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PJ Masks is a British–French-Canadian animated preschool television series produced by Hasbro (formerly Entertainment One), FrogBox, and TeamTO. The series premiered on September 18, 2015 on Disney Channel and Disney Junior, and on January 3, 2022 on Disney XD in the United States. It also premiered on December 18, 2015 on France 5 in France. The show is based on the Pyjamasques book series created by French author Romuald Racioppo, and takes inspiration from various comics and films that Christian De Vita experienced. PremiseEnglishPJ Masks - Official Channel[]By day, six-year-olds Connor, Amaya and Greg go to school like everyone else. But when something goes awry in the city, these special kids, filled with curiosity and a sense of justice, get ready for their mission –- but they have to wait until nightfall when the city is asleep and they can go undetected. Instead of going to bed like all the other children, when our heroes get their pajamas on, they magically transform into super heroes and become the PJ Masks. Here comes Catboy – super fast and agile, Gekko – super strong and can scale walls and Owlette – with the ability to fly and see great distances. Together, these three can tackle any situation – PJ Masks they’re on their way into the night to save the day! TeamTO (Early)[]Based on the popular book series “Les Pyjamasques” by Romuald, the PJ Masks are superheroes for the little ones: by day, they go to school like all the other kids their age. By night, this brave band of heroes dons their magic pyjamas, and sets out to face fiendish villains to stop them messing with your day! PJ Masks, we’re on our way – into the night to save the day! TeamTO (Later)[]PJ Masks follows the thrilling night time exploits of three young friends who transform into their dynamic super hero alter egos, Catboy, Owlette and Gekko, when they put their pyjamas on at night and activate their animal amulets. Together they embark on action packed adventures, solving mysteries and learning valuable lessons along the way. Disney+[]Seasons 1-5[]Join Connor, Amaya and Greg on their superhero adventures as they save the daytime from baddies messing up the night. With the power of their animal amulets, Greg becomes Gekko, Amaya becomes Owlette, and Connor becomes Catboy! Their outfits may look like pajamas, but they're really the PJ Masks! So look out, Night Time Baddies - the PJ Masks are coming! Season 6 (Power Heroes)[]Power heroes Catboy, Owlette and Gekko are joined by new heroes, creating a bigger, even better team. Good thing, too, as new villains are in town. Our heroes will take them on in the City, space and the frozen wilderness of Iceworld. As Catboy says, “If badness is everywhere, we’ll be everywhere.” Entertainment One (eOne)[]Together the trio of heroes, Catboy, Owlette and Gekko embark on action packed adventures, solving mysteries and learning valuable lessons along the way. Watch out night-time baddies – the PJ Masks are on their way, into the night to save the day. Zap2It[]Kids like superheroes, so what could be better for tykes than becoming superheroes themselves? That's what happens at night for young friends Connor, Amaya and Greg. When they put on their pajamas and activate their animal amulets, they turn into their alter egos -- Catboy, Owlette and Gekko -- before embarking on adventures that are filled with action. Along the way, they solve mysteries and learn valuable lessons. The animated series is based on the "Les Pyjamasques" book series by French author Romuald Racioppo. ABC Kids (Australia)[]Seasons 1-5[]The adventure continues for the PJ Masks as they embark on new missions with some brand-new superpowers. The old villains are back as well as new ones creating chaos but the PJ Masks are here to save the day! Season 6 (Power Heroes)[]Catboy, Owlette and Gekko are joined by new heroes, creating a bigger, even better team. Good thing too, as new villains are in town. Our heroes will take them on in the city, space and the frozen wilderness of Iceworld. FrenchFrogBox[]By day, Yoyo, Bibou and Gluglu, all aged 6, go to school like all other children. But that's only the day. Because at night, they put on their magical pajamas created from their totem animals, the cat, the owl and the lizard and instead of going to bed, they turn into superheroes and become the Pyjamasques! Yoyo is agile and lightning fast, Bibou flies and sees at very great distances and Gluglu can adhere to any surface to climb and has a Herculean force. Together they can deal with any situation. They are truly the superheroes of the little ones. Their mission: to thwart the plans of the wicked and to redress injustices. Pyjamasques - Official Channel[]During the day, Sacha, Amaya and Greg, 6, are children like any other. But as soon as night falls, the three young friends put on their pajamas, activate their animal amulets and turn into superheroes. They then become YOYO, BIBOU - GLUGLU: Les Pyjamasques!! France 5[]Sacha, Amaya