| 1 | %% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them. |
| 2 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_backyardigans.jpg]] |
| 3 | [[caption-width-right:350:Your backyard friends.[[note]]'''Top:''' [[GenkiGirl Uniqua]]\ |
| 4 | '''Bottom, L-to-R:''' [[PluckyComicRelief Pablo]], [[DeadpanSnarker Tyrone]], [[{{Shorttank}} Tasha]], and [[TheSmartGuy Austin]][[/note]]]] |
| 5 | ->''We've got the whole wide world in our yard to explore!\ |
| 6 | We always find thing we've never seen before,\ |
| 7 | That's why every day we're back for more!\ |
| 8 | With your friends, the Backyardigans...'' |
| 9 | -->-- '''Opening theme''' |
| 10 | |
| 11 | A CGI-animated series created by Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}'s Creator/JaniceBurgess and broadcast worldwide, mostly on Creator/NickJr and its parent network. Written and recorded at Nickelodeon Animation Studio in the USA, the animation was done by Creator/{{Nelvana}} in Canada. The series was based on a live-action pilot from 1998 titled "Me and My Friends." It premiered in 2004 and ran for four seasons, the last of which finished airing in 2013. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | The cast are all young FunnyAnimal friends: Uniqua the [[CartoonCreature "uniqua"]] (a one-of-a-kind species), Pablo the penguin, Tyrone the moose, Tasha the hippo, and Austin the kangaroo. All five live in what appears to be a suburban neighborhood with a large common backyard area. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | We open on one or more of the characters in the backyard playing "pretend", setting up the scenario for the viewer in a song and dance which exemplifies the episode's musical genre. Then things segue into a sort of [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration holodeck-style]] fantasy -- whether in the kids' imaginations or literally isn't quite clear -- in which the backyard is transformed into the setting of the story and the characters dressed in appropriate costumes. From here the quest is treated entirely as if it were real... albeit clearly based on a child's logic, and frequently interrupted by musical asides. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Most episodes feature typical fantasy scenarios -- cowboys, superheroes, pirates, explorers -- but some are more sophisticated, and in later seasons especially several are full-on parodies of adult action-adventure: ''Film/JamesBond'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', ''Franchise/IndianaJones'', ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'', etc. Further [[MrImagination blurring the line between reality and imagination]], the setting they create doesn't always stay within their control. Characters who weren't seen initiating the fantasy frequently show up within it, occasionally operating completely unbeknownst to the others, and the different plotlines collide in unexpected ways. The only consistent requirement is that a story contain no more than five humanoid characters, since no other speaking parts appear (excepting pets and a couple one-offs in specials). |
| 18 | |
| 19 | There seem to be no space or time limits while the fantasy is in progress, but in reality it never lasts longer than an afternoon, [[GrowlingGut since it's always dispelled by somebody's tummy conveniently rumbling just after the adventure ends.]] They race home for snacks, the story setting disappearing behind them as they go. The only indication that anything out of the ordinary just happened is Tyrone's comment: "That was an excellent _________ adventure, don't you think?" |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Notable for its heavy use of original music (overseen by Lounge Lizards founder Evan Lurie), in a different genre -- and usually not the one you're expecting -- in each episode. The photorealistic dance moves that have likewise become a series trademark are originated by live-action dancers performing as each character to that show's music; according to the creators, this process also gives the characters much of their individual personalities. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Every episode is up on Website/YouTube (outside of the US), courtesy of Creator/{{Nelvana}}'s Treehouse Direct channel. [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUIixndCOJ8wcivpl0K8_cW3rIUe2DErm Check them out here!]] |
| 24 | ---- |
| 25 | !!Thanks to its genre-hopping nature, this show tends to run through a ''lot'' of standard tropes, often in a single episode: |
| 26 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 27 | |
| 28 | [[folder:A-C]] |
| 29 | |
| 30 | * AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal: Pablo only wears a cap and bowtie. |
| 31 | %% * AccidentalArt: Tyrone splattering paint on the brand new canvas in "Who Goes There?" results in this. |
| 32 | * {{Acrofatic}}: Tyrone, the biggest of the kids, is pretty fast (in "Escape From Fairytale Village", he could outrun a witch, a wolf, and a ''giant'') and is a talented dancer. |
| 33 | %% * ActionGirl: You should have seen Uniqua in "Blazing Paddles" and Tasha in "The Two Musketeers". |
| 34 | * AdaptationalExpansion: In the Nintendo DS game: |
| 35 | ** Yucky Man and Dr. Shrinky use a gadget (which the player must construct) to obtain the key to the world. In the episode, they don't have such a gadget. |
| 36 | ** Tasha appears in the "Tower of Power" level as Super Snap (from the episode "Front Page News"). She was absent from the episode "Tower of Power" itself, although she does have an AllThereInTheManual role for that specific setting: Eraser Girl, who made it into a few pieces of foreign merchandise, most notably being made into a plush toy in Brazil. |
| 37 | * ADogNamedDog: According to Nickelodeon's character bio for her, Uniqua's "unique" species is actually called the uniqua. Who knew? |
| 38 | %% * AirGuitar: Tyrone does this during the song "Gotta Get the Job Done" in the episode "Monster Detectives". |
| 39 | %% * AirplaneArms: Uniqua does this near the beginning of "Fly Girl". |
| 40 | %% * AliensSpeakingEnglish: The aliens in "Mission to Mars", "News Flash", "Ranch Hands from Outer Space", "Los Galacticos", and "The Big Dipper Diner". |
| 41 | * AllAnimalsAreDogs: The giant clam and Boy the dinosaur act like dogs. |
| 42 | %% * AllBikersAreHellsAngels: Subverted to hell and back with "Special Delivery" and its "Do-Gooders". |
| 43 | * AllCGICartoon: Though a lot of books and other marketing shows them as 2D. |
| 44 | %% * TheAllegedSteed: Molasses the donkey from "Horsing Around". |
| 45 | * AlliterativeFamily: Every robot from "Robot Rampage" has a name beginning with "R". Case in point: '''R'''oscoe, '''R'''eba, '''R'''ipley, '''R'''acquel, and '''R'''ex. |
| 46 | * AlliterativeName: |
| 47 | ** Uniqua's persona in "Whodunit?": '''U'''niqua '''U'''nderhood. |
| 48 | ** From "Catch That Train!", '''P'''ablo '''P'''ablovitch. |
| 49 | * AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: OK, Tyrone (orange moose) and Pablo (blue penguin) get a pass, and Uniqua's a special case, but what's up with Austin (purple kangaroo) and Tasha (yellow hippo)? |
| 50 | * AmericanGothicCouple: In "News Flash", the first shot of Pablo and Tyrone at their farm resembles the American Gothic painting, whether it's intentional or not. |
| 51 | * AnachronismStew: Tons. It's {{Justified|Trope}} because the entire premise of the show is based around five kids using their imaginations to have adventures. |
| 52 | ** A particularly ridiculous example is "Break Out!": the story takes place at a tower in a high fantasy world... that happens to have a LaserHallway, security cameras, an ''elevator'', and guards with radio headsets. |
