in the US as part of NBC Kids, a Saturday morning programming lineup programmed by Sprout.Sprout press release
==Characters==
Image:Apollo.jpg|Apollo is a purple and lime green dog, and the leader of the gang. He's very interested in space travel and often fantasizes about traveling though space in his own rocket ship. As a testament to this dream, he has the insigna of Project Apollo (the NASA program that landed a man on the moon) over his bed.
Image:Squacky.jpg|Squacky is a very excitable blue and yellow duck. He is very hyper, loves to play practical jokes and is often seen bouncing off the walls (literally). He does, however, have a passion for reading, which is one of the only things that helps him settle down. He has a Daffy Duck-esque lisp.
Image:Sweetpea-Sue.jpg|Sweetpea Sue is a pink and orange pony with a Southern accent. She loves nature and the outdoors. She is a bit of a leader type (and possibly Apollo's second-in-command) and can get the other Pajanimals on-track when they want to stay up late at night and play.
Image:Cow-Bella.jpg|CowBella is a pink, purple and white cow with an Italian accent, who sometimes speaks using Italian phrases such as "Buon giorno" or "Mamma mia!" (only in the shorts). She is a very well-mannered cow and loves elegance. She also enjoys playing dress-up. Her name is a pun on the Italian phrase "Ciao bello". In the full-length TV series, she doesn't have an Italian accent.
===Additional Characters (Series)===
*Bedtime Bunny (Donna Kimball) - A bunny who oversees the Land of Hush; she often falls asleep in the middle of conversations.
*Mr. Happy Birthday (Josh Elwell) - A porcupine who lives in Birthday Land and whose job is to oversee the birthdays of all the children in the world; he sometimes inadvertently pops balloons with his quills. He can never remember the collective name of the Pajanimals, referring to them by names such as "Pajalopies."
*Moon (Michael Winsor) - A personification of the moon; the Pajanimals sometimes visit him and he performs the song "I'm Your Light in the Night Sky".
*Jerry Bear (Victor Yerrid) - A friendly bear who lives in the Friendly Forest; he loves to give bear hugs and is always very excited to see the Pajanimals.
*Otis the Owl (Paul Currie) - A very smart owl in the Friendly Forest, he can't help but give a loud hoot when he gets excited.
*Coach Whistler (Paul Currie) - A coach from the Land of Play who is big on team spirit.
*Ellie Octopus (Sarah Lyle) - An octopus who lives under the sea; she loves to give "octopus huggles," but is a bit scared of the Pajanimals at first.
*Edwin the Magician (Paul Currie) - A magician who is always seen in a different job each time the Pajanimals visit him.
*Granny Pearl (Donna Kimball) - A turtle who lives under the sea and enjoys bowling and tap-dancing.
*Hank and Frank (Victor Yerrid and Paul Currie) - Beavers who live in the Land of Built It. They work together to build amazing wood structures.
*Mom and Dad- The off-screen parents of the Pajanimals, heard in voice only. Mom performs the "La La Lullaby" song to help them fall asleep.
==Episodes==
:see w:c:pajanimals:episodes
==Songs==
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The series (and shorts) feature original songs written by Michael and Patty Silversher, with lyrics by Alex Rockwell and Judy Rothman Rofé.
The program's theme song features the Pajanimals and Mom singing about the fact that they are "ready for beddy-bye". Each character is introduced as the song shows them getting ready for bed. The theme song did not air as part of the original shorts, but a modified version, sung only by the mother, is included in the series.
The series features a number of new songs, including "I'm Your Light in the Night Sky" by The Moon, and in some cases repurposed versions of the ones from the original shorts, customized to fit the themes of the series.
==Credits==
:Executive Producers: Halle Stanford, Jeff Muncy, Alex Rockwell, Lisa Henson; Brian Henson (shorts)
:Created by: Jeff Muncy and Alex Rockwell
:Directed by: David Gumpel (shorts)
:Sprout Executive Producer: Andrew Beecham (series)
:Executive in Charge of Production: Lisa O'Brien (series)
:Produced by: Chris Plourde (shorts); Colin Williams (series)
:Music Composed by: Michael and Patty Silversher
:Lyricists: Patty Silversher, Alex Rockwell, Judy Rothman Rofè
:Musical Arrangements/Audio/Post Sound by: Dino Herrmann (shorts)
:Puppeteers:
::shorts: Alice Dinnean, Donna Kimball, John Kennedy, Victor Yerrid
::series: Donna Kimball, Sarah Lyle, Michael Winsor; Victor Yerrid (season 1), Olly Taylor (season 2)
:Puppet Captain: John Kennedy (shorts), Victor Yerrid (series)
:Puppet Wranglers: Marian Keating (shorts); Mike Smith, Anna McCaughtry (series)
:Creative Supervisor: Jason Weber (series)
:Puppets by Jim Henson Creature Shop:
::shorts: Connie Peterson, Rollie Krewson, Tom Newby, Jason Weber
::series, puppet build: Rollie Krewson, Ann Marie Holdgruen, Tom Newby, Tim Legasse, Anney Ozar, Heather Asch, Constance Peterson, Polly Smith
:Character Design: Jeff Muncy (series credit only)
:Assistant Puppeteers: Paul Currie, Lesa Gillespie, Francine Woods (series), Beccy Henderson (series)
:Content/Curriculum Consultants: Sleepy Planet/The Sleepeasy Solution (shorts); Jill Spivack and Jennifer Waldburger (series)
:Vocal Director: Neil Martin (series)
:Story Editor: Alex Rockwell (series)
:Production Designer: Jim Dultz (shorts), Shane Bunting (series)
:Art Department: Nigel Pollock, Lauren Young, Sian Alaw Jones, David Carson, Sarah Speers (series)
:Director of Photography: Dave A. Barrett (shorts), Peter Jones (series)
:Editor: David Gumpel (shorts)
==External links==
* Press release via The Wayback Machine
==Sources==
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Henson Company TV Shows
Category:Sleep