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Why I Love...The Backyardigans

The Backyardigans characters Austin, Tasha, Pablo, Uniqua and Tyrone
  • Posted at 1:20pm
  • 15 April 2009
  • by JackSeale-RT

A lot of kids' shows are clearly portrayals of mental visions, but the trips aren't always good. In the Night Garden viewers, for instance, suffer the ravings of Igglepiggle, a blue yeti adrift in the dark in a boat, whose hypothermic nightmare is to be trapped in a forest full of babbling freaks, struggling with an erratic transport system.

The Backyardigans (Nick Jr/TMF) is a brighter, hipper fantasy. Five computer-generated creatures hallucinate a cheery adventure, unconfined by time and space, until the munchies strike and they return home for a snack.

One day they're prospecting for gold; the next they're running an intergalactic waste management business. They're not bogged down by moralising: lessons include the importance of self-confidence in sport (Uniqua, a pink alien, discovers this in a version of the Wild West where table tennis has replaced shoot-outs), and that there's no point surfing the perfect wave if you don't have all the "rad moves".

Most of the show's charm comes from embracing differences. The group happily tolerate Pablo, a penguin in a bow tie who's enthusiastic but dangerously slow-witted. They don't mind being bossed around by Tasha, a mumsy hippo in a floral dress. Nobody ever points out that Tyrone, a level-headed moose, is obviously sporting a wig and wears a jumper but no trousers or underpants. And although Austin, a diffident purple kangaroo who lives next door to the main four, isn't quite part of the gang, they let him play.

Wherever the 'yardigans go, they sing. Every day has original songs in a specific style, providing parents with a musical quiz, with answers on the show's Wiki. The soundtrack when they hunt for tea leaves in Borneo? Easy: Irish jig. But what's that Yiddish-sounding knees-up while Austin commentates on a cross-country horse race? Ah, klezmer, of course.

The music engaged my son when he was only three months old. Later on, he'll enjoy the catchphrases ("Well, I'll be"; "Watch me now!"; "Ug!") and the running gags (Tyrone raising an eyebrow at obvious plot holes; Pablo's Corporal Jones panic attacks). When he's six he'll probably get bored of Backyardigans, but I'll still be addicted.

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