The Backyardigans
Format	Animated television series
Created by	Janice Burgess
Starring	Jake Goldberg Jordan Coleman LaShawn Tináh Jefferies Jonah Bobo Naelee Rae
Country of origin	Canada
Language(s)	English
No. of episodes	58 (as of April 25 2008, 54 have currently shown) (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Janice Burgess Robert Scull
Running time	approx. 24 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Nickelodeon
Original run	November 22, 2004 – Present
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Backyardigans is a Canadian 3-D CGI-animated^[1] children's TV series, created by Janice Burgess. It is a joint production of Nick Jr. and the Canadian animation studio Nelvana. Debuting on November 22, 2004, it originally had 20 episodes. It aired on CBS from October 2004 until September 2006. Music for the show is written by Evan Lurie, of The Lounge Lizards, and Douglas Wieselman. The characters are designed by children's book author and illustrator Dan Yaccarino. Image File history File links Backyardigans. ... An animated series or cartoon series is a television series produced by means of animation. ... Janice Burgess is the creator and executive producer of The Backyardigans, a new CGI-animated series on Nick Jr. ... LaShawn Tinah Jefferies (born 1996) is an American actress. ... Bobo in Around the Bend Jonah Bobo (born January 24, 1997) is an American actor. ... Naelee Rae is a singer and actress. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This is a complete list of episodes from The Backyardigans animated TV show. ... This article is about the TV channel. ... is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Television content rating systems are a method of giving television viewers an idea of the suitability of a television program for children and/or adults. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... Main articles: History of Canada, Timeline of Canadian history Canada has been inhabited by aboriginal peoples (known in Canada as First Nations) for at least 40,000 years. ... This article is about process of creating 3D computer graphics. ... Computer-generated imagery[1] (also known as CGI) is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media. ... Childrens television series are television programmes designed for and marketed to children, normally aired during the morning and afternoon hours, mainly before and after school. ... Janice Burgess is the creator and executive producer of The Backyardigans, a new CGI-animated series on Nick Jr. ... Nick Jr. ... This article is about the entertainment company. ... is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the broadcast network. ... Evan Lurie (born 28 September 1954 in Worcester, Massachusetts) is an American composer and musician. ... The Lounge Lizards are a jazz group formed in 1978 by saxophone player John Lurie. ... Dan Yaccarino (b. ...

On April 30, 2006, Nelvana and Nickelodeon jointly announced that twenty new episodes were ordered for the upcoming fall schedule.^[2] In the UK, the second season debuted on 30 October, 2006. The third season was released in Canada in March 2008, and the series made its Australian debut in the same year. is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Plot

The show is an animated musical-adventure series aimed at children between the ages of 2 and 5^[3]. In each episode, the show's five preschool friends—Pablo, Tyrone, Uniqua, Tasha, and Austin—rely on their vivid imaginations to transform their backyard into completely different worlds, in which they go through many sorts of stories and adventures. The time-frame of the show can range from a few hours to more than one full day, but in reality, the story always ends just in time for one of them to invite the others for a snack. The episodes focus on the stories as much as they do on music and dancing, with each one featuring a different music genre (such as big band, reggae, Spaghetti Western, polka, Motown, and disco) and four new songs, usually with at least one rearrangement of a well-known or traditional song. Not all of the characters are in each episode. The bouncing ball animation (below) consists of these 6 frames. ... The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. ... The quintessential adventure film. ... Child picking up book. ... For other uses, see Imagination (disambiguation). ... A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s, although there are many big-bands around nowadays. ... Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. ... Once Upon a Time in the West, in true Sergio Leone style, ends with an extended shootout scene between Harmonica (Charles Bronson) and Frank (Henry Fonda). ... Street musicians in Prague playing a polka Polka is a fast, lively Central European dance, and also a genre of dance music. ... The Motown Sound is a style of soul music with distinctive characteristics, including the use of tambourine along with drums, bass instrumentation, a distinctive melodic and chord structure, and a call and response singing style originating in gospel music. ... This article is about the music genre. ... Traditional Music is a quasi-synonym for folk music. ...

Characters and voice cast

Each of the five characters on the show has two vocal actors: one for the speaking parts, and one for the singing parts. In the United States and Canada, the voice actors are all actual children.

The dancing on the show is first done by live-action dancers, and their movements are later transported to animation. Choreographer Beth Bogush describes the process: "What we do is we film live footage in the studio and then they send that off and they do a Leica, and then they send it to the animators. And the animators just watch, and they're pretty precise. What we film for that day is pretty close to what you see in the character."^[4] Traditional animation, also referred to as classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation, is the oldest and historically the most popular form of animation. ...