and Greg put on their magical pajamas and become superheroes Yoyo, Bibou and Gluglu. At the age of six, Sacha, Amaya and Greg go to school like all children. But that's only the day. Because at night, our little vigilantes don't really like the others don magic pajamas, and instead of going to bed turn into superheroes to solve the hassle. Make way for Yoyo, fast as lightning and leaping like a cat; Bibou with a piercing view, flying like a bird; and Gluglu with mega muscles, able to hang from the ceiling like a gecko! Together, they form a formidable trio ready to complete all missions. Pyjamasques have a new challenge. The worries, they solve them at night! TF1[]Seasons 1-5[]The Pyjamasques have a new challenge. They solve their problems at night! Season 6 (Power Heroes)[]The Pyjamasques are coming to your screens in brand new adventures! Development
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MD Olivier Dumont snapped up the TV rights to French author Romuald’s Les Pyjamasques book series for his prodco Frog Box before joining eOne in 2011. Fast-forward a few years, and Disney has picked it up globally for Disney Channel and Disney Junior channels worldwide. While the project was initially developed as a co-production between eOne, Disney EMEA and France Télévisions, Disney Junior US will debut the series September 18, before it rolls out to France 5 and other international territories this fall. So what is it about this show starring a cast of preschoolers who masquerade as superheroes by night that got global buy-in from the House of Mouse? The idea was first pitched to Disney France as part of a request for proposals issued by the broadcaster, says Dumont. It then moved onto Disney EMEA’s London office, which joined as a co-producer, along with France Télévisions. Dumont says development took some time, and that the translation from books to TV series was trickier than anticipated. For one, the book series takes place solely during nighttime hours, which would not necessarily work for television. The entire daytime aspect and double-life of the TV series’ lead superhero characters had to be created. Disney EMEA’s VP of content, animation and digital, Orion Ross, says he was immediately attracted to the idea. “It’s a superhero show just for preschoolers,” he notes. “It’s safe, non-lethal and positive, but at the same time, it features real superheroes with cool costumes, gadgets and powers, delivered in an age-appropriate way—and it’s so different from what is on the network.” He adds that the protagonists’ pajamas, which transform into costumes, and the fact that much of the action takes place at in a nighttime dream space, made the project even more appealing. And while Disney’s global teams work closely together, the US buy-in came relatively late in the cycle—well after it had been fully developed with Disney EMEA. For Karen Miller, Disney VP of worldwide programming strategy, acquisitions and co-productions, what really tipped the scale for her as the US buyer, was the texture, tone and feel of the animated content. (France’s TeamTo is leading animation production for the series.) “Being able to create an environment that was very real to the audience, and well-executed with a cool look and feel that sits alongside Disney Junior’s other programs, was key,” she says. As to what made PJ Masks stand out as superheroes in a company that owns Marvel (home of arguably the most recognizable ones in the world), Ross admits there are a lot of superheroes in the Disney family, but none of them were made just for preschoolers. He says research conducted with parents and kids using the series’ pilot showed that parents, in particular, were looking for superheroes custom-made for preschoolers. Interestingly, Dumont adds that further testing showed parents were insistent the main characters’ costumes look like those of real superheroes, and not just slightly altered pajamas. “It was a clear call to action that was very consistent,” he says. “Parents got it and embraced it right away.” And costume designs were, in fact, re-worked to include more textures and gadgetry, like adding scales to Gekko’s outfit and feathers to Owlette’s ensemble. It had always been Dumont’s intention to create a global series with PJ Masks. “We made sure it was universal with strong story hooks and visuals, and that it could carry a licensing program,” he says. With the Disney deal in place, consumer products is the next stop for eOne, which controls global distribution and licensing for the property. But rather than rush to market, eOne intends to start pitching it widely to the licensing community at Licensing Show next year after Dumont’s team has sold the series into more terrestrial homes. Animation Magazine
