Bananas in Pyjamas

Did You Know?

• The pilot episode was titled Pink Mug.
• The CGI reboot contains 104 12-minute episodes.
• Development of the CGI series began in 2009.

Summary

The main characters are two anthropomorphic bananas named B1 and B2, along with three teddy bears (Amy, Lulu, and Morgan) and Rat in a Hat. They live on Cuddles Avenue, where the bananas patrol the beach, the teddies look after the park, and Rat in a Hat works at the community store. The characters enjoy munchy honeycakes and yellow jelly.

Production

The characters were inspired by a 1969 song by British composer Carey Blyton, which described bananas in pyjamas chasing teddy bears. The song was featured on the Australian version of Play School with an animation of bananas in blue-and-white striped pyjamas, leading to a banana plush toy that shaped B1 and B2's appearance. Creator, producer, and showrunner Helena Harris devised the program at ABC Studios; two bear characters, Amy and Morgan, are named after her children. The show used human actors in elaborate costumes, similar to Tweenies and Teletubbies. Initially, the actors inside the costumes also provided the voices, but later substitutes wore the costumes. A toy line by Tomy debuted in 1996.

Cultural impact

In 1990, Elizabeth Watts-Legg with Broomfield House School pupils performed a nursery rhyme version of Bananas in Pyjamas for the VHS Nursery Play Rhymes. The characters appeared among famous Australians during the parade of the 2000 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. In 2017, the Royal Australian Mint issued commemorative coins for the series' 25th anniversary, including a coloured five-cent coin depicting Rat-in-a-Hat and a twenty-cent coin showing B1 and B2.