Ready Jet Go!

Ready Jet Go! is a 2016-2019 American/Canadian CGI animated television series produced by Wind Dancer Films. The series premiered on PBS Kids on February 15, 2016. It was created by animator and Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett,[2] and is produced in cooperation with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The show teaches science and astronomy.[3]

Ready Jet Go!
Genre
Created byCraig Bartlett
Directed by
Starring
Theme music composer
Opening theme"Ready Jet Go!"
Ending theme"Ready Jet Go!" (instrumental)
Composer(s)Jim Lang
Country of origin
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes70 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
Editor(s)
  • Ann Hoyt
  • Susan Edumunson
  • Tom Sanders
Production company(s)
DistributorCake Entertainment
Release
Original networkPBS Kids
Original release
  • Series:

February 15, 2016 (2016-02-15) - May 6, 2019 (May 6, 2019)[1]

  • Film:

August 14, 2017 (2017-08-14) - June 17, 2019 (2019-06-17)

External links
Website

The show is aimed at kids ages 3 to 8. On August 17, 2016, PBS Kids announced the renewal of the series for a second season, which premiered on April 2, 2018.[4]

Plot

Jet Propulsion and his family are from the fictional planet Bortron 7 which orbits around a red dwarf called Bortron. They live at Boxwood Terrace in Washington, [5] where they study human customs and Earth environments for a travel guide. Jet has made friends with neighborhood kids, including Sydney, Mindy, and Sean, whose parents work at the nearby Deep Space Array. The Propulsions' car turns into a flying saucer, which they frequently use to take the older kids into space. Their alien identities are known to Sean, Mindy, and Sydney, but they otherwise make some effort to conceal their origin. As of early June 2016, it's unclear whether anyone else knows who they really are.

At the end of each episode, scientist Amy Mainzer (also called Astronomer Amy) hosts educational interstitial segments: the segments are not included in the export version.

Episodes
Main article: List of Ready Jet Go! episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
140February 15, 2016 (2016-02-15)February 6, 2018 (2018-02-06)
230April 2, 2018 (2018-04-02)May 6, 2019 (2019-05-06)

Characters
Main article: List of Ready Jet Go! characters
  • Jet Propulsion[6] (voiced by Ashleigh Ball)[7] is the title character of the show and is a humanoid alien. He has red hair and can stretch his body, as his parents can. He is excitable, energetic, and goofy. He is tall for his age. Jet is 63 years old in Bortronian years, as revealed in "Earthday Birthday". He was instantly popular with the other children the moment he arrived on Earth. He sees the mundane world as a vast and exciting place, and even thinks that words are exciting, such as "surprise", claiming it to be a funny Earth word. He is named after the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.[8] He is shown to be extremely kind, even to people who are mean to him, such as Mitchell. He possibly likes Sydney, because he danced with her in "How Come the Moon Changes Shape?", and is shown to possibly like Sean in "Back to Bortron 7".
  • Sunspot[9] Propulsion[10] is the Propulsion family pet. He is described as a dog or cat to "Earthies" not in the know. Sunspot has the ears of a rabbit, the body of a kangaroo, and the tail of a raccoon or a fox. He plays concertina, electric guitar, bugle, pan pipes, and drums. Sunspot is silly and likes to play. His status as a mere "pet" may be somewhat of a put-on: He knows how to read, can talk and sing,[11] and can follow conversations, but often seems confused about what behaviors are expected from a pet. He often functions as a deus ex machina, figuring out what is going on and what needs to be done and then conveying that information to one or more of the children. Carrot and Jet both realize there's more to Sunspot than the obvious, as evidenced by a conversation in "The Greatest Canyon": Carrot: "You ever get the idea there's something he's not telling us?" Jet: "All the time, Dad. All the time."
  • Carrot[12] Propulsion (voiced by Kyle Rideout)[7] is Jet's father. His name from his home planet includes the sound of an elephant trumpeting and a parrot squawking. He tends to be goofy, like Jet. He often stays home while Celery takes the kids on adventures into outer space, as he doesn't really like going in the flying saucer. Carrot often cooks wacky dishes such as deep-fried lollipops.
  • Celery[13] Propulsion (voiced by Meg Roe)[7] is Jet's mother. Celery is smart and often takes the kids to space. Her name from her home planet includes the sounds of banging, buzzing, and clanging. She normally drives the family vehicle, as Carrot's driving makes her nervous. She likes racing against her brother, Zucchini.
  • Face 9000 (voiced by Brian Drummond)[7] is a computer. He is a cyan face with blue facial features projected from a small, round ball. He has a younger brother, Face 9001. Face 9000 knows everything about science, and often pops up to answer the kids' science questions. In "Face on the Fritz", he gets an upgrade. He has a tendency to get jealous easily.

Songs

Ready Jet Go! has many songs; some have no lyrics. The bottom ones do not have lyrics.

