''Bananas in Pyjamas'' is an Australian

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

that first aired on 20 July 1992 on ABC. It has since been syndicated in many countries and dubbed into other languages. In the United States, the "

Pyjamas Pajamas ( US) or pyjamas (Commonwealth) (), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jam-jams, or in South Asia night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as nightwear or while lounging or performing remote work from hom ...

" in the title was modified to reflect the American spelling ''pajamas''. It aired in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

from 1995 to 1997 as a half-hour series, then became a 15-minute show paired with a short-lived 15-minute series ''

The Crayon Box ''The Crayon Box'' is an American children's TV series that was aired in syndication from 1997 to 1998, based on a poem by Shane DeRolf. The show followed '' Bananas in Pajamas'' as part of a 30-minute double-show, with each show being 15 minutes. ...

'', under a 30-minute block produced by Sachs Family Entertainment titled ''Bananas in Pajamas & The Crayon Box''. Additionally, the characters and a scene from the show were featured in the ''Kids for Character'' sequel titled ''Kids for Character: Choices Count''. The pilot episode was ''Pink Mug''. The concept was inspired by the success of the song ''Bananas in Pyjamas'', written by

Carey Blyton Carey Blyton (14 March 1932 – 13 July 2002) was a British composer and writer best known for his song "Bananas in Pyjamas" (1969) - which later became the theme tune for an Australian children's television series - and for his work on ''Docto ...

in 1967, on ''Play School''. This song, which had become a regular item on ''Play School'', became the theme of the new series. The series was revamped in May 2011 as a CGI animated series created by

Southern Star Entertainment Endemol Australia, formerly known as Southern Star Group, Southern Star Productions, Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia and Taft-Hardie Group Pty Ltd, was Australia's largest independent television production and distribution group. On 26 Jul ...

Summary

The main characters are two anthropomorphic

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", disting ...

s named B1 and B2. Other characters include the three

teddy bear A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...

s Amy, Lulu and Morgan, and Rat in a Hat. The bananas, the teddies and Rat in a Hat all live in the same neighbourhood, a

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...

called "Cuddles Avenue". The bananas live next to the beach and serve as beach patrol. The teddies live next to and look after the park. Rat in a Hat works and lives at the community store. The characters enjoy eating "munchy honeycakes" and " yellow jelly".

Production

Inspiration

The characters were inspired by a 1969 song written for children by British composer

(nephew of renowned children's author

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have b ...

). The jaunty song describes (an unspecified number of) bananas in pyjamas chasing teddy bears, with a slight twist at the end where a musical sting emphasises that the bananas like to "catch them unawares". The song was shown on the Australian version of '' Play School'' for many years accompanied by an animation depicting pairs of bananas in blue-and-white striped

pyjamas Pajamas ( US) or pyjamas (Commonwealth) (), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jam-jams, or in South Asia night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as nightwear or while lounging or performing remote work from hom ...

. This led to a "banana" plush toy being created as part of the "toy cast", which formed the basis of the physical appearance of B1 and B2.

Filming

Creator, producer and showrunner Helena Harris devised the content of the ABC program at

ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...

. Two of the bear characters, Amy and Morgan, are named after Helena Harris' children. The show was performed using human actors in elaborate costumes, in the style of the British '' Tweenies'' and ''

Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on t ...

''. In the show's early days, the voices of the bananas were provided by the same actors as were inside the costume, but the original actors eventually gave up that aspect of the show and substitutes wore the hot, stuffy costumes. The show aired new episodes from its 1992 debut to its eventual run in syndication in 2002. The show aired approximately three hundred episodes as well as four specials. Its debut in the United States was in 1995. It made videos and other media from 1995 to 1999. A toy line, developed by

TOMY is a Japanese entertainment company that makes children's toys and merchandise. It was created from a merger on March 1st 2006 of two companies: Tomy (founded in 1924 as Tomiyama, changing the name to Tomy in 1963) and long-time rival Ta ...

, debuted in 1996.

Animated version

On 2 May 2011, a new version of ''Bananas in Pyjamas'', produced by

in full CGI, was premiered on

ABC2 ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment pr ...

in Australia; it was shown in other countries soon after that date. It contains new songs, stories, and characters, including Topsy the cheeky kangaroo, Charlie the inventive monkey and Bernard the wise old dog. Development of the new series commenced in 2009, and production started in early 2010. The new series contains 104 12-minute episodes.

Characters

Main characters

*B1 the ''Banana'': Duncan Wass (1992), Ken Radley (1992–2001), Michael James (2001), and then Stephen Shanahan (2011–13),

Richard McCourt Richard "Dick" McCourt (born 12 August 1976) is an English entertainer and presenter. He is best known as one half of the comic duo Dick and Dom, with the other being Dominic Wood. His older brother is fellow television presenter James McCou ...

(2011–13) *B2 the ''Banana'':

Nicholas Opolski Nicholas Opolski is an Australian actor, who is best known for his role as Evan Hancock on the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'' in 2001–2002. He has also provided the voice of B2, one of the characters in the children's television show ...

(1992–2001), Benjamin Blaylock (2001), and then Daniel Wyllie, Dominic Wood (2011–13) *Amy the ''Teddy Bear'':

Sandie Lillingston Sandra Lillingston is an Australian actress active between 1984 and 1997. Career Lillingston appeared as a presenter in a short 1983 documentary ''One Last Chance'' on the probation system in South Australia. Her first acting role was as the ...