| 53 | %% * AncientEgypt: In "The Key to the Nile". |
| 54 | * AngryMobSong: "The Customer Is Always Right" and "Awesomely Bad Time" in "The Swamp Creature" may probably count. ''Probably'', because the mob here is made of only two characters. |
| 55 | %% * AnIcePerson: Tasha as the Ice Lady in "The Secret of Snow". |
| 56 | * AnimalAthleteLoophole: In "Horsing Around," Molasses is Tyrone's race-donkey. |
| 57 | * AnimalsNotToScale: Apparently a penguin, a moose, a hippo, and a kangaroo are very close in height. |
| 58 | * AppeaseTheVolcanoGod: "The Legend of the Volcano Sisters" revolves around the three boys trying to figure out what the titular sisters want the most or else the volcano will erupt destroying the Luau. [[spoiler: Austin realizes that Uniqua and Tasha want to be invited to the boys' Luau]]. |
| 59 | %% * ApologeticAttacker: Austin (on a kid's level) in "The Two Musketeers". |
| 60 | %% * ArabianNightsDays: In "Movers of Arabia". |
| 61 | * ArtEvolution: |
| 62 | ** The character designs, especially those of Tasha and Austin, were retooled a bit for the second season, not just amping up the cuteness but also making the characters look more cohesive as an unit. |
| 63 | ** The fourth season transitions to HD. |
| 64 | * AscendedExtra: Pablo's teddy bear from "The Flipper" made minor appearances in the earlier episodes "Robot Rampage", "Catch that Train", and "The Funnyman Boogeyman". |
| 65 | * AsideGlance: A lot. Especially for Uniqua and Tyrone. |
| 66 | ** The most noticeable one is in "Castaways" when Uniqua -- realizing that Tyrone and Pablo seriously ''don't'' realize that it was Austin who helped them -- turns to look straight at the camera and then shrugs her shoulders. Earlier in the same episode, after the coconuts roll in, Uniqua side-glances at the audience for a split second and then says "Maybe we're not alone here after all". |
| 67 | ** Pablo shoots the camera an "I don't believe this" look after Tasha takes credit for finding the yellow lotus flower in "The Key to the Nile." Austin does this as well later on. |
| 68 | ** The earliest example (at least if you follow the Canadian airdates) might be Tyrone doing this twice in "The Yeti" when the girls start arguing, as if to say "They can't be serious right now." |
| 69 | ** There are also a few episodes (i.e "High Tea") where Tyrone says his DeusExMachina response {{Catchphrase}} to the camera. |
| 70 | %% * AsteroidThicket: Tyrone, Uniqua, Pablo, and Tasha all drive through one in "Cops and Robots" and sing a song about it. |
| 71 | * AstonishinglyAppropriateInterruption: Happens in "Race Around The World", during a [[MusicalisInterruptus song]] no less! |
| 72 | --> '''Austin:''' When my toes get cold and I've had enough,\ |
| 73 | I don't quit when the going gets tough!\ |
| 74 | The snow kids shout...\ |
| 75 | '''Pablo:''' Help! |
| 76 | %% * {{Atlantis}}: The setting of "The Great Dolphin Race". |
| 77 | * AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Parodied in "Attack of the 50 Foot Worman", in which Sherman becomes a giant. |
| 78 | * AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Pablo in "Pirate Camp" keeps getting distracted by the very shiny red boot. |
| 79 | * AuthorAvatar: Uniqua was based on the series' creator, Janice Burgess. In an [[https://archive.org/details/crains-little-airplane-oobi-wonderpets/2009-Investor%27s-Business-Daily/ interview,]] Burgess said, "Uniqua is me. Or at least who I was as a kid. She's a ringleader. Out of the five, Uniqua is the main character, and we use her in every story." |
| 80 | * BagOfHolding: |
| 81 | ** Uniqua and Pablo's trunk in "To the Center of the Earth" can hold several inventions, such as a telescope, a hammer, a thermos, a lasso, a ladder, a bucket, a net, an umbrella, a sponge mop, a hat stand, a lamp, a rake, poles, skiis, a feather duster, a bike horn, wooden spoons, a large tuba, string, marshmallows, a spring, and helium-filled balloons. |
| 82 | ** They brought a ridiculous amount of random, unnecessary supplies (seriously, ''bath soap''?) to Mars in an ridiculously small box in "Mission to Mars". |
| 83 | * BaitAndSwitchCredits: |
| 84 | ** Each season's opening teases a handful of episodes, but in the first season, the characters featured in each case don't always match up with the episodes themselves. [[note]] For the specifics, Tasha wears pirate gear despite being absent from "Pirate Treasure", and Austin wears cowboy gear despite being absent from "Riding The Range" (it ''could'' be teasing "Polka Palace Party", but if so, why is Tasha there?). The last bit, teasing "The Heart of the Jungle", had all the correct characters. [[/note]] |
| 85 | ** The third-season intro features a teaser for "Blazing Paddles" in which Uniqua and Pablo both wear sheriff badges. In the actual episode, there was only one badge, which Pablo stole from Uniqua halfway through the episode and returned at the end. |
| 86 | %% * BarefootCartoonAnimal: Uniqua and Austin in their regular clothes. This applies occasionally to Pablo and Tyrone's various costumes on select episodes. |
| 87 | %% * BeachEpisode: The whole point of episodes such as "Surf's Up" or "Legend of the Volcano Sisters". |
| 88 | %% * BedsheetGhost: [[spoiler:Tyrone]] becomes one in "It's Great to be a Ghost". |
| 89 | * BerserkButton: In "Best Clowns in Town". ''Don't'' make Ringmaster Tyrone miss his train. Just don't. Especially if you're a clown. |
| 90 | %% * TheBigBadWolf: Austin in "Escape from Fairytale Village" and the French dub of "The Funnyman Boogeyman". |
| 91 | %% * BigNo: Oh yeah. Bad bot Tasha does this in "Cops and Robots", when Uniqua flips Pablo's back switch, which turns him into a good Bot. Also Pablo in "Blazing Paddles" and Tyrone in "Who Goes There?", "The Magic Skateboard" when [[spoiler:the eponymous Magic Skateboard falls down the hill]] and "Monster Detectives" when [[spoiler: Uniqua is about to be turned into a soccer monster]]. |
| 92 | %% * BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: Pablo in "The Yeti", Tyrone in "Fly Girl" and Austin and Tyrone in "The Action Elves Save Christmas Eve". |
| 93 | %%* TheBigRace: "Race Around the World", "Horsing Around", "The Great Dolphin Race", and "The Magic Skateboard". |
| 94 | * BigRedButton: In "Legend of the Volcano Sisters", the title characters threaten to cause the eruption of the volcano by pressing such a button. The doorbells in various episodes could also count, since they are always red. |
| 95 | * BigWordShout: '''“CLOWNS!!”''' |
| 96 | %% * BirthdayEpisode: "Scared of You" is this for [[spoiler:Austin.]] |
| 97 | * BlackVikings: Tyrone and Uniqua whenever the episode has a medieval European setting. Justified as they are merely pretending to travel to places besides their backyard. |
| 98 | * TheBlindLeadingTheBlind: In "The Yeti", Tasha claims to be a Frozen North expert, but she, Uniqua, and Tyrone all get lost while searching for Yeti Pablo. |
| 99 | * BlowYouAway: Pirate Pablo has wind powers in "Super Team Awesome!". |
| 100 | * BoDiddleyBeat: "The Flipper!" has this as its music genre, with the first song set to the tune of "Bo Diddley". |
| 101 | %% * BoobyTrap: In "Secret Mission", and "The Snow Fort". |
| 102 | %% * BookcasePassage: In "It's Great to be a Ghost", "Whodunit?", and "The Masked Retriever". |
| 103 | * {{Bookends}}: Each episode starts and ends in the titular backyard. |
| 104 | %% * BottomlessPits: In "Fly Girl". |
| 105 | * BravadoSong: In "It's Great to Be a Ghost!", there's a musical number called "What's So Scary 'Bout That?" where Tasha brags about not fearing ghosts or the dark when her friends (who [[ItMakesSenseInContext have become ghosts]]) ask her if there's anything she's scared of. |