Pablo

Pablo, a bubbly blue penguin, famous for his blue bow tie and his blue and yellow propeller hat, is the one who most often has the ideas. Due to his energy and impetuousness, he takes the lead in many situations, but often goes into a "panic attack" when he faces an obstacle, running around in circles and blabbering nonsense–"Oh boy! Oh boy! Don't lose your heads! We'll find a way out! Oh, boy! Oh no! Oh man! Oh man!"–until someone interrupts him to propose a solution with "Pablo...Pablo?...PABLO!", at which point he stops, turns to the character and calmly asks "Yeah?". Modern genera Aptenodytes Eudyptes Eudyptula Megadyptes Pygoscelis Spheniscus For prehistoric genera, see Systematics Some penguins are curious. ...

Occasionally, there are episodes in which Pablo does not have one of his "panic attacks". Alternatively, in some episodes another character will have a similar "panic attack". In "Pirate Treasure" Pablo has two panic attacks - once before crossing a palm tree bridge and the other when the treasure is buried again, and lost. The number of panic attacks decreased considerably in the second season, though in episodes such as The Legend of the Volcano Sisters and The Swamp Creature, other characters panic along with him.

One panic attack Pablo has in "Surf's Up" isn't a full panic attack. Instead, he gets overexcited after he finally finds Tiki Beach.

Pablo may be intentionally referenced in an episode of another Nickelodeon show The Wonder Pets, in which Ming-Ming runs into a cuckoo-cuckoo clock, from which a blue bird pops out and she asks it "Do you have a cousin named Pablo?" Linny, Tuck, and Ming-Ming are The Wonder Pets Wonder Pets is an American animated childrens television series. ...

Speaking voice: Zach Tyler Eisen (Season 1), Jake Goldberg (Season 2-present)

Singing voice: Sean Curley Sean Curley (born 1996) is an American actor. ...

Dancer: Tasha Cooper

Tyrone

A good-natured (and sometimes fearful) red-haired orange moose, he is Pablo's best friend, and almost his complete opposite in terms of personality. He is laid-back, cool-headed, and known for his ironic comments–for example, "That most certainly is!" and "That certainly is convenient!" upon the arrival of some sort of deus ex machina. At the end of every episode, he remarks, "That was an excellent (type) adventure, don't you think?" (This was intentionally self-parodied at the end of "Tale of the Mighty Knights", when Tyrone said it was an 'egg-cellent' knightly adventure.) Despite not appearing to wear trousers (except on rare occasions, such as "Race Around the World"), Tyrone somehow manages to put his hands in his pockets. For other uses, see Moose (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Deus ex machina (disambiguation). ...

Speaking voice: Reginald Davis, Jr. (Season 1), Jordan Coleman (Season 2-present) Reginald Davis, Jr. was Tyrone's speaking voice for "Mission to Mars", "Scared of You", and "Samurai Pie".

Singing voice: Corwin C. Tuggles (Season 1), Leon G. Thomas III (Season 2), Tyrel Jackson Williams (Season 3) This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Dancer: Greg Sinacori

Uniqua

A curious, self-confident and high-spirited pink creature with polka dots and overalls, she is almost always sweet and friendly, though her strong opinions and occasional stubbornness get in the way of her relationships. She is more tomboyish than Tasha, and often imagines herself in roles requiring brains and fortitude (scientist, pirate captain, etc). More than once, when she has got the mystery solved she will interject with a "You guys!" Look up overall in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Tomboy (disambiguation). ...

Uniqua is a unique creature that is unlike any other in the world, and Uniqua is also the name of her species.^[5] Creator Janice Burgess describes Uniqua as the child she wishes she was like as a child. ^[6] She has been called simply "Uniqua, the pink" in Knights Are Brave and Strong. Janice Burgess is the creator and executive producer of The Backyardigans, a new CGI-animated series on Nick Jr. ...

Speaking voice: LaShawn Tináh Jefferies LaShawn Tinah Jefferies (born 1996) is an American actress. ...

Singing voice: Jamia Simone Nash Jamia Simone Nash (born August 21, 1996 in Virginia Beach, Virginia) is an American child singer and actor. ...

Dancer: Hattie May Williams

Austin

A fun-loving purple kangaroo who moved into the block recently; ^[7] this makes him a little shy on some occasions (such as the episode Castaways), and reluctant to join in. He is also very self-confident, and tries to help his friends whenever they need, sometimes in quirky ways. Says Bogush: "Austin's usually the one pulling up the rear. He's kind of a get-along guy."^[4] Species Macropus rufus Macropus giganteus Macropus fuliginosus Macropus antilopinus A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning large foot). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the Red Kangaroo, the Antilopine Kangaroo, and the Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroo...

