“The Backyardigans” are So Back

Television has influenced many generations. As someone who grew up watching Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, DisneyXD, and anything else I could get my hands on, I have a deep love of kid’s cartoons. I adore the idea of teaching through story and media and TV should  be used in the same way as literature and treated with the same respect. In my series “Lucy Looks At” I’ll be going back and reviewing the hit shows Generation Z grew up watching on Saturday mornings. Today I wanted to start with a show close to my heart: “The Backyardigans”.

“The Backyardigans” had a total run of 80 episodes from 2004 to 2013 with a recommended watcher age being two-eight years old. Remembered for its whimsical and wild episodes following the kids and their imaginative misadventures. This can be seen in some of their hit episodes like “Robot Rampage”, “Who dunnit”, “Tale of the Mighty Knights” and “International Super Spy.”  Among teens and young adults, it’s a childhood staple.

“I watched [‘The Backyardigans’] in elementary school,” said ACHS Senior Peter Monya. “It was a good show. It helped with my creativity at a young age.”

Specifically, their two-part special “Robot Rampage” stands out. In the episode, Austin, a robot repairman, is excitedly awaiting a robot to break down. Austin introduces his robot, Roscoe before getting a call from Uniqua; her robot, Reba, is malfunctioning after being ordered to bake cookies. Austin arrives and  a chase ensues, they discover a robotic bug inside Reba. The issue escalates as Tyrone reports his robot, Ripley, is stealing mailboxes due to a similar malfunction. The chase and catch repeat but shortly after, Tasha arrives in a flying car with her robot Racquel, which is out of control. Despite catching her, yet another bug is found. The chaos peaks and finally Pablo reveals he is controlling the robots with his robotic bugs and plans to take over Megacity, leading to a cliffhanger ending for part one.

I like these episodes because of their unique story telling. It’s almost like a utopian society that’s being threatened by Pablo and his bugs. I understand that could sound like a bit of a stretch but everything is perfect in megacity and robots never break until professor big or Pablo launches his plans. I like this episode because of its story telling and how it doesn’t dumb down the concepts too much for its younger audience.

One of the things that stands out the most about “The Backyardigans” is its music. It was catchy and I was pleasantly surprised with some of the advanced vocabulary. When Austin belted out the word bionic in the song “I’m a Robot Repairman”, I did a double take at the show’s educational quality. The show’s use of language isn’t patronizing, and instead feels like a genuine strive to treat their audience with a certain level of respect and maturity.While some things like the music and storytelling still hold up, the animation unfortunately dates the series. As an earlier exploration of 3D animation, the kids’ choppy movements and limited expressions pulls you out of the show and can disrupt your suspension of disbelief. Over the years it improved, but looking back on it you can tell it’s an old show. 

Though “The Backyardigans” has its faults, I still feel that it’s a good show because it teaches  how fun imaginary play can be, and it teaches simple messages like “be kind” “sharing is caring” and other typical messages seen in children’s shows. These messages are very important to me and to the children who grew up watching because it shows us how to interact with others kindly and respectfully and teaches people how to live in a world while still keeping a hold of their imagination.

Final Rating: 7/10