THE BACKYARDIGANS: OPERATION ELEPHANT DROP (A J!-ENT DVD Review)

July 12, 2010 by Michelle Tymon 

“THE BACKYARDIGANS: OPERATION ELEPHANT DROP” is a wonderful DVD of the popular children’s series. Children will enjoy the wonderful songs in each episode that they can sing and dance along to. Parents will appreciate the random facts their children will learn and both children and parents will love the adventures THE BACKYARDIGANS take in their backyard with the power of their imagination.”

Images courtesy of © 2010 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. NICKELODEON, NICK JR., NICK JR. THE BACKYARDIGANS and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. TM, ® & Copyright © 2010 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: THE BACKYARDIGANS: OPERATION ELEPHANT DROP

DURATION: 95 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: FULL SCREEN, DOLBY DIGITAL ENGLISH STEREO

COMPANY: Nickelodeon/Paramount

RATED: NOT RATED

Release Date: July 13, 2010

Featuring the following voice talent:

Jake Goldberg (speaking) & Sean Curley (singing) as Pablo

Chris Grant, Jr. (speaking) & Tyrell Jackson Williams/Dimani Roberts (singing) as Tyrone

LaShawn Tináh Jefferies (speaking) & Avion Baker (singing) as Uniqua

Gianna Bruzesse (speaking) & Gabriella Malek (singing) as Tasha

Jonah Bobo (speaking) & Nicholas Barasch (singing) as Austin

Catch the Backyardigans as you’ve never seen them before in “Operation Elephant Drop”! Join the adventure as Pablo, Tyrone and Tasha go on their very own secret operation to save the elephants.

“The Backyardigans” is about five friends who come together in their backyard to go on great adventures using their imagination. The show is full of songs and dances, so not only are children learning about various facts and values, they are learning various genres of music while watching a fun show. In this particular volume, they go on an adventure to India, ride on a magical skateboard, use a meteor smasher, and become super heroes.

“The Backyardigans” focuses on the following main characters:

Pablo – Pablo is a blue and yellow penguin who usually comes up with the interesting ideas for their adventures. He is very full of energy but at times that also leads to a panic attack where his friends have to calm him down. He is sort of the leader of the pack.

Tyrone – Tyrone is an orange moose and Pablo’s best friend, despite being almost exactly opposite in personality.

Uniqua – Uniqua is a pink character with polkadots… and the name of her species is in fact “Uniqua”. She has a strong personality but is kind. She’s also somewhat of a tomboy. Her and Austin get to play the villains in the episode “Elephant on the Run”.

Tasha – Tasha is a yellow hippopotamus. She is the girlier of the two girls, and the most serious out of the five, but she can be silly too.

Austin – Austin is a purple kangaroo and somewhat quiet and shy boy out of the bunch. He gets to play the villain alongside Uniqua in the episode “Elephant on the Run”.

Included on this DVD are:

• Elephant on the Run – Park Ranger Tasha has an important job for delivery agents Tyrone and Pablo — to get an endangered Indian elephant safely to the Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary and to avoid the bad guys. This episode featured Alternative Rock music.
• The Magic Skateboard – Tyrone really wants to be a great skateboarder. He may not know all the tricks yet, but he’s going to compete in the Show-Off Showdown. Once he finds the magic skateboard, even his top competition takes notice. This episode featured Forro music.
• The Flipper! – Uniqua, Tasha and Pablo are the Meteor Watch Squad. But when meteor obsessed Pablo accidentally spills toxic space stuff all over himself, he becomes the super strong, super excitable Flipper! This episode featured Bo Diddley-Style Rock music.
• Super Team Awesome! – Tyrone is a tour guide for the world’s only lava geyser, Old Gushie. When a loose boulder in the cavern threatens to cause a geothermal disaster, Tyrone calls for help. Not one, but three superheroes come to save the day!. This episode featured American Country Rock music.

VIDEO & AUDIO

“The Backyardigans: Operation Elephant Drop” is presented in full screen and in Dolby Digital Stereo. The series is done in CG animation style, making it possible for the characters to explore beautiful environments while on their adventures. It’s fun to look at and the character designs are cute and unique. As for audio, the voice acting is well done and as I’ve mentioned, the songs in each episode are fun.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There are no special features on this disc, however there are some previews for Nickelodeon shows.

“The Backyardigans” is a wonderful show that I believe both kids and parents can enjoy. The episodes on this particular DVD were filled with great adventures, cute songs, funny storylines, and interesting environments (ranging from India to Space). Each episode has a particular music genre set for that episode’s songs and dances. So children get to learn about important facts and values while having fun singing and dancing along to great songs. For example, the first episode on this disc featured songs all done in alternative rock style (kid friendly, of course. The songs were quite poppy with a slight rock edge).

The animation and character designs are very well done. The CG animation looks great. The characters are all very cute and colorful (which will definitely grab the kids’ attention), and the environments in each episode are detailed and colorful. Kids will find themselves being sucked into the world of the Backyardigans’ imagination. The songs are all fun and energetic and I think the kids would love to sing and dance along. I found that the story lines in each episode on this disc were funny and cute.

I believe that this show could pull in a broad audience. Of course, I wouldn’t expect too many teenagers to watch this, however I think that kids anywhere from the ages of 1 to 10 could enjoy this show for various reasons. The toddlers would probably like the cute and colorful characters, the mid range would probably enjoy the songs and dances, and the older kids would probably enjoy the stories (of course, kids can enjoy all of those things despite their age). I didn’t find this show too “kiddy” for the adults and found it entertaining to watch. This show is about imagination and how far it can take you. As a writer and artist, I believe that is very important for a child’s development.

As someone who loves various genres of music, I love that there are so many cute songs that they sing and dance to in each episode. I think that parents could enjoy watching this show with their children without being bored or even slightly annoyed. There is a lot of singing and dancing, but I didn’t think at all that the songs were too “I love you, you love me” or “This is the song that doesn’t end…”.(There’s nothing wrong with “Barney and Friends” or Lampchop, I happen to love Lampchop. However, there are moments where those songs get over sung by children and that will drive their parents mad. I didn’t find that in this show.) The songs were imaginative and fun and they aren’t the same in each episode so I think kids and parents will enjoy that.

I believe this would be a great addition to kids’ DVD collection, especially if they love going on great adventures using their imagination and enjoy singing and dancing. A wonderful show.