| 106 | * BreadEggsBreadedEggs: |
| 107 | ** In "The Swamp Creature": |
| 108 | ---> '''Pablo, Uniqua, Tasha, and Austin are on a boat, looking for the titular Swamp Creature.''' |
| 109 | ---> '''Pablo''': On your left, you will see trees with moss! On your right, moss with trees! |
| 110 | ---> '''Tasha''': No more moss! |
| 111 | ---> '''Austin''': No more trees! |
| 112 | ---> '''Tasha''': No more moss with trees! |
| 113 | ** And again in "A Giant Problem''': |
| 114 | ---> '''Wizards Pablo and Tyrone are being chased by Tasha the giant.''' |
| 115 | ---> '''Pablo''': The giant's gonna eat us! |
| 116 | ---> '''Tyrone''': Or maybe she's gonna squish us! |
| 117 | ---> '''Pablo''': Or maybe she's gonna squish us, ''then'' eat us! |
| 118 | ---> '''Tyrone''': Or eat us, ''then'' squish us! |
| 119 | %% * BreakingTheFourthWall: In the framing scenes; also inside the fantasy if the main character is alone. |
| 120 | %% * BrickJoke: The horse appearing when Tyrone opens the door in "Who Goes There?". |
| 121 | * BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Austin and Uniqua are a preschool friendly example in a few episodes, especially in season 1. For example, in "High Tea", Uniqua is the only one who manages to make Austin laugh. Inverted towards the end of "The Secret of Snow", when Uniqua laments about how it won't snow and the others remind her of the friends she's made through song, Austin being the only one who gets his own verse to himself. |
| 122 | * TheButlerDidIt: [[spoiler: Tyrone]] in "Whodunit?". [[spoiler: He actually had permission to 'steal' Lady Tasha's necklace, because it was really just a mystery game]]. |
| 123 | %% * ButtMonkey: It seems like the writers ''really'' hate Tyrone. "Match on Mt. Olympus" and "Robot Rampage" are pretty good examples of this. |
| 124 | %% ** Thankfully, there are a few episodes (i.e "It's Great to Be a Ghost!") where he gets the last laugh. |
| 125 | %% * BusbyBerkeleyNumber: "I Get Whatever I Want" from "Robot Rampage, Part 2". |
| 126 | %% * CallAndResponseSong: Pretty much any song involving more than one character is this. |
| 127 | * CallARabbitASmeerp: Pancakes are called 'zum-zum' by aliens Zuniqua and Zablo in "Ranch Hands from Outer Space". |
| 128 | * CallBack: "Le Master of Disguise": Pablo wears several costumes from previous episodes, including a clown costume ("Best Clowns in Town"), a mountie uniform ("The Snow Fort"), and a king outfit ("Tale of the Mighty Knights", which was actually the ''previous episode''). |
| 129 | * TheCameo: |
| 130 | ** In "The Action Elves Save Christmas Eve", the robot from "Front Page News" and Boy the dinosaur from "Caveman's Best Friend" are seen as toys. |
| 131 | ** Robot Roscoe from "Robot Rampage" appears as a toy robot in "Elephant on the Run". |
| 132 | * CannotTellALie: Austin as the Magic Mirror in "Break Out" is an interesting variation. As a magic mirror he has to answer any question and he cannot lie, and while he can choose not to answer the question instead of just lying, just after that he will say something which will give away the answer anyway. [[spoiler: And then it get surverted the 2nd time he has to answer anything to Tower Guard Tyrone: He used it to reveal the Princesses to the guards so he can tell them they can fly away breaking the glass ceiling]] |
| 133 | %% * CaptainsLog: Tasha has one in "Garbage Trek". |
| 134 | * CaptainObvious: From "Into the Deep": |
| 135 | --> '''Pablo''': Speed? |
| 136 | --> '''Tyrone''': Fast. |
| 137 | --> '''Pablo''': Direction? |
| 138 | --> '''Tyrone''': Down. |
| 139 | --> '''Pablo''': Temperature? |
| 140 | --> '''Tyrone''': Cold. |
| 141 | --> '''Pablo''': Time? |
| 142 | --> '''Tyrone''': Uh, now. |
| 143 | * CardCarryingVillain: Some of the villains the Backyardigans play in the show aren't afraid to show how evil they are. One example is the Lady in Pink from the International Super Spy two-parter. |
| 144 | --> '''Lady in Pink"''' "Oh, for evil's sake!" |
| 145 | * CartoonCreature: Ah, Uniqua. WordOfGod says that she is "her own unique species". |
| 146 | %% * CastingAShadow: Austin as the Gloom Meister in "Flower Power". |
| 147 | * CatchPhrase: Various, particularly Tyrone's "''That'' certainly is convenient" when a DeusExMachina appears, and Tasha's "Oh, for goodness' ''sakes''!" when...well, pretty much constantly. Also, "Pablo? Pablo... PABLO!" whenever Pablo has a panic attack. In addition, each episode has a setting-specific phrase, usually featured in the opening song, which also doubles as the show's closing CouchGag. |
| 148 | ** There are also some role-specific catchphrases, i.e the Flipper's "Where is meteor?!", and Austin Frothingslosh's "Great Caesar's Ghost!". |
| 149 | %% * TheCavalry: [[spoiler:Austin]] in "International Super Spy". |
| 150 | * CeilingCling: Austin can walk on the ceiling in "Tale of the Mighty Knights". Also Tasha and Pablo in "Cops and Robots". |
| 151 | %% * ChekhovsGun: |
| 152 | %% ** Tyrone's "spy maple syrup" in "Secret Mission". |
| 153 | %% ** The thermos box in "Chichen-Itza Pizza". |
| 154 | %% * ChristmasEpisode: "The Secret of Snow" and "The Action Elves Save Christmas Eve." |
| 155 | * ClarkKenting: Parodied in "Front Page News". Also played straight in "Le Master of Disguise", in which the mystery hinges around Great Detective Austin not twigging that his prey is a little blue penguin who never bothers to conceal his face. |
| 156 | %% * ClockTower[=/=]RaceAgainstTheClock: In "International Super Spy", and "Blazing Paddles". |
| 157 | * ClownCar: The clown car in "Best Clowns in Town". |
| 158 | * ColorCodedCharacters: When the not-so-nice dragon is converted to good, he changes from an angry orange color to a pleasant green. [[CallBack It's the same color as the good Dragon who hatched "The Tale of the Mighty Knights".]] |
| 159 | ** In terms of the main cast, Uniqua is pink, Pablo is blue, Tyrone is orange, Tasha is yellow, and Austin is purple. Their houses are the same colors, respectively. |
| 160 | * ComicallyMissingThePoint: |
| 161 | ** In "Castaways", when the group of castaways finally find Austin, who has been secretly helping them the whole time, Tyrone and Pablo ask Austin if any of the "mysterious stuff" on the island has been happening to him, too. This is lampshaded by Uniqua [[AsideGlance turning to look straight at the camera and then shrugging her shoulders]] before pointing out Austin did it all. |
| 162 | ** It happens again in "Polka Palace Party", where Sherman (being translated by Tyrone) introduces "The greatest cowboy polka band in all of Wyoming". |
| 163 | --> '''Austin:''' Wow, what band is that?\ |
| 164 | '''Pablo:''' I dunno, but they must be good!\ |
| 165 | '''Uniqua:''' You guys! He's talking about us! |
| 166 | %% * CompanionCube: Pablo's teddy bear from "The Flipper!". |
| 167 | %% * CoolAndUnusualPunishment: The Tickle Table in "International Super Spy". |
| 168 | * CoolPlane: Uniqua's propeller biplane in "Fly Girl". It's ''pink''! |
| 169 | %% * CoolShades: Austin wears some at one point in "Surf's Up!", and so do Pablo and Tyrone in "Elephant on the Run!". They're also present during the "You Can Do It" song sequence in "Garbage Trek". |
| 170 | %% * TheComicallySerious: Mr. Spiffy in "What's Bugging You?". |
| 171 | * CowboyEpisode: "Riding the Range" is the show's only straight example, although "Polka Palace Party" has the return of Cowboy Tyrone and both it and "Blazing Paddles" have western settings. Cowboy characters also appear in "The Secret of Snow", "Horsing Around", and "Le Master of Disguise". |