Speaking voice: Jonah Bobo Bobo in Around the Bend Jonah Bobo (born January 24, 1997) is an American actor. ...

Singing voice: Thomas Sharkey

Dancer: Kristine Frost

Although rarely appearing in the spotlight, he does take the role of the "main" (or most focused on) character in only two episodes: Race Around the World and Castaways in season one. In season two, his main role also limited to two episodes: Samurai Pie and Scared of You. Finally, and most recently, season three still includes him as the main character in the following episodes: Le Master of Disguise, Caveman's Best Friend and Pirate Camp.

Tasha

A little girl hippopotamus, in red shoes and a flowered dress. Of the five characters, she is the only one who wears shoes at all times. Tasha is Uniqua’s much-admired and always eagerly-awaited play date. She looks sweet as pie but underneath her extra girly exterior beats the heart of a CEO -- tough-as-nails, take-no-prisoners, my-way-or-the-highway kind of gal. She's rational, skeptical, and highly motivated to get her own way. But it's always special for Uniqua when Tasha is there, because she's someone who can also be giggly, silly and full of fun. Hippo redirects here. ...

Speaking Voice: Naelee Rae Naelee Rae is a singer and actress. ...

Singing Voice: Kristin Klabunde Kristin Danielle Klabunde (born September 12, 1991, in New Jersey) is an American actress. ...

Dancer: Darlene Dirstine

Common Catchphrase: 'Oh for Goodness Sake'

In season one, Austin was present in eleven of the twenty episodes, while Tasha appeared in twelve. Uniqua, Pablo and Tyrone were featured in all episodes. The five characters were together in five episodes, and both Tasha and Austin were absent in two episodes. There is no official explanation to Austin and Tasha's occasional absence. In season two, episodes featuring all five characters are much more frequent, but Tasha and Austin are still occasionally absent. In season three's "Chichen Itza Pizza," however, Tasha is present while Pablo is absent, a first time for the series. Also for the first time for the series, Tyrone is absent in season three's "Pirate Camp" making Uniqua so far the only character to appear in every single episode.

Sherman

Two episodes in the first season, The Heart of the Jungle and Polka Palace Party , feature a character called Sherman the Worman, an intelligent yellow with orange polka-dotted worm who talks in gibberish, although Tyrone seems to understand him. Sherman is present before the backyard is transformed via imagination, and so is presumably "real" in the context of the show, although in both episodes, he is left behind in the "imaginary" world, in the company of a number of other Wormans. This is a complete list of episodes from The Backyardigans animated TV show. ... This is a complete list of episodes from The Backyardigans animated TV show. ... For other uses, see Worm (disambiguation). ...

Wormans also appear in the third season episode What's Bugging You?, though these wormans are somewhat different, in that their typical 'speech' is meeping instead of gibberish and they are capable of speaking (high-pitched) English. This is a complete list of episodes from The Backyardigans animated TV show. ...

Other characters

Mission to Mars features an alien mom, voiced by Alicia Keys; an alien baby, voiced by Shakira Lipscomb; and Rover, a dog-like surface vehicle, as guest stars. In the UK version of the show, the baby alien is voiced by Maria Darling, but this has the unfortunate effect of having the baby sound exactly like Tasha (also voiced by Darling); given that Tasha is seen providing the "boinga, boinga, boinga" sound during the pre-imaginary portion of the episode, however, this may be intentional. Alicia Keys vocal is not affected by the normal "Anglicization" that is common in the UK version of the show. The small alien is also featured at the end of Newsflash, though it isn't the same alien as in Mission to Mars and doesn't appear to be a baby. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Alicia Keys (born Alicia J. Augello-Cook on January 25, 1981[2][3][4]) is an American R&B, soul, and neo soul singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress who has sold over 25 million albums worldwide as of 2007, and has won numerous awards, including eleven Grammy Awards, eleven Billboard... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a domestic subspecies of the wolf, a mammal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. ... Maria Darling is an English voice actress who regularly provides charcter voices for childrens television programmes in the UK. She has provided voices in the UK versions of a number of programs, including:- Backyardigans, The - Tasha, Uniqua, Austin Fifi and the Flowertots - Primrose, Violet. ... Anglicisation is a process of making something English. ...

Tale of the Mighty Knights has an egg which makes its own unique sound. It is called Eggbert by Uniqua & Tyrone, Eggwin by the Grabbin' Goblin (aka Austin), and Eggie by the Flighty Fairy (Tasha). The egg later hatches into a baby dragon.

