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''Ready Jet Go!'' is an American animated educational children's television series produced by Wind Dancer Films. The series aired new episodes on
PBS Kids PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...
from February 15, 2016 to May 6, 2019, although re-runs continue to this day. It was created by animator and ''
Hey Arnold! ''Hey Arnold!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Craig Bartlett for Nickelodeon. It originally aired from October 7, 1996, to June 8, 2004. The show centers on fourth grader Arnold Shortman, who lives with his grandparents in an inner ...
'' creator Craig Bartlett, and is produced in cooperation with
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...
. The show teaches science and astronomy. The show is aimed at children 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.


Plot

Jet Propulsion and his family are human aliens from the fictional planet Bortron 7 which orbits around a
red dwarf A red dwarf is the smallest kind of star on the main sequence. Red dwarfs are by far the most common type of fusing star in the Milky Way, at least in the neighborhood of the Sun. However, due to their low luminosity, individual red dwarfs are ...
called Bortron. They live at Boxwood Terrace in
Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...
, where they study human customs and Earth environments for a travel guide. Jet has made friends with neighborhood children, including Sydney, Mindy and Sean, whose parents work at the nearby Deep Space Array. The Propulsions'
car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...
turns into a
flying saucer A flying saucer, or flying disc, is a purported type of disc-shaped unidentified flying object (UFO). The term was coined in 1947 by the United States (US) news media for the objects pilot Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting, Kenneth Arnold claimed fl ...
, which they frequently use to take the older children into space. Their alien identities are known to Sean, Mindy and Sydney, but they otherwise make some effort to conceal their origin. However, a boy named Mitchell Peterson who lives next door is in on Jet's alien behavior and wants to expose his identity. At the end of each episode, scientist
Amy Mainzer Amy Mainzer (born January 2, 1974) is an American astronomer, specializing in astrophysical instrumentation and infrared astronomy. She was the deputy project scientist for the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and is the principal investigator ...
(also called Astronomer Amy) hosts educational interstitial segments: the segments are not included in the export version.


Episodes


Characters


Main


Bortronians

* Jet Propulsion (voiced by Ashleigh Ball)
/ref> 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 The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...
. 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 Propulsion 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 Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...
, the body of a
kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
, and the tail of a
raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...
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, and can follow conversations, but often seems confused about what behaviors are expected from a pet. He often functions as a
deus ex machina ''Deus ex machina'' ( ; ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; 'God from the machine') is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is general ...
, 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 Propulsion (voiced by Kyle Rideout) 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 Propulsion (voiced by Meg Roe) 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) 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.


Earthies

Collective name for Earth natives used by the Bortronians. *Sydney Skelley (voiced by Dalila Bela in season 1, Vienna Leacock in Back to Bortron 7-season 2) is a girl with black hair and green eyes. She idolizes a character named Commander Cressida, named after the moon of Uranus, who has a dog named Sirius, named after the brightest star in Earth's night sky. Sydney is imaginative and very friendly, often acting as the voice of reason for the kids. In "How Come the Moon Changes Shape?" she danced with Jet, in "Kid Kart Derby" she hugged him. Her mother is Dr. Amy Skelley. Sydney's motto is "A kid's place is exploring space". Her friendship with the Propulsion family gives her many opportunities to do just that, which makes her a happy girl. She is named after
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, Australia. *Sean Rafferty (voiced by William Ainscough (seasons 1-Our Sun is a Star!), Grady Ainscough (in You Can Call Me Albedo-Moon Face), Glen Gordon (in Lone Star 2 - Rocket Kids!-One Small Step), Anthony Bolognese (Space Camp) is a boy with light brown hair, gray eyes, and freckles. Sean probably has asthma; he is shown breathing into a brown paper bag in "Jet Cooks Dinner", and he mentions once when the children are in space that sometimes he has trouble breathing. He is smart and wants to be an astronaut when he grows up, but he has slight claustrophobia. Sean likes to follow the Scientific Method, as shown in many episodes; he even has his own song about it. His mother is Dr. Rafferty. Sean idolizes
Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...
, and has his action figure, which he takes along on their space trips. *Mindy Melendez (voiced by Jaeda Lily Miller) is a 5-year-old girl (she was previously four, but turned five in episode "Mindy Turns Five") with brown eyes, dark brown hair in two pigtails, and a hat that looks like a teddy-bear face. In season 1, she stayed on Earth when the others went into outer space; she was not allowed to go any further than Jet's backyard. In season 2 she became allowed to travel past Jet's backyard, as she turned five, so she now accompanies the others as they travel into space. She is the only one who knows Mitchell is spying on Jet and is out to expose him.