| 172 | * CrazyPrepared: |
| 173 | ** The "Ready for Anything" song from "Mission to Mars" exemplifies this trope. The astronaut Backyardigans have everything you could think of for their trip to Mars... "''Cables and rope. Check! Flashlight and sneakers. Check! Bubble bath soap. Check!''" As Austin notes... |
| 174 | -->''We brought a whole lot, so why take a chance?'' |
| 175 | ** Done to a lesser extent in "Race Around The World" as Austin says "a good racer is always prepared," and wears a belt containing the equipment he needs to get through the race. |
| 176 | * CrisisMakesPerfect: In "Caveman's Best Friend", Austin has to whistle to get Boy to come back, but he cannot do it until he and his friends are about to sink into a tar pit. |
| 177 | * CryingWolf: In “Surf’s Up”, Pablo is seeking Tiki Beach because every wave that forms there is perfect for surfing. Austin, the Guardian of Tiki Beach, tricks Pablo twice into going to other beaches under various lifeguard disguises because it’s his job to make sure that surfers seeking Tiki Beach have mastered enough rad surfing moves to earn the honor of finding it, and Pablo only has one rad move at the start of the story. After Pablo meets Tyrone and Uniqua and they all learn their signature rad moves from each other, Austin decides they’re all worthy of surfing at Tiki Beach and gives them the real directions. Unfortunately, when he does, Pablo recognizes Austin as the other lifeguards from before and he, Tyrone, and Uniqua start chasing him because they think Austin’s still misleading them on where Tiki Beach is. |
| 178 | %% * CueTheRain: Happens in "Match on Mount Olympus". Right after the song entitled "It's a Sunny Day", no less! |
| 179 | %% ** Also happens in "The Heart of the Jungle". |
| 180 | * CulturalTranslation: The UK dub has a lot of this, especially when the snack is offered at the end of the episode. |
| 181 | ** "High Tea" is called "The Tea Party" in the UK dub, possibly because the episode has to do with imitation of British culture and culture of the audience in the United Kingdom already has heavier British influence relative to those in other countries. |
| 182 | ** In the US version of "Robin Hood the Clean", the squalid village is called "Filthingham". In the UK version, it is called "Rottingham", which sounds more like "Nottingham" from [[Myth/RobinHood the original myth]]. [[note]] it's also a real place in Britain, so the name change might have been intended to reference the town as well as help drive home the idea.[[/note]] |
| 183 | ** The French version of "The Funnyman Boogeyman" was written so that Austin plays the Big Bad Wolf instead. |
| 184 | ** Some dub titles for "Attack of the 50 Foot Worman" were written so that his height was given as fifteen meters, while others more generally referred to Worman being a giant. |
| 185 | ** From the Brazilian Portuguese dub: |
| 186 | ** In "Monster Detectives", when Uniqua finds the framed pictures of famous soccer players, the Mia Hamm reference is omitted, and instead she namedrops "Pelé, Roberto Carlos... and there's others!" |
| 187 | ** In "The Swamp Creature", the titular Swamp Creature's so-called favorite food (and, consequently, the snack at the end) is changed from "s'mores on a stick" to meat skewers. |
| 188 | ** For some reason, the book from "The Masked Retriever" has its title changed to "The Little Old Lady Who Named Things". |
| 189 | %% * CuriosityIsACrapshoot: Uniqua opening the box in "Movers of Arabia". |
| 190 | %% * CuteMonsterGirl: Uniqua in "Monster Detectives" and "Scared of You", although the latter instance fits the trope better, as she is a werewolf in that case. |
| 191 | %% * CuteWitch: Uniqua, in "Escape from Fairytale Village". |
| 192 | [[/folder]] |
| 193 | |
| 194 | [[folder:D-F]] |
| 195 | %% * DaEditor: [[PlayingAgainstType Pablo]] in "Front Page News". |
| 196 | %% * DamselOutOfDistress: The plot of "Break Out!" |
| 197 | * DancingTheme: Not surprising, since these kids dance their way through just about everything else. |
| 198 | * DarkerAndEdgier: Obviously, this is moderated by the show being aimed at preschoolers, but "Robot Rampage" is darker and more serious than any other episode in the series. Unlike all the other villains in the series, "Professor Bug" is played dead serious. |
| 199 | %% * DarkHorseVictory: [[spoiler:Tyrone and Molasses]] in "Horsing Around". |
| 200 | * DarkIsNotEvil: Uniqua in "The Masked Retriever", as you'd expect from a character based off Zorro, wears all black and rides a black horse, and although Austin's immediately scared of her when she shows up to ask him for the book back, she becomes much more friendly upon finding out that he's a slow reader and has just started the book. |
| 201 | %% * DeadpanSnarker: Tyrone, at times audibly and more often visually. Somehow, despite the character wearing no pants, he manages to give the impression he's slouching with his hands stuck in his pockets. |
| 202 | %% ** This is particularly helped when he's animated with his hands in nonexistent pockets. |
| 203 | %% * DeathWorld: The locations in "Save the Day". "Shark Bite Bay", "Disaster Reef", "Straits of Despair", and more. |
| 204 | * DebutQueue: Creator/NickJr invoked this by choosing "Knights are Brave and Strong" as the premiere episode in America; each of the cast is introduced one by one, followed by the concept of everyone going to one character's house for a snack at the end. There's cause intended as the first episode, as it's one of the only episodes not to have the "stomach growling" sound effect at the end of the fantasy. |
| 205 | * DecompositeCharacter: InUniverse in “The Heart of the Jungle”; Tyrone, Pablo, and Austin all want to be Tarzan, so they decide to split up his characterization three ways (Tyrone gets Tarzan's [[SpeaksFluentAnimal ability to talk to animals]], Pablo gets Tarzan’s SuperStrength, and Austin gets Tarzan’s HulkSpeak) so they’re all able to share the role while still remaining their own separate characters. |
| 206 | * DecoyProtagonist: Pablo in "Dragon Express". At the beginning, he tells the audience that he is starting a new job as a dragon-riding delivery guy, and the audience thinks the episode will be about Pablo's problems with his new job. However, the bulk of the episode is about Austin aspiring to be as good a dragon rider as Pablo. |
| 207 | * DefeatMeansFriendship: Just about any character who plays a villain role is turned good in the end, since the characters are all a group of friends and they're just playing roles. |
| 208 | %% * DesertedIsland: The castaway island variety in "Castaways", the lost world variety in "To the Center of the Earth", and the treasure island variety in "Pirate Treasure" and "Pirate Camp". |
| 209 | * DeusExMachina: Cheerfully {{lampshaded}} about once per episode: "Well, ''that'' certainly is convenient!" [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as it's in the character's imagination. |
| 210 | * DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: In "The Two Musketeers", Austin the palace guard makes no secret of his admiration for the Musketeers. |
| 211 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: In "Blazing Paddles", Pablo steals everyone else's Ping-Pong paddles so that they cannot play Ping-Pong. He soon realizes that he cannot play either as he needs an opponent. |
| 212 | * DisasterDominoes: A staple. In "Fly Girl", Uniqua knocks over several pillars; in "Who Goes There?", several mummy sarcophaguses land on each other; in "To the Center of the Earth", large pillar-like diamonds are knocked over, and in "The Flipper!", several pillar-like rocks are knocked over. |