It's Great to Be a Ghost and Secret Mission include voices near the end of the episode that do not come from any of the main characters. They're rumored to have come from Evan Lurie, one of the show's composers. There are also announcer voices at the beginning of the newscast in Newsflash, and throughout Tale of the Mighty Knights.

"The Legend of the Volcano Sisters" has a clam that sounds like a puppy and even pants and barks. It is know as "The Angriest Clam," but Pablo also calls it "Clammy" when trying to get its attention.

People or Animals?

Even though all of the main characters are animals, they very seldom act like those animals or even acknowledge that they are, in fact, animals. For example, in Into the Deep, mermaids Uniqua and Tasha refer to Pablo and Tyrone as "people", in Mission to Mars, Uniqua sings that the astronauts have discovered "a new planet for the whole human race" and in Cops and Robots, Pablo mentions wanting to '"run around and play like a human boy". This is further complicated by props which show human beings, such as soccer posters of Pelé and Mia Hamm ("Monster Detectives") and portraits ("Scared of You"), as well as human-traditional suits of armor ("Knights are Brave and Strong") and sarcophagi ("Secret Mission") However, there are a few isolated incidents in which they acknowledge their animal nature: For an article about the 1990 movie Mermaids, see Mermaids (movie) A mermaid is a legendary creature with a female human head and torso (if its male, its called a merman) and the tail of a fish, which inhabits the water. ... For other uses, see Astronaut (disambiguation). ... This article is about modern humans. ... Soccer redirects here. ... Pele redirects here. ... Mia Hamm (born Mariel Margaret Hamm on March 17, 1972 in Selma, Alabama) is a former American soccer player. ... A sarcophagus is a stone container for a coffin or body. ...

1. In Secret Mission, there are direct references to Tyrone's species and his antlers on the song Laser Limbo Tango ("keep those antlers near the floor", as well as "secret agent limbo moose").
2. In "The Yeti", Tyrone's section of the song Row Your Boat includes the line, "Moving kind of wobbly 'cause my antlers rock the boat".
3. In Mission to Mars, as Pablo is falling off the cliff, he desperately tries to fly by flapping his wings, even though - being a penguin - he wouldn't be able to fly, though it is possible that due to the fact that he was falling he was possibly flailing his arms in fear rather than a flight attempt.
4. In International Super Spy, Uniqua refers to Tasha as a hippo.
5. In It's Great to be a Ghost Tyrone calls himself a "Scaredy moose" and he says that he has "Moose-bumps" (a parody of goose bumps).
6. In Knights Are Brave and Strong Tyrone is also referred to as the "Moose of the Mist".
7. During the opening intro, when Pablo sings "In the place where we belong", he does a little waddle like a penguin.

(Although not a species reference, a visual comment is made by Tasha in "The Swamp Creature" when she calls Austin "my purple friend".) Goose bumps on a human Goose bumps, also called goose pimples, goose flesh, chill bumps, chicken skin, or the medical term cutis anserina, are the bumps on a persons skin at the base of body hairs which involuntarily develop when a person is cold or experiences strong emotions such...

1. "Real" animals such as horses appear in certain episodes.

Setting

The characters live in houses adjoining a large, common backyard that is transformed by imagination into various adventure settings. Each house roughly corresponds to the color scheme of the character: Pablo lives in a blue house, Uniqua in a pink one, Tasha's is yellow and Tyrone's is orange. Austin's is partially obscured by a fence but what is seen is purple. The fence has an Austin-sized door in it, through which Austin can occasionally sneak into the adventure after the other characters are playing (as in Castaways, Surf's Up and High Tea). The curve of the street allows the play area to be roughly equal in distance to each house's back door.

In Season One, none of the characters had snacks at Austin's, whose house is at opposite end of the backyard. Eleven of the episodes end at Uniqua's, four end at Tyrone's, five end at Pablo's, and one ends at Tasha's. In Season Two's Whodunit, Austin suggests the snack for the first time.

Not everything that appears in the imaginary world has a real-world partner. Often trees, boulders, brickwork etc. appears where nothing originally existed. By the same token even large trees in the real garden disappear completely into nothingness when the imagination part of the story takes over. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Tree (disambiguation). ... Categories: Stub ...

Presumably some gardening has taken place between the first and second series. In the first series houses which stand "over the road", could barely be seen through quite dense shrubbery between the main characters' houses; those of Tyrone, Pablo and Uniqua. However, in the second series, the shrubbery is much reduced, and the houses and street outside can be more clearly seen.

