Ready Jet Go!

Not to be confused with Ready set go.

Ready Jet Go!
Genre	Animation Science fiction Educational Musical
Created by	Craig Bartlett
Directed by	Craig Bartlett Rusty Tracy Zac Palladino
Starring	Ashleigh Ball Dalila Bela William Ainscough Jaeda Lily Miller Kyle Rideout Meg Roe Brian Drummond
Theme music composer	Mike Himelstein Jim Lang
Opening theme	"Ready Jet Go!"
Ending theme	"Ready Jet Go!" (instrumental)
Composer	Jim Lang
Country of origin	United States Canada
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	40 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Craig Bartlett Dete Meserve David McFadzean Matt Williams Co-Executive Producer Rusty Tracy
Editors	Ann Hoyt Susan Edumunson
Production companies	Wind Dancer Films Snee-Oosh, Inc.
Original release
Network	PBS Kids
Release	February 15, 2016 – present

Ready Jet Go! is a CGI animated television series produced by Wind Dancer Films. It was created by animator Craig Bartlett and premiered in the United States as part of the PBS Kids block on February 15, 2016. The series is produced in cooperation with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The show is aimed at kids ages 3 to 8. On August 17, 2016, PBS Kids announced that Ready Jet Go! has been renewed for a second season, which premiered on April 2, 2018.

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, 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

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	40		February 15, 2016 (2016-02-15)	February 6, 2018 (2018-02-06)
2	5		April 2, 2018 (2018-04-02)	(help)

Characters

Main

Bortronians

• Jet Propulsion (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) 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 and might be older than the other kids. 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. 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?"
• Carrot (voiced by: Kyle Rideout) is Jet's father. His name from his home planet includes the sound of an elephant trumpeting. 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.
• Celery (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.
• 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.
• Sunspot is the pet of the Propulsions. 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, 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."

Earthlings

• Sydney Skelley (voiced by Dalila Bela (season 1), Vienna Leacock (in Back to Bortron 7 and 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. 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.
• Sean Rafferty (voiced by William Ainscough) 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.
• Mindy Melendez (voiced by Jaeda Lily Miller) is a 4 1/4-year-old girl (she was previously four, but turned five in episode "Mindy Turns Five") with brown eyes, dark brown hair in two ponytails, and a hat that looks like a teddy-bear face. Until recently she stayed on Earth when the others go into outer space; she was not allowed to go any further than Jet's yard. She is now allowed to travel past Jet's backyard, as she is now five, so now accompanies the others as they travel into space.

Supporting

Bortronians

• Zucchini (voiced by Ian James Corlett) is Jet's maternal uncle and Celery's brother. He is a garbage collector on Bortron and works for the Galactic Garbage Company.
• 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 and Zerk's mom. She is an intergalactic travel writer just like Carrot and Celery.
• Spinach is Celery's cousin. Celery calls him when the van/flying saucer is not working and she needs advice.
• Zerk (voiced by Ashlegh Ball or Meg Roe) is Jet's cousin. He calls Jet to ask when the first Earthie visited Bortron.

Earthlings

• Mitchell Peterson (voiced by Spencer Drever (season 1), David Raynolds (season 2)) 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 is rude, mean, sneaky, and condescending, especially to Jet, and he is out to expose Jet's alien identity to the public. He resorted to cheating at a race in "Kid Kart Derby" and tried to get information about Mindy's recipe in "Solar System Bake Off." Nonetheless, Jet is nice to him. 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. But at the end, the kids welcome him into their group.
• 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. Rafferty (voiced by Keegan Connor Tracy) is Sean's scientist mother. She and her co-worker appear in "Visit to Mom's Office." She helps Mindy identify a meteorite in "Mindy's Meteorite Stand."
• Mrs. Melendez (voiced by Meg Roe) is Mindy's mother who is heard calling to her in "More Than One Moon." The children call her Dr. Melendez when they stop by her house on Halloween, in "Jet's First Halloween Part 2."
• Berg (voiced by Brian Drummond) is a man who works with Dr. Rafferty. They later recur as judges for the baking competition. He is called Dr. Berg in "Project Pluto."
• Mitchell's dad is called Mr. Peterson (voiced by Ian James Corlett) and addresses other males 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.
• 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 on Mars.
• Riley is a kid in Sean, Sydney, and Mindy's school. He brought in his favorite snow globe for show and tell.

Others

• Man in the Moon (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) is someone who is trying to make friends with Queen Venus and King Mars.

International broadcast

United States	PBS Kids
Australia	ABC Kids
Latin America	Nat Geo Kids (Latin America)
Brazil	Nat Geo Kids (Brazilian TV channel)
Canada	BBC Kids Knowledge Network
Poland	MiniMini+
Finland	YLE TV2
Portugal	SIC
Turkey	minikaÇOCUK
Israel	Israeli Educational Television

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

Ready Jet Go! has received critical acclaim. 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 praised it, saying "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." The show currently has a rating of 7.1/10 on IMDB, a rating of 4.3/5 on Google Play, and rating of 4.6/5 stars on Amazon.

Games

PBS and Two Moos created six video games based on the show

1. Sydney's Astro-Tracker
2. Mindy's Constellation Exploration
3. Sean's Rescue Quest
4. Jet's Planet Pinball
5. Jet's Rocket Ship Creator
6. Mission Earth

Also on iTunes:

1. Space Explorer released 7 April 2016

Songs

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

1. Ready, Jet, Go! Theme Song
2. Commander Cressida Theme
3. How Come The Moon Has Craters?
4. Night of a Bazillion Stars
5. The Scientific Method Song
6. The Solar System Song
7. Venus! (Earth's Broiling Hot Twin)
8. Tiny Blue Dot
9. Intergalactic Travel Writers
10. The Milky Way
11. What Goes Up (Must Come Down)
12. Enceladus vs. Europa
13. Computers
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!
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

Awards and nominations

• The series was awarded a Parents' Choice Silver Honor.
  • The series won a Parents' Choice Award again in 2018.
• 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

Discrepancies

In "A Visit from Uncle Zucchini" (15a) and "Mindy's Weather Report" (15b), Sunspot stays on Earth and does not travel into space with Celery and the older children, but the van take-off sequence shows him buckling his seat belt. He is also shown in the saucer as it approaches Saturn in "A Visit from Uncle Zucchini."

In "A Visit from Uncle Zucchini" (15a), in which Zucchini is supposed to be coming to Earth for a vacation, Jet says that it's Zucchini's first visit to the solar system. Yet in "Sunspot and the Great Red Spot" (22a), Zucchini has supposedly been bringing Moonbeam to Jupiter for the annual meeting of the Red Spot Club for many years.

In "Mindy's Weather Report" (15b), the number of dolls sitting in front of Mindy's "television set" as she gives her weather report changes several times. It starts at three, then there are four, then five, and then four again.

In "Jet's First Halloween Part 1" (25a), Carrot had to settle for buying other vegetables because the store was out of pumpkins, but three scenes show standard pumpkin jack-o'-lanterns in front of the Propulsions' house.

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.

External links

• Ready Jet Go! at IMDb