Pajanimals

Pajanimals is an original short-form musical series produced by the Jim Henson Company and 4KIDS Entertainment. The series was created for PBS KIDS Sprout's evening block, The Good Night Show. Pajanimals features the musical adventures of four young animals preparing for bed. Pajanimals premiered on November 2, 2008. The song "La La Lullaby" is aired nightly as part of The Good Night Show, while the other segments are aired on a rotating basis.

The 3-minute episodes are 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. Five 10-minute Video-On-Demand companion segments were produced for caregivers, featuring interviews with experts who address common sleep issues for preschoolers.

The characters were designed by Jeff Muncy and built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Brian Henson, Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford serve as executive producers for the series, along with producers Jeff Muncy and Alex Rockwell.

Characters

 * 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.


 * 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.


 * Sweet Pea Sue is a pink and orange pony. She loves nature and the outdoors. She is a bit of a leader type and can get the other Pajanimals on-track when they want to stay up late at night and play.


 * 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!" 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".

Episodes

 * Episode 101: La La Lullaby
 * The Pajanimals sing a soothing lullaby song before laying down for bed.


 * Episode 102: Stick to the Plan
 * Sweetpea Sue helps her fellow Pajanimals to follow the steps in getting ready for bed -- first taking a bath, then brushing their teeth and finally putting on their pajamas.


 * Episode 103: Stay in Bed, Put on Your Sleepy Head
 * Squacky has the squirmies and wants to get out of bed, but his fellow Pajanimals remind him that nighttime is for sleeping.


 * Episode 104: I Love to Love My Lovies
 * The Pajanimals sing about their "lovies" that help them to get to sleep at night.


 * Episode 105: How Do I Know It's Morning Time?
 * Squacky wants to get out of bed and play, but can't because it's not yet morning.


 * Episode 106: Goodnight to Mom
 * The Pajanimals sing fondly of their moms and imagine what they might be doing at night.


 * Episode 107: Sleeping Makes Me Feel Alright
 * The Pajanimals sing a song about how sleeping at night help gives one enough energy for the next day.


 * Episode 108: What's That Sound?
 * When Apollo is bothered by nighttime sounds, his friends help him to hear how the noises can become a soothing lullaby. The Pajanimals sing about sounds they hear at night. Squacky sings about water dripping in the bathroom, Sweetpea Sue sings the wind blowing through the leaves, and Apollo gazes out at the moon singing about the sounds all around them.


 * Episode 109: Lights in the Dark
 * Apollo is afraid of the dark, so his fellow Pajanimals share with him the things that light their way at night. Squacky shows how he makes shadow puppets with his night light, while Sweetpea Sue sings about how the dark help calms and comforts her.


 * Episode 110: Let's Make Our Bodies Tired
 * The Pajanimals do fun exercises to tire themselves out before bedtime - including a song where they "jiggle, jumble and jump".


 * Episode 111: A Scary Dream
 * When Cow Bella has a nightmare, the other Pajanimals try to calm her though song by explaining that it's just a dream, a "story in your head".

Songs
Each episode of the series features an original song. The songs for Pajanimals were written by Michael and Patty Silversher with lyrics by Rockwell and Judy Rothman.

The theme song for the series 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 -- Apollo is looking forward to a goodnight hug, Cow Bella is in bed "snug as a bug", Squacky has picked out a book to share, and Sweetpea Sue is getting ready to put on her pajamas. The program's theme song is not aired on Sprout, but was made freely available online (see "press release" link.) It is also included on the program's soundtrack album.

On August 3, 2009, the soundtrack was released exclusively on Amazon.com The songs were rerecorded for the official soundtrack, featuring additional instrumentals and vocals not heard on the versions of the songs aired on television. Additionally, certain songs were retitled, as follows:


 * Episode 103 - "Sleepy Head"
 * Episode 104 - "Nighttime Playtime"
 * Episode 105 - "Morning Time"
 * Episode 107 - "Ode to Sleep"
 * Episode 108 - "Night Will Sing Us All to Sleep"
 * Episode 110 - "Jiggle Jumble Jump"
 * Episode 111 - "Scary Dream"