Me and the Pajanimals - Licensing Expo

[aaronmojo]

This was so cool! I was attending the Licensing Expo - it was supposed to be all business - but adults turn into children when there are puppets and especially Muppets around. So I got my picture taken!

I was told they were back on a plane to New York that afternoon and headed overseas that night to resume filming! Pretty cool!

 

[Phillip]

That's great, thanks for sharing. Congratulations!

 

[beaker]

Bee-yoo-tiful! I love the Pajanimals designs, and would totally buy merch if they have it. I've tried to be supportive of Sid/Dino Train, and Im happy JHC has had success with that. But it's really due time for a *puppet* related JHC project. I don't know if anything will ever resonate and connect on the level of Fraggle or Bear, but if a project can capture even just a nuanced portion of that...then I'll be happy. But yes, this is very good news and quite a cool picture!

 

[GSmiley2007]

Awesome!!! Any more pictures of you and the Pajanimals?

Also wonder why Apollo and Cow Bella didn't show up...

 

[GSmiley2007]

Here's another question...

Are they going to use the same puppeteers for the new TV series that they used in the shorts?

 

[aaronmojo]

GSmiley, I think they're using the same puppeteers. From what I understood, it was the same crew, just longer episodes (which were already in production).

For me, it was cool to see a professional Muppet (having seen a couple at the Smithsonian, but not up close and in action). Being able to see the seams, how they were assembled, etc made me a little less critical of my own puppets.

 

[Drtooth]

Bee-yoo-tiful! I love the Pajanimals designs, and would totally buy merch if they have it. I've tried to be supportive of Sid/Dino Train, and Im happy JHC has had success with that. But it's really due time for a *puppet* related JHC project. I don't know if anything will ever resonate and connect on the level of Fraggle or Bear, but if a project can capture even just a nuanced portion of that...then I'll be happy. But yes, this is very good news and quite a cool picture!

And the most depressing part is, while Sid is at least digital puppetry that uses the same crew Henson usually employs, it's not as successful as DinoTrain which is Singapore animated pure CGI and dubbed in Canada. Good voice actors from Canada, sure, but not Henson people.

Pajanimals really needs to come forward and break into children's television. There's a slow trend of shows that are starting to really get good and break away from the lame Dora clones, just not fast enough for my taste.

Plus, these characters, especially the duck, look amazing. They have a wonderful living plush doll look about them, and I hope Henson has a better licensee than 4Kids, which has 0 business sense. I want to see little plush dolls of these guys pushing Dora and Manny the Builder off the shelves and into the clearance bin where they belong.

 

[beaker]

I'm still wondering what happened to Bear? That was a pure winning formula that could have gone on for ages, even in a slightly different formant.

The Panjanimalapals look vibrant, crisp. But I also loved the look of Animal Jam, despite the show being unwatchable drek. (Im glad Cowmonkey and DJ 2 live on with HA! productions)

I can't get into Sid or Dino Train, but for some reason Ive really taken a liking to Chuggington's look(even buying the dvd) I'm curious how Pajanimals will do. It'll be the first real attempt at a new JHC puppet show in over a decade.

 

[GSmiley2007]

And I think it's high time Apollo, Cow Bella, Squacky, and Sweetpea Sue made appearances on other TV shows to plug their show for PBS Kids Sprout. Who knows, maybe other Muppets like Kermit the Frog will want to meet them someday...

 

[Drtooth]

I'm still wondering what happened to Bear? That was a pure winning formula that could have gone on for ages, even in a slightly different formant.

Disney clearly wants to keep that (thankfully soon to be outdated) Dora "Find the green rectangle that's in plain sight" garbage alive and well. I don't know how to feel about that's the only way Disney's main Mickey and Donald characters get into toy stores... the show sucks, but at least Ludwig VanDrake is in it... I dunno.

Bear should make a comeback when children's TV producers realize that crap just produces ADHD kids who demand to be rewarded for every single thing they do, even if they don't really do it. We need the gentle yet watchable approach where Bear becomes a childhood TV friend, and not some lame video game type character that asks you to do everything for them.