Editor's Note

Our reviews of The Backyardigans: Cave Party (published March 7th, 2006), The Backyardigans: High Flying Adventures! (published May 28th, 2008), The Backyardigans: It's Great To Be A Ghost (published May 10th, 2006), The Backyardigans: Surf's Up! (published May 30th, 2006), and The Backyardigans: The Snow Fort (published January 10th, 2006) are also available.

The Charge

"Together in the backyard again, in the place where we belong, where we'll probably sing a song, and we'll maybe dance along."

The Case

Well, here we go again with another installment of the The Backyardigans from Nickelodeon. Who are these life forms? They are Pablo (a blue penguin), Tyrone (an orange moose), Uniqua (a pink, polka-dot creature of unique origin), Austin (a purple kangaroo), and Tasha (a yellow hippopotamus). The five use their imagination to create adventures in their backyards and homes. In this land of make believe the members of the group assume different professions and personalities, traveling across the globe and through time. Each adventure is filled with song and dance numbers.

The Backyardigans: Mighty Match-Up! features four episodes from Season 3 of the series:
• "Match On Mt. Olympus:" Playing basketball and singing songs with a samba beat, Pablo and Tyrone trek up Mount Olympus to persuade the Greek Goddess of Weather (Tasha) to halt a rainstorm.
• "The Great Dolphin Race:" Giving a nod to Seabiscuit, Uniqua challenges Tyrone to a dolphin race, hoping she can her ride her dolphin, Sea Squirt, to victory.
• "Ranch Hands From Outer Space:" This episode is just bizarre. Tasha is a rancher and needs help with chores. When aliens Zablo (Pablo, get it? So funny!) and Zuniqua (Uniqua! Again, pure hilarity!) arrive and require pancakes to fuel their spaceship, she gets more help than she bargained for. Also, for some reason unknown, the songs are scored to Italian pop of the 1960s.
• "Caveman's Best Friend: " Young kids will not recognize this episode's references to The Flintstones, but adults will see them immediately. Austin is a caveman in the prehistoric city of "Rockville," singing soul music as he tries to track down his brand new pet dinosaur that has runaway.

The video and audio are flawless. The animation is bright and detailed. The audio delivers loud and clear sound. The only extras are a couple of music videos.

Does my judgment really matter? This is a series that features dancing and singing animated animals. It is inoffensive, but not particularly educational. And, as I have noted in my previous review of The Backyardigans, adults will grow weary (or worse) of the repetitive nature of the show quickly (and I know that I felt like kicking in my television on more than one occasion). However, adults shouldn't be watching this show; youngsters are the target audience and they love this stuff. So, get ready to pony up some money, unless you have managed to raise kids that prefer to play outside, read, or engage in other more productive activities.

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