  1. Ready Jet Go! Theme Song[14]
  2. Commander Cressida Theme[15]
  3. How Come The Moon Has Craters?[16]
  4. Night of a Bazillion Stars[17]
  5. The Scientific Method Song[18]
  6. The Solar System Song[19]
  7. Venus! (Earth's Broiling Hot Twin)[20]
  8. Tiny Blue Dot[20]
  9. Intergalactic Travel Writers
  10. The Milky Way
  11. What Goes Up (Must Come Down)
  12. Enceladus vs. Europa
  13. Computers[21]
  14. Let's Fly Our Little Saucer to the Moon
  15. The 3-Part Bortronian Meal
  16. My Name is Mindy
  17. Try Again
  18. Beep's a Rovin' Superstar
  19. Cooking with Jet (no lyrics)
  20. Asteroid Belt (no lyrics)
  21. Building Boogie (no lyrics)
  22. Real Bortronian Deal
  23. Bortronian Is What I Am!
  24. My Name is Jet
  25. Lone Star!
  26. I'm Not Afraid of Big Ideas
  27. A Scientific Town
  28. Is Your Planet Like My Planet?
  29. Take-off Ditty
  30. There's No Planet Like My Planet
  31. The Bortron Solar System Song
  32. That's How We Roll on Bortron 7
  33. Just Add Water
  34. It's a Neptune Kind of Day!
  35. Earthday Birthday
  36. You're Never Too Big for a Lullaby
  37. Dear Santa, From Little Billy
  38. Mindy's Toy-Building Ditty
  39. Solar System Saucer-Sleigh
  40. The Spirit of Christmas
  41. Dear Little Frozen Pluto
  42. A Star is Born!
  43. I'm Finally Five!
  44. The Outer Planets Song
  45. Ice Skating in July
  46. Heliocentric Ditty
  47. Total Eclipse of the Sun
  48. Space Racin'
  49. Grow Plant, Grow!
  50. Engineering Song
  51. Potatoes on Mars Medley
  52. Every Day is Earth Day
  53. The Super Saucer Song

Reception

Ratings

The series has gained 22 million viewers, according to PBS, including 7.6 million on broadcast television. The series has also been streamed over 37 million times on the PBS Kids website and app.

Critical reception

Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media rated it a 5/5, saying "Thoroughly engaging and packed with educational content, this exceptional series is a fun way for kids to learn about science and astronomy. Jet's excitement for the human experience is matched only by Sean and Sydney's eagerness to learn all about outer space; put the three of them together, and it's a true celebration of the joy of discovery. Whether it's executing a rescue mission for a Mars rover or combining daily chores with experiments in force, Jet and his friends have a lot to teach kids through their own experiences."

Gina Catanzarite of Parent's Choice said "Although the vocabulary and science explanations may be beyond the scope of the youngest viewers, the premise, characters, interesting art direction and upbeat action should hold their attention. Older kids are more likely to grasp the facts and even if they don't remember them all, Ready Jet Go! will at the very least inspire curiosity, and plenty of questions when they take the time to gaze up at the skies above them."[22]

Awards and nominations
  • The series was awarded a Parents' Choice Silver Honor.[22]
  • The series was awarded a Common Sense Seal by Common Sense Media.[24]
  • Jaeda Lily Miller was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her performance as Mindy[25]

Games

PBS Kids and Two Moos created ten online games based on the show

  1. Sydney's Astro-Tracker[26]
  2. Mindy's Constellation Exploration[27]
  3. Sean's Rescue Quest[28]
  4. Jet's Planet Pinball
  5. Jet's Rocket Ship Creator
  6. Mission Earth
  7. Mindy's Moonball
  8. Jet's Bot Builder
  9. Rover Maker[29]
  10. Cooking School[30]

Also on iTunes:

  1. Space Explorer[31] released 7 April 2016

Parodies and spoofs/usage with other shows

Usage with other shows

In "Mindy's Weather Report" (15b), an image for Dinosaur Train, another PBS Kids series and also created by Bartlett, can be seen when Sunspot flips over the channels on Face. A second of the theme song can be heard.

Parodies and spoofs

In the same aforementioned episode, The Real House Pets of Bortron 7, a spoof of The Real Housewives is on the channel Sunspot finds on the TV on Face 9000.

gollark: I don't think that would work if they actually print the error instead of just erroring.
gollark: I assume there's caching taking place.
gollark: LDD made disknet.
gollark: But are an even hackier hack, arguably.
gollark: Disks would work, yes.

References
  1. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2630058487015833&id=353694604652244&anchor_reactions=true
  2. "Ready Jet Go! - PBS KIDS". Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  3. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 491. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  4. "READY JET GO! Season Two Blasts Off April 2 on PBS With Girl-Empowering Episodes". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  5. https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/tv/seattle-native-returns-to-the-small-screen-with-ready-jet-go/
  6. "Jet Propulsion" (PDF). Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  8. "Ready Jet Go! - PBS KIDS". Pbskids.org. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  9. "Sunspot" (PDF). Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  10. "Eye in the Sky". Ready Jet Go!. Space Scout Sean Rafferty reporting for duty .. I'm here to pick up Sunspot Propulsion for his first official Space Scout event.
  11. "Sunspot Talking". Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  12. "Carrot" (PDF). Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  13. "Celery" (PDF). Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  14. "Ready Jet Go! Song" (PDF). Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  15. "Commander Cressida Theme" (PDF). Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  16. "How Come the Moon Has Craters" (PDF). Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  17. "Night of a Bazillion Stars" (PDF). Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  18. "The Scientific Method Song" (PDF). Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  19. "The Solar System Song" (PDF). Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  20. "Tiny Blue Dot". Ready Jet Go.
  21. "Face on the Fritz". Ready Jet Go.
  24. "TV Reviews - Kids TV - Common Sense Media". Commonsensemedia.org. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  26. "Ready Jet Go! . Games . Sydney's Astro Tracker - PBS KIDS". Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  27. "Ready Jet Go! . Games . Mindy's Constellation Exploration - PBS KIDS". Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  28. "Ready Jet Go! . Games . Sean's Rescue Quest - PBS KIDS". Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  29. "Ready Jet Go! . Games . Rover Maker - PBS KIDS". Pbskids.org.
  30. "Ready Jet Go!. Games. Cooking School - PBS KIDS". Pbskids.org.
  31. "Ready Jet Go! Space Explorer on the App Store". Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
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