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The Backyardigans is a Children's TV Series , created by Janice Burgess and animated using Computer-generated Imagery , shown on Nick Jr. Debuting in 2004, it currently has 20 Episodes . Music for the show is written by Evan Lurie , of The Lounge Lizards , and Douglas Wieselman . THE STORIES The show focuses on five friends who play together every day in their shared backyard. Using their imagination, they "transform" the backyard into completely different worlds, in which they have many adventures. Such adventures range from finding the secret of The River Nile to discovering uncharted lands as Vikings . The show is a Musical , and each episode has four songs (sometimes reprised more than once in an episode), some of them reworkings of traditional tunes. A different musical genre is featured in every episode, ranging from R&B and Jazz to Tango and Reggae . CHARACTERS & VOICE CAST
The members of the voice cast are actual children. Even though the show uses CGI, the dance scenes are based on live-action dancers. Pablo, Tyrone and Uniqua appear in all 20 episodes. Tasha appears in 12 and Austin in 11. Even though Uniqua is described as "one-of-a-kind", her species has been a point of discussion among some of the show's fans. Many argue that she's a kind of bug, like an ant (because of her antennae) or a ladybug (because of the coloured spots over her body). Others suggest that she comes from another planet. DVD RELEASES Of the twenty episodes, 18 have been released on DVD . As of March 2006, there are four collections of four episodes each: ''It's Great to Be a Ghost'' (2005), ''The Snow Fort'' (2005), ''Polka Palace Party'' (2006), and ''Cave Party'' (2006). A fifth collection, ''Surf's Up'', is scheduled for a May 30, 2006 release. In addition, "The Quest for the Flying Rock" and "Race to the Tower of Power" appear respectively on volumes 2 and 3 of the ''Nick Jr Favorites'' DVDs. The second through fourth DVD collections include a second audio track in French . Nelvana , the company producing the animation for The Backyardigans, is based in Canada , which is officially Bilingual . Several song Tempo s are changed to match the French lyrics, and the characters refer to themselves as "Les Mélodilous" in the opening and closing songs. SYNOPSES AND SONG LISTINGS The Yeti Tyrone and Uniqua track Yeti Pablo through the Frozen North, accompanied by Frozen North expert Tasha, who insists that there's no such thing as a yeti.
Catchphrase: Yeti yeti yeti yeti! Genre: Funk Knights Are Brave and Strong Uniqua the Pink is sent by Queen Tasha to take a message to the Castle of King Austin. She encounters Tyrone and Pablo along the way, and together the three overcome Obstacles .
Catchphrase: Ta tadadaaa! Genre: Big Band Pirate Treasure Two rival groups of Pirates --Uniqua and Austin, and Pablo and Tyrone--each have half of a Treasure Map .
Catchphrase: Arrr! Genre: Reggae and Ska The Heart of the Jungle Three Tarzans -- Tyrone, Pablo and Austin -- seek to return Sherman the Worman to his jungle home, accompanied by the scientist Uniqua.
Catchphrase: Waaaaaooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaoooooooooooooaaaaaaaooooooo! Genre: Gilbert & Sullivan Secret Mission Secret agents Pablo, Uniqua and Tyrone have a mission: sneak into a museum to return a mysterious item to its rightful owner.
Catchphrase: Shhh... and Dun, Dun Dun! Genre: Tango Riding the Range Cowboy Tyrone is on his way to Texas for a hoedown, and he comes across a trio of fellow cowboys - Pablo, Uniqua and Tasha - who're looking for a Jumprope , supposedly stolen by a Bandit .
Catchphrase: YAHOO!!!! Genre: Hip Hop The Key to the Nile Princess Tasha and her loyal royal Servants Pablo, Tyrone and Austin seek Three Presents for the Sphinx Uniqua in order to learn the secret to restoring the Nile's flow.