| 213 | ** BookshelfDominoes: In "Attack of the 50 Foot Worman", much to Groundskeeper Tyrone's dismay. |
| 214 | %% * DisneyAcidSequence: Uniqua/Lady in Pink's VillainSong in "International Super Spy". |
| 215 | %% * {{Disneyfication}}: If you're gonna parody ''Franchise/JamesBond'' or ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' on a preschool show, you had ''better'' have this trope in place. |
| 216 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Tyrone song "When I'm Booin', from "It's Great to be a Ghost", has an album-only verse about his ineptitude at scaring which could just as easily be about his being unable to impress girls. The dance break in the televised version of the song must have been inserted in place of said verse. |
| 217 | * DontLookDown: Tasha says this several times in "Chichen-Itza Pizza", as she has a fear of heights. |
| 218 | --> Tasha" ''Don't look down! Don't look down! Tasha, don't look down!''" |
| 219 | * DoomyDoomsOfDoom: Shows up quite a lot, surprisingly enough. For instance, from "Tale of the Mighty Knights", during the song "We're Knights": |
| 220 | -->'''Tyrone''': Next we crossed a river then scaled the cliffs... of ''doom''! |
| 221 | * DoorDumb: "Knights Are Brave and Strong" contains a particularly silly example. Uniqua the Pink's second challenge is getting through the gate the Guardian of the Gate guards, a feat no one has ever done before. Even the Guardian himself is unable to open the gate. Completely impenetrable, right? Nope-- it's just that nobody thought of ''pulling'' on the Gate's handles instead of pushing. |
| 222 | ** A minor example later in the same episode calls back to that scene. Upon finally reaching King Austin's castle, Tyrone tries to pull open the door, but fails. Pablo (the aforementioned Guardian) then steps up and pushes it, and it opens easily. |
| 223 | * DragonRider: Every episode with dragons features the characters riding them like majestic steeds. |
| 224 | * DramaticDrop: Tasha drops some planks in "Ranch Hands From Outer Space" when she finds out that Zuniqua and Zablo (Uniqua and Pablo) made a fence going to the sky. In "Elephant on the Run", Uniqua drops her most prized cookie jar when she sees Tyrone and Pablo jumping off her plane with the elephant. |
| 225 | * DubNameChange: Most dubs keep the name "Backyardigans", or at least some variation of that. However, in the French dub, they're called the "Mèlodilous" (Melodious Ones). |
| 226 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: |
| 227 | %%** The first episode used a different font for the opening credits than later episodes. |
| 228 | ** Uniqua had a slight case of ElmuhFuddSyndwome in early episodes. In "Pirate Treasure", she says "You can tell I'm a ''piwate'' because...", and in "The Heart of the Jungle", she calls herself "Professor Uniqua, the ''bwilliant'' scientist". |
| 229 | ** In some of the Season One episodes, the characters stood still while the background transformed around them. In one instance, the background changed ''before the transformation music started''. In Season Two onwards, the characters started running into the yard while the background transformed, and appeared in their fantasy clothes once the transformation was complete. |
| 230 | ** The first villain was mermaid Tasha in "Viking Voyage". Unlike most other villains, she is not [[EvilIsHammy hammy]] nor does she pull a HeelFaceTurn. |
| 231 | %% * EggSitting: In "Tale of the Mighty Knights". |
| 232 | * [[EmbarrassingMiddleName Embarrassing Last Name]]: |
| 233 | ** Austin, or at least his character, in "Whodunit?". Seriously, Austin ''Frothingslosh''? |
| 234 | ** He also does time as 'Austin Stinkypants' in "Robin Hood the Clean". [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since it's supposed to be a MeaningfulName. |
| 235 | ** And if you thought "Frothingslosh" was hilariously silly, "Catch That Train!" has Pablo ''Pablovitch'', the hilariously lazy. |
| 236 | * EpicFail: "A Giant Problem": Wizards Pablo and Tyrone try to cast a magic spell that will shrink Giant Tasha. The spell ends up ''enlarging both them and Queen Uniqua''. |
| 237 | * EstablishingShot: Every episode begins with an overhead shot of the kids' backyard. |
| 238 | * EveryEpisodeEnding: Episodes generally end with the Backyardigans singing the end song and rushing into one of their homes for a snack. One of them then shouts a catchphrase heard throughout. |
| 239 | * EverythingIsBigInTexas: Cowboy Tyrone is on his way to Texas for a hoedown in "Riding the Range". |
| 240 | * EverythingTryingToKillYou: Tyrone thinks that everyone's trying to eat him during "Escape from Fairytale Village". (They actually want him to eat ''with'' them.) |
| 241 | %% * EveryoneIsASuspect: In "Whodunit?", and "Le Master of Disguise". |
| 242 | * EvilLaugh: Tasha's in "Scared of You", Pablo's in "Le Master of Disguise", "Blazing Paddles" and "Robot Rampage", and Uniqua's in "International Super Spy". Austin finally gets one in "Flower Power" when he portrays "Gloom Meister," though in a possible bit of {{Lampshade Hanging}}, he is forced to admit that it's not his real laugh (he just does it to sound scarier). His real laugh sounds much dorkier. |
| 243 | %% * EvilPlan: In "International Super Spy", "Robot Rampage", and "Cops and Robots". |
| 244 | %% * EvilVsEvil: Pablor vs Uniquor for most of "Pablor and the Acorns". |
| 245 | * EvolvingCredits: Each season updates the theme song with new adventures. |
| 246 | ** Also, the theme song itself changes the voices of the characters when they got a new voice actor. |
| 247 | %% * ExpositoryThemeTune |
| 248 | * {{Expy}}: |
| 249 | ** If [[Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch Hippo]] traded all his clothes for just a propeller hat and bowtie, he would pretty much look like Pablo. Ironically, Hippo's voice actress is part of the Japanese dub cast, but as ''Uniqua''. |
| 250 | ** "Escape From Fairytale Village"'s eponymous village is almost identical to [[WesternAnimation/SuperWhy Storybrook Village]], right down to being described as "where fairytale folk live!". |
| 251 | * ExtraLongEpisode: Averted with Season 1, but OnceASeason there's a special episode lasting over 30 minutes (which are broken up into two separate parts overseas). |
| 252 | %% * FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Uniqua]] in "Monster Detectives", but for a selfless reason. |
| 253 | %% * TheFairFolk: Tasha in "Tale of the Mighty Knights". |
| 254 | %% * FairPlayWhodunnit (Or ReverseWhodunnit if you prefer): The "Whodunit?" episode, [[CaptainObvious naturally]]. |
| 255 | * FantasyHelmetEnforcement: Tyrone wears a helmet when he rides his bicycle in "Escape From Fairytale Village", Austin and Uniqua have helmets when riding their skateboard and scooter in "Caveman's Best Friend", and all characters in "The Magic Skateboard" wear helmets as well as elbow pads and knee pads. |
| 256 | * FantasyKitchenSink: |
| 257 | ** "Escape from Fairytale Village" has a witch living in a gingerbread house, a wolf, and a beanstalk with a giantl |
| 258 | ** "Scared of You". Mad scientists, mummies, wolves, and vampires are all in play here. |
| 259 | ** "Tale of the Mighty Knights". Knights serving a king fighting a goblin and a fairy. |
| 260 | %% * FasterThanLightTravel: The "Zip Speed" in "Garbage Trek". |
| 261 | * FastestGunInTheWest: Pablo in "Blazing Paddles". Actually, the fastest ping pong skills in the West. |
| 262 | %% * FawltyTowersPlot: "What's Bugging You?" and "The Big Dipper Diner". |
| 263 | * FearSong: "When You're Booin'" from "It's Great to be a Ghost" is aboyt Tyrone being too much of a scaredy-moose to be a ghost. |