(1992), Mary-Ann Henshaw (1992–2001), and then Isabella Dunwill (2011–13) *Lulu the ''Teddy Bear'': Taylor Owynns (1992–2001),

Monica Trapaga Monica Maria Trápaga (born 1965) is an Australian entertainment presenter, jazz singer and actress. She was a presenter on the Australian children's series, ''Play School'', from 1990 to 1998; and had provided the vocals to the theme of ''Banan ...

(''Bananas in Pyjamas'' (album release)),

(Bumping and a-Jumping) and then Ines Vaz de Sousa (2011–13) *Morgan the ''Teddy Bear'': Jeremy Scrivener (1992–2001), and then Troy Planet (AU Version), Sophie Aldred (UK Version) (2011–13) *Rat in a Hat the ''Rat'':

Shane McNamara Shane McNamara is an Australian television and film actor who is best known for his many appearances in the recurring role of Gino Esposito in the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours''. He has also played a character called 'Rat in a Hat' in t ...

(1992–2013)

Recurring characters

*Bernard the ''Dog'': Keith Buckley (2011–13) *Charlie the ''Monkey'': Matthew Whittet (2011–13) *Kevin the ''Butterfly'': Mal Heap (1992–2001) *Maggie the ''Magpie'': Emma De Vries (1994–2001) *Mrs Rat the ''Rat'': Georgina Symes (2011–13) *Tolstoy the ''Tortoise'': Emma De Vries (1996–2001) and then John Leary (2011–13) *Tomasina the ''Turtle'': David Collins (1999–2001) and then Meaghan Davies (2011–13) *Topsy the ''Kangaroo'': Roslyn Oades (2011–13)

Farm animals

*''Farm Animals'' puppeteers: Mal Heap, Terry Ryan & Emma De Vries (2001) *Camembert the ''Cow'': Taylor Sweeney and then Eliza Logan (2011–2013) *Pedro the ''Pig'': Michael Phillips and then Anthony O'Donohue (2011–2013) *Gregory the ''Chicken'': Matthew Hudak *Peck the ''Duck'': Aaron Oberst-Horner *Dolly the ''Sheep'': Maura McGinley and then Olivia Pigeot (2011–2013) *Flash the ''Fish'': Jacob Matta

Episodes

Home video releases

The series has been released to

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

, originally for VHS, later also for DVD. * Birthday Special (1992) * Show Business (1993) * Hiccups (1993) * Monster Bananas (1994) * Big Parade (1994) * Special Delivery (1994) * Surf's Up (1995) * Wish Fairies (1995) * It's Music Time (1996) * Singing Time (1997) * Dress Ups (1997) * Bumping and a-Jumping (1998) * Holiday Time (1998) * Fun Time (1999) * Surprise Party (1999) * It's Games Time (2000) * Story Time (2000) * Rock-A-Bye Bananas (2001) * Summertime (2001) * Dancing Daze (2002) * Celebration (2002) * Farm Adventure (2003) * Beat Box (2003)

Discography

*''Bananas in Pyjamas'' (1993) *''Live on Stage'' (1994) *''Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? Mix'' (1994) *''It's Singing Time!'' (1996) *''Bumping and a-Jumping'' (1997) *''Cuddles Avenue Christmas'' (1997) *''It's Show Time!'' (1998) *''Get Up and Dance!'' (2000) *''Banana Split Mix'' (2002) *''The Fun Collection'' (2002) *''Sing and Be Happy'' (2004) *''Welcome to Cuddlestown'' (2011) *''Playtime!'' (2012) *''Best Of: Classic'' (2015) *''50 Best Songs: 25 Years!'' (2017)

Charting singles

Cultural impact

The ''Bananas in Pyjamas'' were featured among other famous Australians during the parade of the

2000 Summer Olympics closing ceremony The 2000 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony also known as "Let's Party!" was held on 1 October 2000 in Stadium Australia. As with the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony was directed by Ric Birch as Director of Ceremonies while David Atkins ...

. In 2017, the Royal Australian Mint produced a commemorative set containing five-cent and 20-cent coins to mark the 25th anniversary of ''Bananas in Pyjamas''. The five-cent coin, which is coloured for the first time, depicts Rat-in-a-Hat, while the twenty-cent coin depicts B1 and B2.

Awards and nominations

APRA Music Awards

ARIA Music Awards

Logie Awards

References

External links

''Bananas in Pyjamas'' – Original website''Bananas in Pyjamas'' – ABC TV
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bananas in Pyjamas 1992 Australian television series debuts 2001 Australian television series endings 2010s Australian animated television series 2011 Australian television series debuts 2013 Australian television series endings 1990s preschool education television series 2000s preschool education television series 2010s preschool education television series Animated preschool education television series Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Australian children's animated television series Australian children's television series Australian children's musical groups Australian computer-animated television series Australian preschool education television series Australian television shows featuring puppetry Bananas in popular culture English-language television shows Fruit and vegetable characters Television series by Endemol Australia Television series with live action and animation Animated television series about bears Animated television series about mice and rats Musical groups established in 1992