I watched a little bit (or sometimes a lot) of Sprout every day when I was both 7 and 8 years old, and I continued to watch it occasionally as I got older, until it rebooted as Universal Kids in 2017. I enjoyed all the shows they aired back then, with Pajanimals being my favorite out of Sprout's original programming, apart from their themed blocks. For those who may not know, Pajanimals started as a series of 3-minute music videos before becoming a full-length 11-minute show. I generally prefer the full-length episodes for the most part because they allow the audience to get to know the characters better, feature more developed plots, and introduce additional characters, but I like the shorts too.
The premise of the show is interesting! It's the only bedtime show I know of besides The Goodnight Show. Pajanimals has a calm and relaxed atmosphere, which is fitting for a bedtime program, as it's meant to help viewers settle down and be quiet as bedtime approaches. The setting includes various bedtime-related locations like the Land of Hush, where pillows and blankets are everywhere, and the rule is always to be quiet, hence its name.
In the show, we follow four young Muppet animals dressed in pajamas-Apollo, a green and purple dog; Squacky, a blue duck; Sweetpea Sue, an orange and pink horse; and Cowbella, a white and purple cow (who oddly has an Italian accent in the shorts but an American voice in the full-length series). They lull themselves to sleep and sing songs about preparing for bed.
The songs address various pre-bedtime activities, life principles that help them relax, and issues that keep them awake-such as brushing their teeth, exercising to tire themselves out, having a special stuffed animal or blanket for comfort, dealing with scary dreams, and the sounds of clocks ticking or water dripping that prevent them from sleeping. Many of these songs appear in both the full-length episodes and the shorts, but some new songs are also present in the full-length episodes.
My favorite Pajanimals song is "Goodnight to Mom," which celebrates the special bond we have with our parents (mostly mothers, hence the title). The lyrics are deep and touching, and they often make me cry, particularly the line "We are never far apart, I am always in her heart." The lullabies in the show are incredibly soothing and could easily help viewers sleep, especially "Goodnight to Mom" and "La-La-Lullaby," the latter being sung by the Pajanimals in one of the shorts and by their mother at the end of each full-length episode.
I suffer from insomnia, and sometimes I listen to a Pajanimals lullaby or watch the show to help me sleep. It works most of the time, even though I'm not a little kid anymore.
The lessons and tone are gentle, heartwarming, and empathetic! In every episode, the Pajanimals have a common problem that is keeping them awake, like not knowing what to give a friend for their birthday the next day, missing Mom and Dad while they're at work, being afraid of the dark, the fear of nightmares, feeling nervous about starting school the next morning, and more. Three of them get in one of the Pajanimals' beds with whoever sleeps in it, and together they fly to a far-off land and ask a friend for advice. The colorful characters who live in these lands give them warm words of wisdom that help the Pajanimals feel more confident. Afterward, they fly back home, and their mother sings them to sleep.
In one episode, one of the characters says that feeling sad when a loved one is sad or sick and trying to cheer them up are signs that you care about them. I had never thought of it that way before watching the episode, but those are very wise words of advice! In another episode, Squacky and Cowbella find themselves in time-out after the former whacks the latter with a guitar and the latter pulls the former's hair, much to their chagrins. That night, one of their friends tells them that kids are sometimes put in time-out after misbehaving so they're seated away from distractions while reflecting on their behavior and thinking about how to shape up. This process also reinforces that parents still love their kids no matter what. The show has demonstrated time and time again that having bedtime issues is nothing to be ashamed of, reassuring children that they won't feel threatened when parents discuss those issues with them. Amen!
The shorts first aired when I was 5 years old in November 2008, although I didn't discover them until March 2011. The full-length series premiered when I was 8 in October 2011, and I wish it had come out sooner. Why? For all my life, I've had a strong dislike for being disciplined, and ever since I was 7, I've always strived to be good to the best of my ability. The episode about time-out gave me a better understanding of why kids sometimes get sent to the "time-out/naughty chair" after misbehaving, and maybe I wouldn't have been as uptight about it if I had seen that episode sooner.
I give this an 8/10 for a reason: in the full series, there are unnecessary changes to the lyrics of some of the songs that originated in the shorts. Furthermore, the nature of the Pajanimals' relationship has never been clearly explained. It has been confirmed on the show that they're siblings, but how can a dog, a duck, a cow, and a horse be siblings? I'm guessing either a) one of them is biologically related to the parents and the rest of them are adopted, or b) all 4 of them are adopted. Mom and Dad's voices are always heard, but they never appear on screen, so nobody knows what they are.
I must say that Pajanimals is a far cry from the loud and obnoxious preschool shows that are unbearable for older audiences like me to watch (e.g., Caillou, Peppa Pig, etc.). If you don't like those shows, watch Pajanimals instead. I find it hard to hate, and it's sure to soothe you and your kid(s), help kids and maybe adults with almost any bedtime issues they may have, and put them to sleep easily.