If you spend any time around preschoolers, you’ve likely heard all about the PJ Masks. Catboy! Owlette! Gekko! They transform at night from normal kids into superheroes and head out into a Paris-like city to solve problems, stop villains and learn some lessons along the way. Debuting in September on Disney Channel and Disney Junior in the U.S., the PJ Masks was a surprise runaway hit that peeved more than few parents upon learning that the show is still too new to have the shelves of merchandise their kids were wishing for. That situation is going to change in a big way next year, as the show rolls out in territories across the world. “It’s been quite surprising to see how quickly the show has caught on,” says Christian De Vita, director and storyboard artist on the series, which is animated at TeamTO in France. Based on author Romuald Racioppo’s Les Pyjamasques series of children’s books — a hit in France with 15 titles released since 2008 — the TV rights were scooped up by Entertainment One and Frog Box, which pitched it to Disney and brought in TeamTO to produce the animation. “We developed the show with the idea of making like a cool superhero show for preschoolers,” says De Vita. “It seems like there is a place for it on TV. I was already working at the studio at the time and was asked to restart it at the time based from the books into something that was more akin to contemporary superhero culture.” A longtime fan of DC and Marvel comic-book superheroes, De Vita says TeamTO tried to retain the best elements of the book series, but had to make some adjustments for the jump from a painted, 2D illustration approach to CG animation. “We tried to use (the books’ art style) as a springboard into color schemes and the nocturnal settings of the show, and to slightly age it up,” says De Vita. “The books are very preschool in the look so we tried to age it up and make the superhero characters fit in with the sort of comic book genre that the PJ Masks fall into.” TeamTO splits work between its studios in Paris and Valence, France. Paris handle designing and building 3D assets, storyboarding, compositing, rendering and final edits, while layouts and animation are done in Valence, where TeamTO recently opened a new facility to house its 200 plus artists. De Vita says he successfully pitched using 2D effects on the show. “I felt that the visual combination of 3D with hand-drawn effects would marry quite well,” he says. “I wanted to have a slightly different look to the effects. I’d like it to be more comic book-y in a way, so we set up a small 2D effects team specifically to work on PJ Masks here in Paris.” The writing staff is split between France and Canada for production reasons, with the head writer being London-based Marc Seal, whose credits include Mike the Knight. While superheroes have become extremely popular in movies and television, De Vita says PJ Masks stands out as one of the few shows in the genre aimed at younger viewers. “So what we do with PJ Masks is whenever the characters have a confrontation with the bad guys is to resolve it in a comedic way or a heart warming way which at least gives a positive message to have within the show,” he says. With the first season of 52 11-minute episodes almost complete, De Vita says he’s found working on the series satisfying and fun. “Being able to design something that’s so close to my likes in terms of a director and an artist, and proposing to a new audience a whole new world of superheroes — but with a nice heart-warming center to the stories and the characters — that’s a nice, fresh aspect that’s interesting.”" International broadcastOn September 18, 2015, the series premiered on Disney Channel and Disney Junior in the United States. However, there are a few episodes that were censored for the Disney Junior airings. Seasons 1-3 also formerly aired on Disney XD. In France, it premiered on France 5 on December 2015. In 2019, Season 4 started airing on Disney Channel France. In Japan, it premiered in December 29, 2015 online. Then on December 31, it started airing on Disney XD Japan. In 2020, due to Disney XD´s closure, the series moved to Disney Channel Japan. Strangely, you can find the Japanese version on Netflix by changing the language. In Germany, it premiered on Disney Channel Germany in 2015. In Brazil, it premiered on Disney Channel Brazil on September 29, 2015, then in November 2015 it premiered on Disney XD Brazil. In 2016, it started airing on SBT. You can find the show on Netflix and HBO Max (HBO Max launched in Latin America in June 2021.). In Korea, the series' premiere started on Disney Channel Korea in September 2015, then Disney Junior acquired the series in December 2015. In Persian countries, the series airs on Disney Channel Persia. In Kenya, it premiered on Disney Channel Kenya. In Spain, it premiered on Disney Channel Spain in 2015 and on Disney Junior Spain in 2016. In Portugal, it premiered on Disney Channel Portugal in November 2015. In 11 January 2016, it premiered on Disney Junior Portugal. The series can be found on Netflix. Internationally, PJ Masks is airing on Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior. Characters
SeasonsFor a list of episodes, click here: Trivia
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