Jay Jay

Jay Jay is a small blue (originally brown in the pilot series) jet plane and the main protagonist of the Jay Jay the Jet Plane franchise. Sky Heroes to the Rescue

Bio

Jay Jay is just the right combination of unquenchable curiosity and high-octane energy. He gets excited about new things and there is never a dull moment with Jay Jay. And there is no anything mean-spirited about this young plane (about 6 years old in human terms and is in first grade). He’s as playful, fun-loving, likable, friendly, and outgoing as a kid can be. When it comes to friendships, Jay Jay is true blue.

Jay Jay’s Introduction from the PBS Kids Website

“I’m Jay Jay the Jet Plane! I’m 6 years old, and I like to play with all my friends. Do you like to explore? So do I! There’s always something fun happening in Tarrytown!”

Episode Apperances

Season 1 (1998-1999)

Season 2 (1999-2000)

Season 3 (2001)

Season 4 (2005)

Basis

Jay Jay appears to be based on an Airbus A318.

Voice

Mary Kay Bergman was the first to provide his voice. Debi Derryberry replaced Bergman after her death. Donna Cherry has replaced Derryberry after instituation. Derryberry is most likely to reprise her role in The Reboot.

Appearance

Jay Jay is fair-skinned, has baby blue eyes and freckles. In the model series, Jay Jay used to be brown. Then one day, he got caught in a hail storm and had to be repainted. Harry and Larry, the two farmhands who fixed him up, only had royal blue paint in their barn so that’s what they used. Since “Jay Jay’s Colorful Cover-Up” and the CGI series, he is currently painted royal blue with lighter blue bottom halves on his wings and tailfins, and has two red stripes on either side of his roof. His streams are gold and are outlined with red circles. His wheels are black with silver hubcaps, and held together with gold bolts.

Songs

Catchphrases

“That’s me!” (opening sequence)
“Yippeeeee!” (usually when he is excited or happy)
“Wheeeeee!” (most times; usually when he is in high-energy)
“Wingariffic!”

Instrumental Signifier

In the model series and the main series, the music that accompanies Jay Jay’s appearance is played by the oboe.

Trivia

When the Model Series was first pitched Jay Jay was already blue in the original pilot models; however, because the crew at the time were only using blue screens, they made Jay Jay brown (puce to be exact) for the first tape, then when they got greenscreen for the second tape they made an episode where Jay Jay would turn brown to blue so the change would be authentic
The only episode that Jay Jay did not appear in was “The Merit Badge” despite his cameo in the title card, whereas he appeared for a brief moment, but did not speak in “Snuffy’s Missing Friend”. He also had less than a minute on-screen in “The Great Tarrytown Blackout”.
His good friend is Lina in the mystery season.
In the mystery series, his face model resembles Ellen DeGeneres’ facial appearance.
It is said that when voiced by Derryberry, Jay Jay sounds like Jimmy Neutron from the Nickelodeon show of the same name, Clay from the Playhouse Disney commercials, Tad from LeapFrog and Speck from The Christmas Chronicles 1 and 2, four characters she has voiced.
When voiced by Derryberry, Jay Jay’s singing voice is a bit more strained than his speaking voice. But when Bergman voices him, it altered constantly; sometimes it’s a bit more strained and higher pitched, sometimes it’s less strained without the rasp, and sometimes it’s a little lower pitched, but still gains the rasp.
Jay Jay’s voice gained a slight rasp when Bergman voiced him in the TLC era.
His voice is slightly higher in one step (minus the rasp of his TLC era voice) with a younger, playful tone to match his apparent age, when Derryberry voiced him in the PBS Kids era.
In the mystery season, Jay Jay has the ability to perform non-static body movements, but to more agility than the original CGI series.
In Super Loop De Loop, Oscar mentions that he did a trick before he was born, it is hinted thay Jay Jay was born in 1992 as he is actually six years old in the show.