| 264 | %% * FeeFiFauxPas: Austin in "Samurai Pie", when he mentions The Great Pie in front of the Empress. |
| 265 | * FeministFantasy: "Break Out!" "Blazing Paddles" might also count, due to Uniqua beating Pablo in the ping-pong match by burning a hole through his paddle. |
| 266 | %% * FieryRedhead: Tyrone occasionally slips into this, especially in "Best Clowns in Town". |
| 267 | * FightingYourFriend: They frequently find themselves battling each other ("The Two Musketeers" being a good example) once they start their adventures. Although [[WordOfGod official]] best friends Tyrone & Pablo and Tasha & Uniqua are rarely pitted against one another. |
| 268 | %% * FlashbackEffects: Tyrone has one in the form of a thought bubble during "Who Goes There?" |
| 269 | * FloatingInABubble: In "Front Page News", Captain Bubble (Tyrone) makes a giant bubble which traps the Giant Robot. |
| 270 | %% * FluffyCloudHeaven: In "Match on Mt. Olympus". |
| 271 | %% * FlyingPostman: The entire "Dragon Express" episode. |
| 272 | %% * FootballFightSong: The music genre for "Chichen-Itza Pizza". |
| 273 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: At the beginning of "Le Master of Disguise" when Pablo is showing off his disguises, the first two of his costumes are a clown and a cowboy. Later in the episode, Austin mistakes an actual cowboy (Tyrone) and an actual circus performer (Tasha) for Pablo. |
| 274 | * ForgottenBirthday: Austin thinks his birthday was forgotten in "Scared of You". In reality, Tasha was setting up a surprise party and distracted Austin by unknowingly gathering up the guests. |
| 275 | %% * FourFingeredHands: With the exception of Pablo, who has mitten-like flippers. |
| 276 | %% * FracturedFairyTale: "Escape from Fairytale Village" and "Break Out!" |
| 277 | * FromBadToWorse: A staple. Exemplified by the scene in "Catch that Butterfly" wherein the stagecoach is floating down a river and breaks apart piece by piece until only the floor is left... |
| 278 | * FrothyMugsOfWater: Apple juice is often used as a substitute for alcoholic beverages. |
| 279 | * FullyDressedCartoonAnimal: Tasha's regular wardrobe applies to this. Some of the other Backyardigans would get full costumes which often include shoes (i.e the Lady in Pink's white boots) on several adventures. |
| 280 | * FunnyBackgroundEvent: |
| 281 | ** In "News Flash", during one of Uniqua's reports Pablo is having a panic attack in the background. |
| 282 | ** In "Movers of Arabia", Pablo screaming his head off while being dragged behind a flying carpet as Uniqua takes a phone call from Sultan Tyrone. |
| 283 | ** In "Who Goes There?", when Tyrone sings the second part of the song [[TitleDrop that shares the title of the episode]], you can see the art coming to life and imitating his moves. |
| 284 | * FurryConfusion: Episodes sometimes feature the kids alongside non-anthropomorphic animals such as horses and even elephants. |
| 285 | * FurryFemaleMane: Inverted. Tyrone, who is male, is the only character with hair. Tasha looks very much like him, except for the lack of hair, antlers, and different ears. |
| 286 | [[/folder]] |
| 287 | |
| 288 | [[folder:G-H]] |
| 289 | %% * {{GASP}}: A RunningGag in "Blazing Paddles". |
| 290 | * GenderSeparatedEnsembleEpisode: It happens a lot. Pablo and Tyrone are best friends, and the same goes for Uniqua and Tasha. How often has it happened? |
| 291 | ** "The Heart of the Jungle": Tyrone, Pablo, and Austin are [[DecompositeCharacter the three Tarzans]], and Uniqua is a jungle explorer (possibly the episode's equivalent to Jane Porter). |
| 292 | ** "The Snow Fort": Tyrone and Pablo are the Mounties, and Uniqua and Tasha are the ski patrollers. |
| 293 | ** "The Key to the Nile": Tasha is the Egyptian princess, Uniqua is the sphinx, and Tyrone, Pablo, and Austin are the servants. |
| 294 | ** They practically spell it out for us in "Quest for the Flying Rock". |
| 295 | ** "Eureka!": Tyrone and Pablo are the prospectors, and Uniqua and Tasha are the paleontologists. |
| 296 | ** "The Legend of the Volcano Sisters": Tyrone, Pablo, and Austin are the Luau Brothers, and Uniqua and Tasha are the Volcano Sisters. |
| 297 | ** "Sinbad Sails Alone": Tyrone and Pablo are the sailors, and Uniqua and Tasha are the mythical beings they must face. |
| 298 | ** "Into the Deep": Pablo and Tyrone are the underwater explorers and Uniqua and Tasha are the mermaids. |
| 299 | ** "A Giant Problem": Tasha is the giant, Uniqua is the queen, and Pablo and Tyrone are the wizards. |
| 300 | ** "Chichen-Itza Pizza": Uniqua and Tasha are the pizza delivery girls and Tyrone is the king. |
| 301 | ** "The Masked Retriever": Uniqua is the title character, Tasha is an ordinary citizen, Austin is the mayor, and Pablo and Tyrone are his guards. |
| 302 | ** "Break Out!": Uniqua and Tasha are the princesses, Austin is the magic mirror, and Pablo and Tyrone are the guards. |
| 303 | %% * GenieInABottle: Austin in "Movers of Arabia". |
| 304 | %% * GenkiGirl: Uniqua most of the time, and Tasha during "A Giant Problem". |
| 305 | * GenreBusting: A musical genre and a fantasy setting which would ordinarily never come in contact with one another are combined to form the plot of most episodes; the only exception is "Best Clowns in Town", which is circus-themed all around with popcorn as the snack. Predictably, there was a hip-hop cowboy-themed episode, but it was gotten out of the way early in season 1. |
| 306 | * GentleGiant: Though not a literal giant, Tyrone is both the biggest and the friendliest of the bunch. |
| 307 | %% ** Tasha, literally, in "A Giant Problem". Pablo also turns out to be this in "Escape from Fairytale Village". |
| 308 | * GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Whenever Pablo has a panic attack -- which was almost once an episode in the first season; much less often in the following three -- one of his friends has to calm him down by calling "Pablo...Pablo?...PABLO!" |
| 309 | %% * GhostPirate: Tasha as Captain Redboots in "Pirate Camp". |
| 310 | %% * GhostSong: The songs in "It's Great to be a Ghost". |
| 311 | * GilliganCut: In "What's Bugging You?", when Uniqua and Tyrone are about to make cupcakes: |
| 312 | --> '''Tyrone:''' We just have to make sure that we don't make a mess. |
| 313 | -->(Cuts to the clean bowl. After a quick clock-spin, the bowl and then the entire room are shown to be messy.) |
| 314 | -->'''Tyrone:''' I think we may have made a mess... |
| 315 | %% * GirlGroup: The music genre (specifically 1960s girl group stylings) in "Break Out!", along with Wall of Sound. |
| 316 | * GirlsVsBoysPlot: A handful of episodes take the concept of the GenderSeparatedEnsembleEpisode one step further and have the two sets of best friends working in direct opposition to one another: "The Snow Fort", "The Quest for the Flying Rock", "The Legend of the Volcano Sisters", "Eureka!", "Into the Deep", and "Break Out". The majority of these episodes don't feature Austin at all, and when he does show up, he tends to go to whichever side needs a third person. For example, he serves as an assistant for the girls in "Break Out!", but sides with the boys in "The Legend of the Volcano Sisters", as he views them as his "brothers" therein. This works out favorably, as the day is saved by Austin reaching out to the girls. |
| 317 | * GoGetterGirl: |
| 318 | ** Uniqua's house is in the center of the titular backyard; she's the only character to appear in every single episode and almost never takes a backseat. If we can say any of this group is the leader, it's her. |