Supporting


Bortronians

*Zucchini (voiced by Ian James Corlett) is Jet's maternal uncle and Celery's brother named after the food
zucchini Zucchini (; : ''zucchini'' or ''zucchinis''), courgette () or ''Cucurbita pepo'' is a summer squash, a Vine, vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and Fruit anatomy#Epicarp, epicarp (rind) are still soft a ...
. He is a garbage collector on Bortron and works for the East Galaxy Garbage Company, Bortron 7 Division, using the Big Bortronian Junk Sucker (BBJS). He is very kind to the kids, but also dimwitted at times. *Moonbeam is the pet of Uncle Zucchini. She looks similar to Sunspot, but Moonbeam is blue and plays electric guitar (left-handed). *Eggplant (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain) is Jet's aunt, Zucchini's wife, and Zerk's mom. She is an intergalactic travel writer just like Carrot and Celery. *Zerk (voiced by Meg Roe) is Jet's cousin. He calls Jet to ask when the first Earthie visited Bortron. He visits Earth in "Zerk Visits Earth". Zerk is very energetic and hyperactive. In "Whole Lotta Shakin'" and "Asteroid Belt Space Race", he is shown to be very competitive. *Spinach is Celery's cousin. Celery calls him when the van/flying saucer is not working and she needs advice.


Earthies

*Mitchell Peterson (voiced by Spencer Drever in season 1, David Raynolds in season 2, Dylan Schombing in One Small Step, Gordon Cormier in Space Camp) looks similar to Sean except that he wears glasses and a hat. Along with Mindy, he is younger than Jet, Sean, and Sydney. For his age, he appears to be smarter than Mindy, even knowing about and building an exact replica of the Saturn V rocket. Mitchell has a tendency to be sarcastic and sometimes blunt. He is suspicious of the Propulsion' behavior and always wants to expose Jet's alien identity but inevitably fails. Nonetheless, Jet is nice to him. A running gag in the series is whenever he is spying on Jet, Mindy sneaks up on him which he finds annoying. In "Holidays in Boxwood Terrace" it is revealed that he only pretends to be mean and he is really shy and wants to be friends with Jet, Sean, Sydney, and Mindy, but he doesn't know how to do it. In the end, the kids welcome him into their group. His grandfather was a farmer, which he mentions in "Eye in the Sky". *Mr. Peterson is Mitchell's dad (voiced by Ian James Corlett) and addresses other people by their last names, calling Mitchell "Peterson" and using "Propulsion" to refer to Jet and Carrot. In the episode "Mindy's Weather Report" he calls himself the self-appointed safety officer for the neighborhood. He, like his son, can be a bit full of himself. He is an expert at playing mini-golf. He is also a big soccer fan. *Dr. Rafferty (voiced by Keegan Connor Tracy) is Sean's scientist mother. She and her co-worker Berg appear in "Visit to Mom's Office". She helps Mindy identify a meteorite in "Mindy's Meteorite Stand". Dr. Rafferty is patient, smart, and loving. In "Visit to Mom's Office", she mentions that she felt like an alien when she was a child. *Dr. Bergs (voiced by Brian Drummond) is a man who works with Dr. Rafferty. They later appear as judges for the baking competition. Dr. Bergs can be rather silly at times. He loves drinking coffee and always has it in his hand. Sunspot always steals his watch. *Dr. Melendez (voiced by Meg Roe) is Mindy's mother. She is heard calling to Mindy in "More Than One Moon" and was seen in "My Fair Jet". *Riley is a kid in Sean, Sydney, and Mindy's school. He brought in his favorite snow globe for show and tell. He is not shown. *Lillian (voiced by Amelia Shoichet Stoll) is a friend of Mindy's. The two girls dig a small "Grand Canyon" in a sandbox while the Propulsions and the other children visit
Valles Marineris Valles Marineris (; Latin for ''Mariner program, Mariner Valleys'', named after the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter of 1971–72 which discovered it) is a system of canyons that runs along the Mars, Martian surface east of the Tharsis region. At more than ...
on Mars. Lillian is a girly girl but isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. She can be quite forgetful, seeing as how she told Mindy what her "surprise" present was. *Lillian's mom (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) is heard in "Mindy Turns 5", when she calls Lillian because she has to go to class. *Beep is a robot who lives at the Deep Space Array (DSA). She has a twin sister, Boop, who is a Rover on Mars. *Dr. Skelley (voiced by Brenda Crichlow) is Sydney's mom, who also works at the DSA. Like her daughter, she is also a fan of Commander Cressida. She is a robotics engineer.