Props

The characters often pull items out of thin air, or from behind their backs–a technique known in animation as hammerspace. The episode "Eureka!" had a running gag in which Pablo would search for certain items on his saddlebag, pulling out enormous objects in the process (e.g. a tuba, a surfboard and a fully inflated rubber dinghy). Examples of Hammerspace pictured in a WikiWorld cartoon Hammerspace is a fan-envisioned extradimensional, instantly accessible storage area in fiction, which is used to explain how animated, comic and game characters can produce objects out of thin air. ... Medium size seatbag mounted to road saddle Illustration of medium size seatbag maximum capacity In cycling, a saddlebag or seat bag is a bag attached under the saddle, used mainly to hold bicycle repair equipment, such as spare inner tubes, tube patches, glue, repair tools and waterproofs. ... For other uses, see Tuba (disambiguation). ... A stack of boards in Waikiki during a surf competition lalalala yeshhhh Surfboards are long, buoyant decks used in the sport of surfing. ... Two inflatable boats at Horsea Island, England. ...

Other examples include occasions in "Riding the Range", where Tyrone could produce a seemingly inexhaustible supply of apples, "The Snow Fort", where Tasha and Uniqua each have a rucksack that contains a rescue kit, including shovels, hooks, and suction cups, "Race Around the World", where Austin has a racing pack in which he keeps numerous items, such as a hook, rope, plasters, and a water bottle, "High Tea", in which Tasha manages to store tea-leaves, a teapot and four cups and saucers in a small clutch handbag (Irrespective of this feat, she is able to produce a fifth identical cup and saucer from behind her after Austin arrives at the end) and "The Quest for the Flying Rock" where Tyrone produces a rope from his belt, in order to assist in the climbing of a sand dune which was not seen in any shot before or after this point. For other uses, see Apple (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Band Aid can refer to: BAND-AID, a brand of adhesive bandage Band Aid, a musical ensemble raising money for famine relief. ... A water bottle may be any of the following: A container that holds bottled water A bottle, typically used for carrying water during exercise, such as for cycling (a bidon) or a Nalgene brand of bottle or similar. ... Coils of rope used for long-line fishing A rope (IPA: ) is a length of fibers, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. ... This article is about the sand formations, for other meanings see Dune (disambiguation) Mesquite Flat Dunes in Death Valley National Park In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by eolian (wind-related) processes. ...

One school of thought is that there must be a veritable treasure trove of items in the backyard, since the characters never go in for their snack carrying any items, even those that they had in their hands before going into the adventure. Some of the items that are presumably lying around in the garden include ski-poles, a stetson hat, face masks and a tuba.

Several props appear in the same, or similar form, in multiple episodes. Small, hand-held items, like shovels can be seen in numerous episodes as well as a number of items in Clementine's saddle-bag in "Eureka!" including Tyrone's tuba from "Polka Palace Party", Pablos' blue surfboard from "Surf's Up!" and the painting from "It's Great To be a Ghost". "Secret Mission" has two recurring props, the tiki beach statue from "Surf's Up! (actually, three of them) and the diamond from "Pirate Treasure". In "Cops and Robots" the key to the robot factory is a scaled-down and recolored (blue) version of the Key To The World seen in "Race to the Tower of Power". Several props from earlier shows show up as background clutter, including a surfboard, skis, throne, and accordion, in both the Grabbing Goblins cave in ""Tale of the Mighty Knights", and Sultan Tyrones treasure store in "Movers of Arabia".

It appears that some of the items seen before the scenery changes are just as imaginary as after. Examples of this include a scene at the start of "Eureka!", which has Tyrone and Pablo digging a hole several feet deep in the sandbox which is shown to be just a few inches high, and "Race to the Tower of Power" which illustrates all the characters' powers before the scene-change... including Austin, as Captain Hammer, turning a yellow shovel from the sandbox into an umbrella. The slide is presumably both real and imaginary, since Uniqua is shown to use the slide as a normal slide at the start of "Castaways", but in "Race to the Tower of Power" it is shown covered in goo, and less than a foot high, after being attacked by Dr Shrinky (Tyrone) and Yucky Man (Pablo). Disputing this idea is the fact that a number of items remain consistently "real" during the show, including jumpropes - such as Uniqua's in "Ridin' the Range" and Tyrone's in "High Tea". Perhaps it is simply that each part of the garden can be whatever it needs to be in the imaginations of the characters. Look up slide in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

(While production value for the show is extremely high-especially in the little details, there is a continuity error in "Surf's Up!": When Austin is shown driving his dune buggy, his surfboard is in the back during wide shots, but vanishes during his close-ups and medium shots.)

