Casey

Casey (full name Casey Cat) is a male cat character who first appeared in JumpStart Preschool (1995). He is generally depicted (at least since 1999) as fun-loving, active, and athletic.

In the past, he was often a mascot character for JumpStart's Preschool media, alongside Kisha, Eleanor and Pierre (see also: Preschool Gang).

Despite being a prominent character for many years, he has been dropped from the main cast of characters in recent times and ceases to appear. His last notable appearances were in the JumpStart Advanced series.

Appearance
In JumpStart Preschool (1995) and JumpStart Pre-K, Casey had cream-colored fur, one green eye, and one blue eye. He wore a white collar and a red tie.

In JumpStart Preschool (1999), his fur color has been changed to orange and both of his eyes are green. He wears a red T-shirt and a blue backwards baseball cap.

In JumpStart Preschool: Who Left the Juice in the Caboose?, JumpStart Kindergarten: Why Did the Bus Stop?, JumpStart Around the World and JumpStart ABC's, he is taller with skinnier arms and legs. His fur is yellow, and he has a tuft of dark orange hair hanging over his forehead. He still wears a red T-shirt and a blue backwards baseball cap.

In the JumpStart Advanced series, he has light orange fur and he wears a green T-shirt instead of a red one, but the rest of his appearance is fairly similar to his previous design.

Personality and Characteristics
Since at least the late 90's, Casey has often been depicted as energetic and enthusiastic, as well as somewhat prideful and reckless.

A biography for Casey on the old Knowledge Adventure site pertaining to his appearance in JumpStart Preschool (1995) stated that he grew up in San Jose, California, his favorite hobby is art projects, his favorite food is warm milk, and his favorite school subject is science (he is especially fond of experiments to prove Schrodinger's Cat hypothesis).

In JumpStart Preschool (1999), Casey has a bit of a mischievous streak. Sometimes he disrupts and annoys Kisha, and he tries to climb to high places where he has trouble getting down from.

In the JumpStart Advanced series, Casey's learning style is 'The Athlete'. JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade's manual says, "Casey teaches children using his bodily-kinesthetic learning style. He learns best by doing, and he uses his body to get ideas across."

On a now-defunct site for the JumpStart All-Stars, Casey's profile said, "An unstoppable ball of energy, Casey knows only two speeds: fast and faster! He loves sports, any kind of sports, and attention, and any kind of attention! His innate curiosity and propensity to act before he thinks often get him into trouble. Casey doesn't want to grow up and dreams only of the next big game." A printable trading card in JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade: Art Club says regarding the character, "Casey Cat is a true athlete. He's great at sports, stunts, and anything competitive."

In the Advanced series, while Casey is stated to like all kinds of sports and games, he seems to be mainly associated with soccer. On the JumpStart All-Stars selection and quiz screen, Casey's banner has a soccer ball on it. In JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade, his personal activity involves playing soccer, and he has his own soccer field in his backyard.

JumpStart Preschool (1995)
Casey is one of the main characters. He appears in a few of the activities.

JumpStart Pre-K (1996)
Casey appears in the Airport, the Construction Site, and the Park activities.

JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Haunted Island (1996)
Casey makes a cameo in the woods.



JumpStart Preschool (1999)
Casey appears in the activities "Toy Box", "Blocks", "Player Piano", and "Wagon and Balls". Unlike all of the other schoolhouse characters, Casey doesn't appear singularly in any activity. In the "Blocks" game, his bouncing around makes Kisha's blocks get scattered.

JumpStart ABC's (1999)
Casey hosts the Pizza Palace mini-game. The player can help him find letters inside the pizza resturant he owns. He also appears in most video clips and cutscenes, as he is a prime suspect for who left his drink in the caboose of the JumpStart train.

JumpStart Learning System: Phonics (1999)
Casey is a camper at Camp Readalot. He appears in the River Raft activity.

JumpStart Around the World (2000)
Casey is one of the player's travel buddies in the preschool version.

JumpStart Artist (2000)
Casey appears in the activity "Casey's Concentration". The player matches images to find clues about a painting, and then helps Casey select the correct painting.

JumpStart Advanced Preschool (2002)
Casey mainly appears in the Shape Tag and Balloon Animals activities. In Shape Tag, Casey will specify a certain kind of shape for the player to find. In Balloon Animals, Casey will ask for a certain number of balloons. After the player gives Casey the balloons he asked for, Casey will create a balloon animal.

Casey is also one of the JumpStart All-Stars. The player can select him as a partner and ask him for help.

JumpStart Advanced Kindergarten (2002)
Casey is one of the JumpStart All-Stars. The player can select him as a partner and ask him for help.

JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade: Fundamentals
The player can visit Casey at his house and play an activity, Casey's Soccer Field, there.

Casey is one of seven characters who can be selected to be the player's racer, and he has his own power-up, gadget, trick, and track. His power-up is the Game Ball, his gadget is the Soccer Ball Kicker, and his trick is the Robo-Soccer Goalie. His track is lined by white blocks, and the surrounding areas have sports equipment.

Casey is also one of the JumpStart All-Stars. The player can select him as a partner and ask him for help.

JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade: Fundamentals
Casey is an agent at JumpStart Headquarters.

Casey is also one of the JumpStart All-Stars. The player can select him as a partner and ask him for help.

JumpStart Sing-Along Time (2003)
Casey appears one last time in the intro song.

In Videos
Casey is a main character in JumpStart Preschool: Who Left the Juice in the Caboose?. He is one of Eleanor's prime suspects for who left his drink in the caboose of the JumpStart train.

Casey also made an appearance in JumpStart Kindergarten: Why Did the Bus Stop?.

In Books
Casey appears in all the Pre-K workbooks and Pre-K Readers, as well as some other Readers.

Quotes

 * "I'm Casey, and what I love most is action, action, and more action! I love to run, dance, play sports, and most of all, jump!" - JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade

Trivia

 * Casey is called Charley in the UK releases of the JumpStart Advanced series.