''Space Camp''

* The Great Galacto (voiced by Mark Oliver) is Jet's idol. He's a TV and web personality who goes on daring space adventures. He speaks with a Scottish accent. Like Sunspot, he is allergic to comet dust, which causes him to shrink. He went to the far-off planet of Mascarpone to locate the cure, deshrinkulum. * Stella Singularity (voiced by Viva Lee) was the Great Galacto's number-one fan until Jet took her place. Stella got jealous, and went to planet Earth to confront Jet, but winded up going to space camp, and was placed on Mitchell's team. Stella is sarcastic and narcissistic; she always wants to be the best at everything, does not understand teamwork, and is frequently seen primping herself. When she got stuck in a web in the caverns of Mascarpone, she realized the value of teamwork. From that point on, she apologizes to Jet for how she acted and is nicer to him and the others from that point on. * Dr. Chandra (voiced by Ana Sani) is an astronomer and "expert on alien life", who visited Boxwood Terrace to judge the spaceship design contest at space camp. Mitchell tried to tell her that Jet is an alien, but to no avail. * Aurora (voiced by Diana Tsoy) and Houston (voiced by Gabriel Jacob-Cross) are two kids who invite Mitchell and Stella to join their team. They love space, and emphasize the importance of teamwork.


Development

The idea for the show dates back to the late 1990s when
Linda Simensky Linda Simensky is an American executive. She served as a creative executive for Nickelodeon Furniss, Maureen. (February 5, 2008)240 ''Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics'' ''Indiana University Press''. Archived at Google Books. Retrieved October 1 ...
complained to Bartlett about how "nobody makes shows about two friends anymore". From that idea, Bartlett came up with ''Lenny and Nate'', a buddy comedy starring two eighth-graders, one of whom believes he is an alien. It was pitched to
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
. Years later, while working on '' Dinosaur Train'', Bartlett revamped the idea to be educationally appropriate for PBS, with a specific focus on space and earth science, after he worked on a project for NASA called the Shuttle Launch Experience. Lenny became Jet and Nate became Sean, while both characters were aged down from 13 to 10. The character of Sydney was added, and after testing the initial pilot of children, Mindy was added to appeal to a younger audience. The pilot was titled ''Jet Propulsion''. During production of the first season, PBS approved of everything that Bartlett and his team came up with, leaving no notes. However, during the second season, the team was approached by the Ready-to-Learn Act, thus bringing a new layer of oversight and executive meddling that made season 2 of the series "hard".


Songs

''Ready Jet Go!'' has many songs; some have no lyrics. #Ready Jet Go! Theme Song #Commander Cressida Theme #How Come the Moon Has Craters? #Night of a Bazillion Stars #The Scientific Method Song #The Solar System Song #Venus! (Earth's Broiling Hot Twin) #Tiny Blue Dot #Intergalactic Travel Writers #The Milky Way #What Goes Up (Must Come Down) aka The Gravity Song #Enceladus vs. Europa aka Which Moon is Best? #Computers aka The Programming Ditty #Let's Fly Our Little Saucer to the Moon #The 3-Part Bortronian Meal aka Classic 3-Part Bortronian Meal #My Name is Mindy #Try Again #Beep's a Rovin' Superstar aka Jet's Beep Song #Cooking with Jet (no lyrics) #Asteroid Belt (no lyrics) #Building Boogie (no lyrics) #So Many Moons aka 67 Moons #Real Bortronian Deal #Bortronian is What I Am! #My Name is Jet #Lone Star! #I'm Not Afraid of Big Ideas #A Scientific Town #Is Your Planet Like My Planet? #There's No Planet Like My Planet #Take-off Ditty #The Bortron Solar System Song #That's How We Roll on Bortron 7 #Just Add Water #It's a Neptune Kind of Day! #Earthday Birthday #You're Never Too Big for a Lullaby #Dear Santa, From Little Billy #Mindy's Toy-Building Ditty #Solar System Saucer-Sleigh #The Spirit of Christmas #Dear Little Frozen Pluto #A Star is Born! #I'm Finally Five! #The Outer Planets Song #Ice Skating in July #Heliocentric Ditty #Total Eclipse of the Sun #Space Racin' #Grow Plant, Grow! #Engineering Song #Potatoes on Mars #Potato Changes #Get Growin' #Every Day is Earth Day #The Super Saucer Song #Dear Great Galacto #Brother From Another Sunspot Mother #Super Hyperdrive #It Takes a Team #Space Hero