Catchphrase (or lack thereof): "Please" and "Thank You". Genre: Broadway Musical The Snow Fort While Mounties Pablo and Tyrone defend the snow fort that guards the world's largest snowball, Ski Patrol members Uniqua and Tasha mistake them for people who need help.
Catchphrases: Mounties on duty! & Ski Patrol to the rescue! Genre: Western Swing It's Great to Be a Ghost In a haunted house, Ghosts Pablo, Uniqua and Tyrone try to scare unsuspecting stranger Tasha.
Catchphrase: Boo! Genre: 1920's Jazz Viking Voyage Vikings Pablo, Tyrone and Uniqua seek to discover uncharted lands, though Mermaid Tasha has other ideas.
Catchphrase: YAH!!! Genre: Rockabilly The Quest for the Flying Rock Four Explorers find a mysterious map for the legendary Flying Rock atop the Stone Step Hill , but upon a disagreement on what path to choose, Uniqua and Tasha compete with Pablo and Tyrone on a race filled with unknown obstacles.
Catchphrase: Float, flutter, fly! Genre: Disco /'70s pop music/dance pop Castaways Uniqua, Tyrone and Pablo happen to be castaways on a deserted island, and as they struggle to find Food and a place to live in, they receive Mysterious help. Could it be a mischievous intruder, or just a fellow castaway, maybe Austin, who's too shy to say hello to the others?
Catchphrase: Ahoy! Genre: Bossa Nova /Brazilian Race to the Tower of Power Two wicked Supervillains , Dr. Shrinky and Yucky-Man - Tyrone and Pablo - are intent on stealing the Key to the World, which lies inside the Tower of Power, and taking over the World - and stopping them is the duty of the Superheroes Weather Woman and Captain Hammer - Uniqua and Austin.
Catchphrases: Wahahaha!! & To the rescue!!! Genre: Mexican Salsa Polka Palace Party Cowboys Tyrone, Uniqua, Pablo and Austin -- united by a shared love of Polka Music -- need to get to Cheyenne by sundown in order to play at a surprise Birthday Party for Sherman the Worman's brother Herman.
Catchprase: Yip yip yip! Genre: Polka , naturally Surf's Up Surfer Pablo is on the lookout for Tiki Beach to ride the Perfect Wave, but he can't find it. Little does Pablo know that he must learn a lot of radical moves before he can ride the perfect wave, and he'll only do that with the help of other fellow surfers and a mysterious Lifeguard .
Catchphrase: Cowabunga! Genre: Afro-beat Eureka ! On the South Dakota mountains, two brilliant scientists - Uniqua and Tasha - look for the bones of the legendary Flappassaurus, and in their way, they come across two dusty old miners - Pablo and Tyrone - in search of Gold .
Catchphrase: Eureka!, unsurprisingly. Genre: Township jive Race Around the World Austin never won a race before, but he's well prepared for the diffcult Race Around the World. And he'll compete with Veterans Pablo, Tyrone and Uniqua for his first Gold Medal .
Catchphrase: Dun da da! Genre: Zydeco Monster Detectives When Pablo the Soccer Monster takes Uniqua's soccer ball away, she seeks the help of Detective Tyrone to retrieve it from the Soccer Monster's castle.
Catchphrase: Soccer! Genre: Rock And Roll Cave Party The Mountain Cave People - Austin and Tasha - invite the Valley Cave People - Uniqua, Pablo and Tyrone - to howl at the Moon when it hits the highest peak. And while the three Valley Cave People must get there on time, the two Mountain Cave People must fill their time, all with the help of handy new Inventions .
Catchphrase: Ugh! (which means anything) Genre: Calypso High Tea When Pablo, Tyrone and Uniqua can't agree on what to do, they let Tasha decide -- and she leads them on a quest for the perfect cup of Tea that takes them to Sri Lanka , the Ming Empire (ruled by a grumpy Emperor Austin) and the Gobi Desert .
Catchphrase: Pip pip cheerio! Genre: Irish (traditional) EXTERNAL LINKS
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