| 319 | ** Tasha was described on an official webpage as a "CEO type" a "tough as nails, my-way-or-the-highway kind of gal." When she's not playing the role of someone in authority, she'll usually find a way to be assertive anyway. |
| 320 | * GoodAllAlong: A few of the "villains" are this, such as the robot from "Front Page News" who only wants his picture taken and Pablo in "Le Master of Disguise" who is only running from Austin because he is chasing him for looking suspicious. |
| 321 | %% * TheGoodKing: Austin in "Knights are Brave and Strong" and "High Tea", Tyrone in "Movers of Arabia", Chichen-Itza Pizza", and "Catch That Train", and Pablo in "Tale of the Mighty Knights". |
| 322 | * GoshDangItToHeck: |
| 323 | ** During the song "Fill It Up With Ice", from "The Secret of Snow", one of Tasha's lines is "What the heck's the matter?" |
| 324 | ** Also in their cover of the Black Eyed Peas song "I Gotta Feeling", the line "Like oh my God" is changed to "Like oh my gosh". |
| 325 | %% * GospelRevivalNumber: "Now Would Be a Good Time to Whistle" from "Caveman's Best Friend". |
| 326 | %% * GratuitousDiscoSequence: The music genre in "The Quest for the Flying Rock". |
| 327 | %% * GratuitousRussian: In "Catch That Train". |
| 328 | %% * GratuitousSpanish: In "The Masked Retriever" and "Los Galacticos". |
| 329 | %% * GreasySpoon: "The Big Dipper Diner" is a {{Recycled IN SPACE}} version. |
| 330 | %% * GreatDetective: Pablo in "Whodunit?". |
| 331 | %% * GreenRocks: The flying rock in "The Quest for the Flying Rock" and the Crystal of Power in "Pablor and the Acorns". |
| 332 | * GreenThumb / PetalPower: Uniqua as Flower Girl in "Flower Power". Also Austin at the end of the same episode (though still through his tech and not actual superpowers) when he becomes the Bloom Meister. |
| 333 | * GrowlingGut: Every episode ends with someone's stomach rumbling, prompting the kids to bring the adventure to a close and go get a snack. |
| 334 | ** RecycledSoundtrack: In all but two instances of this, the sound byte is consistent. "Scared Of You" deliberately uses a different version, because it's more intimidating. "The Swamp Creature" used a different, louder version for the same reason. |
| 335 | * TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: |
| 336 | ** When Uniqua and Austin (as palace guards) are tricked by Musketeer Tasha in "The Two Musketeers", and guards Tyrone and Pablo in "The Masked Retriever". |
| 337 | ** Museum Guard Tyrone in "Who Goes There?", who was probably either blind or just dumb as a post to not notice the artworks' shenanigans (at one point he is looking ''right at Uniqua'' and doesn't realize she's not supposed to be a statue). |
| 338 | %% * HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: Pablo and Tyrone. |
| 339 | %% * {{Hammerspace}}: Central to the concept... especially the fantasies that happen in ''interstellar space''. |
| 340 | %% * HauntedCastle: In "It's Great to be a Ghost", and "Scared of You". Also, technically "Monster Detectives". |
| 341 | %% * HeelFaceTurn: A common ending for any character portrayed as a villain. |
| 342 | * HelpingGrannyCrossTheStreet: In the "I Feel Good" song from "Cops and Robots," the formerly Bad Bot sings about this being one of the things he wants to do now that he's a Good Bot. |
| 343 | %% * HeroSecretService: The secret headquarters in "International Super Spy". |
| 344 | %% * HeroicDolphin: The dolphin mounts in "The Great Dolphin Race". |
| 345 | * HeroicSacrifice: Austin - on a kid's-TV level - in "The Secret of Snow". He uses the Ice Lady's (Tasha's) ice machine to save Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone, even though he knows that it will get him in big trouble with Tasha. |
| 346 | * HeterosexualLifePartners: Pablo and Tyrone have been pitted against each other twice tops. |
| 347 | * HighlyVisibleNinja: A running gag in "Samurai Pie", wherein Pablo keeps losing his balance, eventually falling on a pie tin and giving himself and Uniqua away. |
| 348 | %% * TheHighQueen: Tasha in "Knights are Brave and Strong", "Samurai Pie", "Fly Girl", and "The Two Musketeers", and Uniqua in "A Giant Problem". |
| 349 | * HistoricalInJoke: There are a surprising number of them. The art in "Who Goes There?", Tyrone's combed hair in "To the Center of the Earth", and Empress Tasha saying "Let us eat cake!" in "The Two Musketeers" are a few examples. |
| 350 | %% * HookHand: Austin has one in "Pirate Treasure". |
| 351 | * HornyVikings: In "Viking Voyage", Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone wear the classic helmets. Although Tyrone's horns are his real antlers. |
| 352 | * HorseOfADifferentColor: Boy the pet dinosaur in "Caveman's Best Friend", and the racing dolphins in "The Great Dolphin Race". |
| 353 | * HouseInspection: In [[Recap/TheBackyardigansS3E5WhatsBuggingYou "What's Bugging You?"]], Tasha's house is being inspected by Mr. Spiffy (Pablo) so she can join the Spiffy Club. When she finds out a worman is in her house, she calls Uniqua and Tyrone from Best Pest Control. Unfortunately, everything Uniqua and Tyrone do seems to attract even ''more'' wormen. Then Mr.Spiffy arrives, which means that Tasha, Uniqua, and Tyrone not only have to do their jobs quickly, but they also have to do it in secret. Thus the {{Fawlty Towers Plot}}. |
| 354 | %% * HugeRiderTinyMount: Tyrone and Molasses in "Horsing Around". |
| 355 | * HulkingOut: Pablo in the Fourth Season episode "The Flipper". After getting doused in 'space ooze' he transforms into The Flipper whenever he gets overexcited. And this is ''Pablo'' we're talking about, so... |
| 356 | %% None of the examples explain why they're examples * HulkSpeak: |
| 357 | %% ** Pablo when he transforms into The Flipper mentioned in the previous trope, which is itself a parody of the Hulk. |
| 358 | %% ** Tasha also does this in "Super Team Awesome!". |
| 359 | %% ** And Austin in "The Heart of the Jungle". |
| 360 | %% ** Austin does this again with Tyrone in "The Action Elves Save Christmas Eve!" |
| 361 | * HumanAliens: Most episodes that take place in outer space have the kids playing characters who live in space but look exactly like them: "Cops and Robots", "Garbage Trek", "Ranch Hands from Outer Space", "Los Galacticos", "Pablor and the Acorns", and "The Big Dipper Diner". Played with, as they are FunnyAnimals, not humans. |
| 362 | * HumongousMecha: The Giant Robot in his first appearance. However, later episodes reveal that he is an average-sized wind-up toy belonging to Uniqua. |
| 363 | %% * HyperspeedEscape: In "Garbage Trek", Tyrone and Pablo use "Zip Speed". |
| 364 | * HypocriticalHumor: When Pablo has a panic attack, he usually tells the others to stay calm. |
| 365 | [[/folder]] |
| 366 | |
| 367 | [[folder:I-L]] |
| 368 | * IAmBecomingSong: If there's CharacterDevelopment in an episode, there will likely be a song about it. |
| 369 | * IAmNotLeftHanded: From "International Super Spy": |
| 370 | -->'''Pablo''': There's something you should know, Lady in Pink. |
| 371 | -->'''Lady in Pink''': Oh? And what's that? |
| 372 | -->'''Pablo''': I'm not ticklish. |
| 373 | %% * IAmSong: Expect one of these when a character introduces themselves and the role they're playing. |
| 374 | %% * IfMyCalculationsAreCorrect: Pablo during "Mission to Mars" and "Secret Mission". |
| 375 | * [[IHaveYourWife I Have Your Boss]]: In "International Super Spy", this was done in the complete 1-7 sequence: 1. Boss (Tasha) is kidnapped. 2. Villain (Uniqua) calls up hero (Pablo) and says "I've got your boss". 3. Tasha yells "Don't worry about me! I can take it!" 4. Uniqua tells Pablo that if he doesn't obey orders, then she will tickle Tasha. 5. Pablo must deliver the secret containers. [[spoiler:6. Pablo succeeds in calling a friend (Austin), who in turn finds out what's going on and swings into action to help... sort of. 7. Eventually, Tasha is released... because ''Pablo'' isn't ticklish]]. |