UK version

In the UK, The Backyardigans are shown daily on Nick Jr., Nick Jr. 2 and Nick Jr. on TMF (formerly "Noggin on TMF"). The characters have been redubbed and in seasons 1 & 2 are voiced by three British actresses; Maria Darling (Tasha and Tyrone), Janet James (Pablo), and Lizzie Waterworth (Uniqua and Austin)^[8]. In the third season, Emma Tate (who also voices Destiny Angel in Captain Scarlet) took over the roles of Tasha and Tyrone from Maria Darling. Nick Jr. ... Nick Jr. ... TMF UK is a music video and entertainment channel in the United Kingdom (also broadcasts to Ireland), owned by MTV Networks Europe. ... Maria Darling is an English voice actress who regularly provides charcter voices for childrens television programmes in the UK. She has provided voices in the UK versions of a number of programs, including:- Backyardigans, The - Tasha, Uniqua, Austin Fifi and the Flowertots - Primrose, Violet. ... Lizzie Waterworth is an English voice actress who provides a range of voices for UK television, including character voices for childrens television, Commercials and Documentary. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... This article is about the computer animated series from 2005. ...

In the British version, certain words and phrases that are not in common usage in British English are translated, such as "soccer" to "football" and "diapers" to "nappies". This naturally leads to some minor lip-synch issues, but most children would not notice these. Also in the British version, several of the snacks are different, since items like s'mores are not generally known in the UK, while others like granola bars are known by different names. A smore is a traditional campfire treat consisting of a roasted marshmallow and a slab of chocolate, sandwiched between two pieces of Graham cracker. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

The ordering of episodes is not as consistent in the UK as is in the United States. For example, in the UK Secret of Snow was originally shown out of sequence, after The Legend of The Volcano Sisters. The final episode out of sequence, Special Delivery was eventually shown in the UK for the first time on 13 August 2007. There was a considerable break between the Horsing Around episode, which was shown in April and this episode. "International Super Spy" was finally shown during Nick Jr's "Backyardigans Biggest Adventure Ever!" Weekend, 24th and 25th November 2007, and was the final episode from Season two to be broadcast. is the 225th day of the year (226th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

The third season began broadcasting on Nick Jr. and Nick Jr. 2 during March 2008, although some episodes were again shown out of order. Based on the Episode list below, all episodes up to and including "Front Page News" have been broadcast (At 1 April 2008)

DVD releases

As of April 2008, all thirty-nine episodes of seasons 1 and 2 and 11 episodes of season 3 have been released on DVD for the North American region. There are nine collections of four episodes each: It's Great to Be a Ghost (2005), The Snow Fort (2005), Polka Palace Party (2006), Cave Party (2006), Surf's Up (2006), Mission to Mars (2006), The Legend of the Volcano Sisters (2007), Movers and Shakers (2007), Into the Deep (2007), High Flying Adventures (2008), Mighty Match Up (2008), and two collections of three episodes: Super Secret Super Spy (2007), and Tale of the Mighty Knights (2008). DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc - see Etymology) is a popular optical disc storage media format. ...

In addition, individual episodes also appear in the Nick Jr Favorites DVDs: - "The Quest for the Flying Rock" on Nick Jr Favorites DVD volume 2. - "Race to the Tower of Power" on Nick Jr Favorites DVD volume 3. - "Pirate Treasure" on Nick Jr Favorites DVD volume 4.

In the UK, only the Cave Party, Polka Palace Party, "Snow Fort" and Surf's Up DVDs have been released, as of April 2008. These use the UK voices and language variations, although an early CD release of some of the songs from the show used the American voices. The UK DVDs also feature audio for French (France), Spanish (Spain), Italian, Swedish, and German. German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ...

The second through fifth DVD collections and Super Secret Super Spy include a second audio track in French (Canadian). Nelvana, the company producing the animation for The Backyardigans, is based in Canada, which is officially bilingual. The tempos of several songs are changed to match the French lyrics for both France and Canada, and the characters refer to themselves as "Les Mélodilous" in the opening and closing songs. Also, Tyrone is known as Théo and Uniqua as Victoria. Bilingual (English/French) stop sign on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. ... For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ...

Episodes

For more details about these episodes, see List of Backyardigans episodes. This is a complete list of episodes from The Backyardigans animated TV show. ...

