Jim Henson's Pajanimals is a children's TV series produced by 4Kids Entertainment

4Kids Entertainment

4Kids Entertainment is an American film and television production company in bankruptcy since April 2011. It is known for English-dubbing Japanese anime and specializing in the acquisition, production and licensing of children's entertainment around the United States...

 and airing on PBS Kids Sprout

PBS KIDS Sprout

PBS Kids Sprout is a U.S. digital cable television channel, video-on-demand service, and website providing PBS Kids shows and original programming for preschoolers and their families...

. The Pajanimals are characters that were made by the makers of The Muppets

The Muppets

The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference...

 at The Jim Henson Company

The Jim Henson Company

The Jim Henson Company, an American entertainment organization, traces its origins to the founding of Muppets, Inc. in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The Muppets helped the company gain worldwide acclaim in family entertainment for more than four decades...

.

Plot

The show is about the Pajanimals who sing songs about bedtime. The characters are Apollo, Sweet Pea Sue, Squacky, and Cowbella.

Full-Length Series

On April 6, 2011, The Jim Henson Company announced that it is partnering with PBS Kids Sprout and Sixteen South

Sixteen South

Sixteen South Limited is a Belfast, Northern Ireland-based production company that specializes in children's media. Founded in 2007, it is the company behind Sesame Tree, the Northern Irish co-production of Sesame Street and Big City Park...

 (the producer of Sesame Tree

Sesame Tree

Sesame Tree, a version of Sesame Street made entirely in Northern Ireland, is produced by Belfast based production company Sixteen South Television and Sesame Workshop. The first episode aired on BBC Two in Northern Ireland on 5 April 2008 with the first series subsequently airing nationwide on...

), to produce a full-length series of 52x11 episodes (or 26x22) of Pajanimals which is set to debut on October 10, 2011. The full-length TV series introduces some character exclusive to this show who the Pajanimals go for bedtime advice or any other problems.

Characters

• Apollo (performed by John Kennedy
  John Kennedy (puppeteer)
  John Kennedy is a puppeteer who has worked with The Jim Henson Company since 1990. From 1991 until 2003, Kennedy took over Jim Henson's role of Dr. Teeth, after which Bill Barretta took over in 2005. Kennedy has also voiced Kermit the Frog in Disney Cruise Lines.-Characters:* Dr. Teeth * Multiple...
  
  ) - A bossy green and purple dog
  Dog
  The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
  
  .

• Squacky (performed by Victor Yerrid
  Victor Yerrid
  Victor Yerrid is a puppeteer for the Jim Henson Company and has performed Muppet characters in many TV shows, movies, TV commercials. Yerrid is best known in the Muppet World for his work on the online series Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony in which he performed Waldorf along with an...
  
  ) - An energetic and excitable blue and yellow duck
  Duck
  Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
  
  .

• Sweet Pea Sue (performed by Donna Kimball) - A quiet and smart orange pink horse
  Horse
  The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
  
  .

• Cowbella (performed by Alice Dinnean
  Alice Dinnean
  Alice Dinnean-Vernon is a puppeteer and creative writer who works at The Jim Henson Company. Dinnean-Vernon has performed on many children's television shows such as Sesame Street, Bear in the Big Blue House, Cousin Skeeter, and Jack's Big Music Show...
  
  ) - A famous Italian white and purple cow
  Cattle
  Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
  
  .

• Mom - An unseen character who is the mother of the Pajanimals.

• Dad - An unseen character who is the father of the Pajanimals.

• Bedtime Bunny - A sleepy rabbit
  Rabbit
  Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
  
   who is exclusive to the full-length TV series. She lives in the Land of Hush.

• Jerry Bear
  Bear
  Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
  
  - A bear who is exclusive to the full-length TV series. He lives in the Friendly Forest.

• Moon
  Moon
  The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
  
  - A bespectacled moon in a nightcap who is exclusive to the full-length TV series. The Pajanimals would often go to him for bedtime advice when they ride Apollo's bed to him.

• Mr. Happy Birthday - A porcupine
  Porcupine
  Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...
  
   who is the mascot of all birthdays and is exclusive to the full-length TV series. He lives in Birthday Land. The Pajanimals would occasionally go to him for birthday advice when they ride Sweet Pea Sue's bed to him.

• Ellie Octopus
  Octopus
  The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
  
  - An octopus that lives in the sea and is exclusive to the full-length TV series. In her first appearance in "An Octopus Hug," Sweet Pea Sue was afraid of octopi until she met Ellie. The Pajanimals would often go to her for bedtime advice when they ride Squacky's bed to her.

• Coach Whistler - A walrus
  Walrus
  The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
  
   coach who lives in the Land of Play and is exclusive to the full-length TV series. The Pajanimals would often go to him for advice when they ride Sweet Pea Sue's bed to him.

Shorts

1. Stick to the Plan -
2. Stay in Bed, Put On Your Sleepy Head -
3. I Love to Love My Lovies -
4. How Do I Know It's Morning Time? -
5. Goodnight to Mom -
6. Sleeping Makes Me Feel Alright -
7. What's That Sound -
8. Lights in the Dark -
9. Let's Make Our Bodies Tired -
10. A Scary Dream -
11. La La Lullaby -

Full Episodes

1. Blankie in the Laundry - Squacky's blankie accidentally gets stained and has to be washed overnight. When Squacky doesn't know what to snuggle with while blankie is in the wash, the Pajanimals turn to Bedtime Bunny for help.
2. A Super Sweet Night -
3. Tomorrow is a Brand New Day -
4. Super Squacky -
5. The Not-So Great Outdoors -
6. Dream a Happy Dream -
7. A Colorful Problem -
8. Night Will Sing Us to Sleep -
9. Missing Mom and Dad -
10. Light in the Sky -
11. Home Sweet Home -
12. The Rocket Ride -
13. A Present for Mom -
14. Happy Birthday Sweet Pea Sue -
15. Apollo's Special Day -
16. An Octopus Hug -
17. No Bath for Me -
18. Share Day -
19. Puppy Love - The Pajanimals are given a job by their parents to take care of the dog Fluffy for the next day. When the Pajanimals are unsure of how to take turns taking care of Fluffy, they turn to Coach Whistler for help.

Muppet Performers

• Alice Dinnean
  Alice Dinnean
  Alice Dinnean-Vernon is a puppeteer and creative writer who works at The Jim Henson Company. Dinnean-Vernon has performed on many children's television shows such as Sesame Street, Bear in the Big Blue House, Cousin Skeeter, and Jack's Big Music Show...
  
   - Cowbella
• John Kennedy
  John Kennedy (puppeteer)
  John Kennedy is a puppeteer who has worked with The Jim Henson Company since 1990. From 1991 until 2003, Kennedy took over Jim Henson's role of Dr. Teeth, after which Bill Barretta took over in 2005. Kennedy has also voiced Kermit the Frog in Disney Cruise Lines.-Characters:* Dr. Teeth * Multiple...
  
   - Apollo
• Donna Kimball - Sweetpea Sue
• Sarah Lyle -
• Michael Winsor -
• Victor Yerrid
  Victor Yerrid
  Victor Yerrid is a puppeteer for the Jim Henson Company and has performed Muppet characters in many TV shows, movies, TV commercials. Yerrid is best known in the Muppet World for his work on the online series Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony in which he performed Waldorf along with an...
  
  - Squacky

Reception

A Common Sense Media review says, "This soothing series combines delightful tales and melodic songs to give families the opportunity to relax and unwind before diving into bedtime routines.

External Links

• Pajanimals at Henson.com
• Pajanimals at Internet Movie Database
• Pajanimals at Muppet Wiki