Jay Jay The Jet Plane - Adventures in Learning

Starring:Jennifer Delora, Eve Whittle, Sandy Fox, Mary Kay Bergman
Director: Chuck Cirino
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

One of the best television shows for the toddler crowd, Jay Jay the Jet Plane proves, just as Toy Story did, that computer animation is hardly daunting when characters and stories are thoroughly engaging. Adventures in Learning gathers five short episodes, each featuring Jay Jay, the diminutive delivery plane with a (more or less) human face. "A Trip to Skylandia" finds the airborne hero doubting the existence of a castle in the clouds (as drawn by best friend Tuffy), until he's swept into Tuffy's imaginative vision. "Jay Jay's Butterfly Adventure" concerns loving efforts to find a winter home for a winged pal, and "Tuffy's Trip to Pangabula" features an exciting race to transport a tow truck across an ocean. While visually splendid, these tales are finally about the spirit of adventure, the virtue of persistence, and open minds. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

You don't have to see things in order to believe in them? Jay Jay may not be a good choice for secular families........2006-12-12

The Skylandia episode makes clear that there are underlying messages in Jay Jay supporting religious faith. The kinds of messages I found in this show would help open up any child to any manner of theological, mystical, new agey nonsense. If you would prefer your toddler learn critical thinking, then avoid this show. I had no idea there were religious overtones in this show until watching this episode, then searching for "Jay Jay Religious" on a search engine.

The Skylandia episode discusses a castle in the sky, and immediately when Jay Jay says "I don't believe in castles in the sky because I've never seen one", he is asked "Do you have to see something to believe in it?" I would actually hope I teach my children to say "why yes, I do!".

The final words of this episode were "And that's when Jay Jay learned not to close his mind on things he couldn't see, and if you believe in something in your heart, it's true." Why not just show your 2 year old an episode of the X-files and tell him Bigfoot and Alien Abductions are real, too?

This show is probably great for people raising their child to believe in their own faith, but as a secular parent and critical thinker I find this to be a poor message to send to impressional young toddlers. If my child believes in his heart that he will fly if he jumps off the roof, it's true? There are much better shows for kids this age that send a message to kids to think like Blues Clues.

great for little ones.......2006-02-01

My grandson just loves Jay Jay and his crew. We have all the Jay Jay's now.

Great for the little ones....but only for a short time........2005-08-28

My toddler loved these characters...but only for a short time. He has now abandoned Jay Jay for the Teletubbies. Unless your child LOVES Jay Jay on PBS...buy this DVD used because of the possible short lifespan of attention. This is a "once a day" DVD...not one that will be requested "AGAIN" and "AGAIN" and "AGAIN".

Good show for my 2 yr son.......2004-11-07

My son loves the animation shows like bob the builder. I thought I would buy Jay Jay to try something different and he loved it! He sits there going "WEEEEE! WEEEEE!". He now loves planes and "copters" as he calls them

A Mixed Bag.......2004-08-19

My son is 3 and a big fan of Jay Jay the Jet Plane. I purchased this DVD because it has a story we had already seen and liked, Jay Jay and the Magic Books. To those new to Jay Jay the Jet Plane, each episode features computer animated airplanes with human faces. Jay Jay and his friends have the voices of children, and ther are also "adult" planes who offer guidance. Human characters (not animated) also interact with the planes. Every episode features a song.

Unfortunately, after a few viewings of this video, my son became bored with it. Personally, I think the quality of the writing and human character acting is variable. Another disappointment for my son is that Revvin' Evan isn't featured in any of the stories, although he is misleadingly shown on the cover of the disk next to the two Pangabula Island stories. So, I have to explain time after time to my son that Evan isn't in the video.

Here are the stories, and some comments:

TRIP TO SKYLANDIA: Jay Jay chooses faith over logic when a dream about a kingdom in the clouds convinces him that it's real. The plane characters appear in the dream with different names and "costumes." This story seems better suited to one of the Inspirational Jay Jay collections, and is not a good introduction to the series because of the character name changes.

JAY JAY'S BUTTERFLY ADVENTURE: Jay Jay tries to find a winter home for Breezy the Butterfly, only to learn with relief that he already has one. Cute story with some accurate info about monarch butterflies. Brenda Blue is annoyingly dismissive of Jay Jay's questions about Breezy--my only real gripe.

JAY JAY AND THE MAGIC BOOKS: Jay Jay and Tracy spend a rainy day at the library. Jay Jay learns that you can go on an adventure without even leaving home. Both underwater and outer space stories are included, and the featured song is very soothing. The librarian is hearing impaired, so sign language is featured. This is still my son's favorite episode.

TUFFY'S TRIP TO PANGABULA: Tuffy straps on a balloon to fly to Pangabula Island and join his friends. She can't steer so Captain Wentworth and her boat come to the rescue. Tuffy then returns the favor. This episode is marred by the appearance of Mr. Crabby, the first mate to Captain Wentworth. Mr. Crabby is supposed to be like Gilligan, but is more annoying than funny.

TUFFY'S ADVENTURE IN PANGABULA: Tuffy has a difficult time getting around on an island that has no roads. But she saves the day by rescuing the Sparkleberry tree. The premise of a sacred tree that likes to be harvested is a little overdone. The human actor in this story portrays a stereotyped Pacific Islander.

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