Season One

1. "Pirate Treasure"
2. "The Heart of the Jungle"
3. "The Yeti"
4. "The Snow Fort"
5. "Secret Mission"
6. "It's Great to Be a Ghost"
7. "Riding the Range"
8. "The Key to the Nile"
9. "Knights Are Brave and Strong"
10. "Viking Voyage"
11. "Castaways"
12. "Race to the Tower of Power"
13. "The Quest for the Flying Rock"
14. "Polka Palace Party"
15. "Surf's Up!"
16. "Cave Party"
17. "Race Around the World"
18. "Monster Detectives"
19. "Eureka!"
20. "High Tea" (also referred to as "The Tea Party")

Season Two

1. "Mission to Mars"
2. "Samurai Pie"
3. "Scared of You"
4. "Whodunit?"
5. "The Legend of the Volcano Sisters"
6. "The Swamp Creature"
7. "Horsing Around"
8. "Special Delivery"
9. "The Secret of Snow"
10. "Movers of Arabia"
11. "Cops and Robots"
12. "Save the Day"
13. "Sinbad Sails Alone"
14. "Best Clowns in Town"
15. "Into the Deep"
16. "Newsflash"
17. "Catch That Butterfly"
18. "A Giant Problem"
19. "International Super Spy" (Parts one and two)

Season Three

1. "Who Goes There?"
2. "Blazing Paddles"
3. "Garbage Trek"
4. "Fly Girl"
5. "What's Bugging You?"
6. "Chichen-Itza Pizza"
7. "To The Center of The Earth"
8. "Front Page News!"
9. "The Tale of the Mighty Knights"
10. "Le Master of Disguise"
11. "Match on Mt. Olympus"
12. "The Great Dolphin Race"
13. "Caveman’s Best Friend"
14. "Ranch Hands From Outer Space"
15. "Robin Hood The Clean"
16. "Escape From Fairytale Village"
17. "Pirate Camp"
18. "The Two Musketeers"
19. "The Masked Retriever"

Toys, Books, Games etc.

Activision released the Backyardigans PC game, Mission to Mars in October 2006. In addition, there are interactive Backyardigans games available for the LeapPad and VTech's V.Smile consoles. Austin fans may be disappointed to learn that the V.Smile game is of the "Viking Voyage" adventure, in which he does not appear. There is also a LeapFrog ClickStart Game that is Backyardigans themed called "Number Pie Samurai" which allows children to join the Backyardigans for early computer skills: Using technology with music mousing, and teaches essential pre-school skills: Instrumental sounds, musical exploration, and numbers counting. Activision, Inc. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Video Technology Ltd. ... V.Smile is an educational game system by VTech. ...

A book, titled Here Come the Backyardigans is available in the UK. The story involves Uniqua playing hide-and-seek with, and searching for - Pablo. During the journey, Uniqua finds Austin, Tasha and Tyrone in different places (such as the Snow Fort and the Pirate Ship) Strangely, some characters are found in "locations" that they have never been shown to visit (such as Austin being found in the Snow Fort - he was not in that episode). Hide and seek is a childrens game. ...

Also released are the story books for the "Pirate Treasure", "Race to the Tower of Power" and "The Secret of the Nile" episodes. Other, more educational books (dealing with things like numbers, counting etc.) were also released in 2007.

Numerous cuddly toys and interactive character toys (mostly Pablo, Uniqua and Tyrone) are also available. Some involve the toy singing songs and using well-known phrases from some of the episodes. There are also Beanie toys of all the main characters available. Beanie Baby with its ty tag Ty Inc. ...

Closing theme

All the characters sing and dance during the closing song. In the first season's episodes, when there is an even number of boy and girl characters–that is, when Tasha is present and Austin is not–they pair off and dance together. This does not happen in the second season.

While the end music fades, all the characters then run into the house of the character that offered the snacks. The view then expands to a "bird's-eye-view". One character (or more) opens the door, jumps into the doorway and uses the catchphrase of the respective episode, then goes back inside.

In the episode "Knights are Brave and Strong", Tasha invites everyone over to a snack but they go into Uniqua's house. This is not the only episode where they do not have a snack at the house of the inviter, as this also occurs several times in season two, but was the only time this happened in the first season.

Ending Credits

This is a list of all who are involved with The Backyardigans. These credits were taken directly from the episode The Tea Party in season one.