Broadcast

Due to the national success of ''Ready Jet Go!,'' the series has been distributed to countries around the world and dubbed into over 20 different languages, enabling it to become internationally successful as well. In September 2016, the series premiered in Canada on
Knowledge Network Knowledge Network, also branded as British Columbia's Knowledge Network and K:, is a Canadian publicly funded educational cable television network serving the province of British Columbia. It is owned by the Knowledge Network Corporation, a Crow ...
during the Knowledge Kids programming block. It also has aired on BBC Kids there. In November of that same year, the series premiered in South Korea on EBS1. The Korean dub of the show was the first foreign-language dub to be produced and aired. On January 25, 2017, the series started premiering in Israel on Educational 23, and later on
Kan Educational Kan Educational (, Kan Hinuchit) is a public television channel in Israel designated for children, on behalf of the Israel Broadcasting Corporation. The channel launched on August 15, 2018 and replaced Israeli Educational Television, which pre ...
until November 14, 2020. On February 24 of that same year, the series premiered on Yle TV2 in Finland as part of the
Pikku Kakkonen ''Pikku Kakkonen'' (Finnish language, Finnish for "the little number two") is an ongoing Finland, Finnish magazine-type children's TV show shown on Yle TV2. The first episode aired on January 11, 1977 in television, 1977. It finished with a bedtime ...
block, under the title ''Jetron matkaan''. Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese dubs later premiered on Nat Geo Kids that same year, with the Spanish dub premiering on July 1 and the Portuguese dub on September 20. In January 2017, the series premiered on LTV1 in Latvia. The show is broadcast in English with one man translating all the characters’ lines to Latvian in the form of a voiceover. On April 13, 2019, the second season premiered. Beginning February 17, 2021, the series began broadcasting on television in Russia. That same year, the series premiered June 28 on TV Derana in Sri Lanka with a Sinhala dub, and September 27 on Aqlvoy in Uzbekistan under the title ''Diqqat Jet Olg’a!''


Reception


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."


Ratings

The series has gained 34.3 million viewers, according to PBS, including 10.2 million on broadcast television. It outperformed channel average by 32% in its first three weeks. The series has also been streamed over 146 million times on the PBS Kids website and app since January 2016.


Awards and nominations

*The series was awarded a Parents' Choice Silver Honor. **The series won a Parents' Choice Award again in 2018. **The online game ''Jet's Bot Builder'' won the 2019 Parent's Choice Silver Award. *The series was awarded a Common Sense Seal by Common Sense Media. *Jaeda Lily Miller was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her performance as Mindy *Cynopsis Kids Imagination Awards: **2017: Nominated for Best Use of Music in a Kids Series, Educational Series/Special – STEM, Mobile App – Preschool, Preschool Series, and won Song for a TV Series/Special/Movie, tied with '' Splash and Bubbles''. **2018: Won Best Use of Music in a Kids' Series, tied with ''Wonderama'', Online Game tied with ''
The Loud House ''The Loud House'' is an American animated sitcom created by Chris Savino that premiered on Nickelodeon on May 2, 2016. The series revolves around the chaotic everyday life of a boy named Lincoln Loud, who is the middle child and only son in a ...
'': Lights Out, and was nominated for Preschool Series or Special. *''Back to Bortron 7'' was nominated for an Environmental Media Award for Children's Television. *The ''Space Scouts'' app was a 2020
Webby Award The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...
honoree. *At the 2017 KidsScreen Awards, the ''Space Explorer'' app was nominated for Best Learning App—Smartphone, and the show's website was nominated for Best Website.


Film

In 2021, two years after the show's final episode aired, Bartlett confirmed that new songs were being recorded for the series. A year later, he confirmed on ''The Arun Mehta Show'' podcast that the songs were for an 80-minute ''Ready Jet Go!'' movie in production for
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
. The film was in animation up until October 2022, and entered post-production in spring 2023. The movie, entitled ''Ready Jet Go!: Space Camp'', premiered on July 20, 2023, serving as the series finale. The plot of the movie revolves around Jet and the rest of Team Propulsion heading to Space Camp. However, Sunspot develops an allergic reaction, prompting the team to go on an intergalactic adventure to find the cure and return to Space Camp before Mitchell finds out.


Games

PBS Kids PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...
and Two Moos created ten online games based on the show: #Sydney's Astro-Tracker #Mindy's Constellation Exploration #Sean's Rescue Quest #Jet's Planet Pinball #Jet's Rocket Ship Creator #Mission Earth #Mindy's Moonball #Jet's Bot Builder #Rover Maker #Cooking School #Food Farmer #Base Builder #Mission Control #Space Scouts Lab #Space Scouts (Game/Achievement Hub with trans-game awards for Space Scouts Games) Also on iTunes: #Space Explorer released 7 April 2016


References


External links

* * {{Former PBS Kids shows PBS animated television series 2010s American animated television series 2010s American children's television series 2016 American animated television series debuts 2019 American television series endings 2010s preschool education television series American children's animated space adventure television series American children's animated science fiction television series American children's animated musical television series American computer-animated television series American preschool education television series American television series with live action and animation Animated preschool education television series Animated television series about children Animated television series about extraterrestrial life American English-language television shows Television series created by Craig Bartlett PBS Kids shows Animated television series set in Washington (state)