Supervising Directors- David Palmer, Robert Scull
Supervising Art director- Jonny Belt
Head Writer- McPaul Smith
Musical Director- Evan Lurie
Directors- Bill Giggie, Michael Shiell
Supervising Producer- Scott Dyer
Producer- Pam Lehn
Technical Producer- Mac Holyoke
Line Producer- Ruta Cube
Storyboard Artist- Lyndon Ruddy
Storyboard Cleanup- Peter Roe
Timing Director- Larry Cariou
Production Coordinator- Jennifer Hill
Featuring the voices of- Jonah Bobo, Sean Curley, Reginald Davis Jr., Zach Tyler Eisen, LaShawn Tinah Jefferies, Kristin Danielle Klabunde, Jamia Simone Nash, Naelee Rae, Thomas Sharkey, Corwin C. Tuggies
Voice Director- Koyalee Chanda
Casting- Melissa Chusid, Michelle Levitt
Production dialogue and music engineering- Dubway Studios, Steven Alvarato, Mike Crehone, Jason Marcucci, Keith Rigling
Choreographer- Beth Bogush
Dancers- Tasha Cooper, Darlene Dirstine, Kristin Frost, Greg Sinacori, Hattie Mae Williams Lyrics by- Radha Blank, McPaul Smith
Musicians- Isaac Anderson, Don Falzone, Ivan Goff, Matthew Mancuso, Tommy McDonnell III, Doug Wieselman
Design Supervisor- Blayne Burnside
Modeling Supervisor- Fred Ni
Art Director- Gary Hunt
Animation Director- Brian Harris
Animation Supervisor- Peter Thorup
Lip Sync Supervisor- Peter Hudecki
Lip Sync Artist- Joanne Rice
Animators- Jeff Astolfo, Dana Boadway, Philip Bonner, Dejan Brujic, Miguel Cura, Dalibor Dejanovic, Jennifer Dickie, Darren Donovan, Tara Donovan, Scott Glynn, Matthew Grabynski, Andy Gravelle, Scott Heatherly, David Ibarreta, Don Kim, Greg Koracs, Chris Lam, Matthew Lyon, Luc Marier, Mark Mariutto, Chris Megaw, Dan Merisann, Sara Newman, Keith Oliver, Jeff Robinson, Brad Semple, Joan I Staveley, Amy Tepperman
Technical Supervisor- Jason Reeves
Technical Crew- Dave Altman, Johnny Berbasov, Darin Bristow, Darren Kirkness, Bill Pong, Jenn Sheasby
Lighting Supervisor- Marg Mehie
Lighting- Pal Teolis
Picture Editor- Stephanie Duncan
Online Editor- Doug Appeldoorn
Assistant Picture Editor- Kevan Byrne, Robert Henry
Director Production Engineering- Eric Flaherty
Data Managers- Bob Chin, Chris Giggie
Production Engineering- Brian Briceno, Michael Worth
Programming- Nelson Yu
Director Audio/Video Post Production- Helen Lebeau
Senior Post Production Manager- Glen Pollock
Post Production Manager- Paul Jub
Digital Media Technical- Jeff Howard
Post Production Assistant- Joey Aguiar
Breakdown/Splitting Supervisor- Jean Vanhaelen
Breakdown- Terry Carter, Ed Kodar, Geoff Walton
Scanner- John Lyors
Audio Supervisor- Ryan Araki
Dialogue Editor- Brian Fraser
Sound Effect Editors- Eric Mattart Hurlbut, Glenn Barrn
Original theme music- Evan Lurie
Content Development Consultants- Dr. Laura Brown, Dr. Ivelisse Segui
Characters based on original designs by- Dan Yaccarino
Unit Manager- Sara Kamer
Script Coordinator- Kerri Grant
Design Coordinator- Douglas Allen
Production Assistants- John Crenny, Allie Strawbridge
Supervisor Producer- Ellen Martin
Co Executive Producers- Jonny Belt
Executive Producers- Janice Burgess, Robert Scull
Executive in charge of Production- Nick Jr., Kay Wilson Steelings

Notes

1. ^ Nelvana.com : Shows
2. ^ www.corusent.com/corporate/press_room/pressReleaseDetail.asp?id=1033. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
3. ^ http://www.nickjr.com/shows/backyardigans/back_about_show.jhtml
4. ^ ^{a b} www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1542683_3_0_,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
5. ^ http://www.nickjr.co.uk/shows/backyardigans/uniqua.aspx http://www.nelvana.com/shows/characters_template.asp?sid=125&cid=528&#char
6. ^ Meet the Creator of The Backyardigans!
7. ^ www.nelvana.com/shows/characters_template.asp?sid=125&cid=530&char. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
8. ^ Lizzie Waterworth - Just Voices Agency

2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Nick Jr. Backyardigans Page
• The Backyardigans at the Internet Movie Database
• TV.com episode guide
• Your Backyardigans opening theme song (1:00 min)
• The Backyardigans web page at TreeHouseTV.com
• The Backyardigans on noggin.com