| 376 | * ImagineSpot: In "Elephant on the Run", one of the songs takes place in and out of Uniqua's fantasy of having an elephant for a pet. |
| 377 | * ImpossibleThief: Austin the "Grabbin' Goblin", in "The Tale of the Mighty Knights", was able to grab Uniqua and Tyrone's helmets, shields, and finally flashlights...while they were still using them! |
| 378 | * IncredibleShrinkingMan: [[spoiler: Austin, and later on, Pablo and Tyrone]] get shrunk in "Race to the Tower of Power". Tasha gets her turn in "The Big Dipper Diner". |
| 379 | %% What about them? ** Also, the horses in "Ranch Hands from Outer Space". |
| 380 | %% * InevitableWaterfall: Oh yeah. "Polka Palace Party", "Catch that Butterfly", "The Secret of Snow", "Chichen-Itza Pizza", and "The Tale of the Mighty Knights" are just a few examples. |
| 381 | * InsaneTrollLogic: Standard and unapologetic -- this being a show based around little kids playing pretend, after all. From "To the Center of the Earth": |
| 382 | -->'''Uniqua''': Tyrone, your penny has fallen into your sandbox, here. (Pulls out a diagram of the Earth's inside and points to the Earth's crust.) |
| 383 | -->'''Pablo''': And has fallen all the way to the center of the Earth, here. (Points to the Earth's core.) |
| 384 | %% * InsecurityCamera: In "International Super Spy". |
| 385 | * InsistentTerminology: |
| 386 | ** This line from "Knights are Brave and Strong": |
| 387 | --> Tasha: "You got my message! Thanks, everyone! You make good knights!" |
| 388 | --> Pablo: "[Austin]'s a king." |
| 389 | ** "The Yeti": The igloo isn't beautiful, it's be-yuuuuuuutiful! |
| 390 | %% * InspectorJavert: Inspector Austin of the Paris Police in "Le Master of Disguise". |
| 391 | * InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha: The Giant Robot, who shows up in seasons three and four. |
| 392 | %% * InstantCostumeChange: Tyrone and Pablo do this near the end of "Race to the Tower of Power", Uniqua in "The Masked Retriever", Tasha in "Front Page News", Pablo again in "Le Master of Disguise", and Uniqua and Austin in "Flower Power". |
| 393 | %% * IntrepidReporter: Tasha in "Front Page News", and Uniqua in "Newsflash". |
| 394 | * InvisibleParents: Some of the kids have their parents mentioned toward the end of certain episodes[[note]]Specifics: Pablo's mother was mentioned in "Catch That Train!", Uniqua's mother was mentioned in "Secret Mission", "Race Around The World", and "Mission To Mars", Tyrone's mother was mentioned in "News Flash", and Tyrone's father was mentioned in "Quest for the Flying Rock". Neither Tasha nor Austin's parents are mentioned.[[/note]], but we never see them. |
| 395 | * {{Introdump}}: During the opening song. "[[ThemeTuneRollCall Hi, I'm Pablo." "My name's Tyrone...]]" And so on and so forth. |
| 396 | %% * IrisOut |
| 397 | * IronicEchoCut: An interesting not-quite-a-cut variant in "Break Out!": |
| 398 | -->'''Tasha:''' They'll never see us on the secret staircase.\ |
| 399 | ''(Camera zooms out, revealing that Tyrone is watching them on the security monitor)''\ |
| 400 | '''Tyrone:''' I see them on the secret staircase! |
| 401 | %% * ItHasBeenAnHonor: Pablo in "Who Goes There?". |
| 402 | * ItsAlwaysSpring: In the titular backyard. "The Secret of Snow" and "The Action Elves Save Christmas Eve" are the only two exceptions, for obvious reasons. |
| 403 | * ItsASmallWorldAfterAll: In "Polka Palace Party", Tyrone, Uniqua, Pablo, and Austin meet up and then note how they all ''happen'' to be cowboys/cowgirls, they all ''happen'' to like the same kind of music, and that they all ''happen'' to be on their way to Cheyenne. |
| 404 | %% * ItsProbablyNothing: Tyrone (as a guard) in "The Masked Retriever". |
| 405 | %% * IWantSong: |
| 406 | %% ** Uniqua and Pablo have one in "The Great Dolphin Race". |
| 407 | %% ** Austin got one in "Caveman's Best Friend". |
| 408 | * TheJeeves: |
| 409 | ** Tyrone in "Whodunit?"; he even has his hair specially combed like Jeeves' for that episode. |
| 410 | ** Also Pablo in "Catch That Train" -- so utterly ''utterly'' devoted to having everything Czar Tyrone needs three seconds before he wants it. |
| 411 | * JobSong: The protagonists often sing about jobs they're pretending to have. |
| 412 | %% * TheJuggernaut: In "Chichen-Itza Pizza", the boulder chasing Tasha and Uniqua. |
| 413 | %% * JumpIllCatchYou: In "Pirate Treasure", the other characters say this to Pablo as he hobbles across a log with his peg leg. |
| 414 | * JumpPhysics: In "Pirate Camp", Uniqua and Pablo are launched into the air using only two planks and some crates. |
| 415 | * JumpTheShark:[[invoked]] Spoofed in "Save the Day" when Tyrone jumps over a sea of sharks on a jet ski to save Tasha. |
| 416 | * KangaroosRepresentAustralia: Austin. |
| 417 | * TheKilljoy: Especially when naps are involved. |
| 418 | ** In "A Giant Problem", Queen Uniqua hires a couple of wizards to get rid of giantess Tasha because the latter's weight shakes the ground and doesn't let the former take her royal nap. Meanwhile, Tasha is having great fun playing in the forest and exploring the kingdom she's just arrived in. |
| 419 | ** PlayedForlaughs in "Fly Girl"; Pablo and Tyrone are clean-freaks and Tasha yells at birds because their singing won't let her take a nap. Pilot Uniqua is tasked with delivering singing telegrams to them so their mood can improve. |
| 420 | %% * {{Knighting}}: In "Knights are Brave and Strong". |
| 421 | %% * KnightInShiningArmor: Uniqua and Tyrone in "The Tale of the Mighty Knights", and "Knights are Brave and Strong". |
| 422 | * KnightOfCerebus: Pablo as "Professor Bug" in the two-part "Robot Rampage" episode. The first part was as lighthearted as most episodes of preschool shows, with Pablo only making a few casual appearances. But towards the end of the first part, he properly introduced himself via a VillainSong. He has a much more active role in the second part, which has a much more grim tone. |
| 423 | %% * LadyInRed: Spoofed in "International Super Spy", with Uniqua as the Lady in Pink. |
| 424 | %% * LameRhymeDodge: Austin in "The Two Musketeers" does several of these ''without'' the rhyme. |
| 425 | %% * LargeHam: Austin in 'The Funnyman Boogeyman'. |
| 426 | %% * LaserHallway: In "Secret Mission" and "Break Out!". |
| 427 | %% * LastSecondShowoff: Uniqua and Pablo in "Horsing Around". |
| 428 | %% * LavaPit: In "The Tale of the Mighty Knights" and "The Legend of the Volcano Sisters". |
| 429 | * LawOfAlienNames: The '''Z'''orbidorians in "Ranch Hands from Outer Space" seem to be very obsessed with the letter Z. Not only are Uniqua and Pablo named '''Z'''uniqua and '''Z'''ablo, they refer to pancakes as '''z'''um-'''z'''ums. |
| 430 | -->'''Z'''oid, '''z'''oid, '''z'''oid! '''Z'''ee, '''z'''ee, '''z'''ee! The [[IncredibleShrinkingMan horse]] is on my head and it's where it should be! |
| 431 | * {{Leitmotif}}: |
| 432 | ** A variation of the show's theme song sounds off once the backyard is transforming into the imaginary world featured in the episode. |
| 433 | ** Pablo has his own panic attack tune set to the music genre of the week. |
| 434 | %% No mention of the music * LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: Used in "Monster Detectives", during the TransformationSequence. |
| 435 | %% --> '''Uniqua''': Where are we going? |
| 436 | * LightningCanDoAnything: In "Match on Mt. Olympus", Austin, the God of Laughter, can shoot lightning from his hands that makes his victim [[note]] [[spoiler:Tyrone]] [[/note]] laugh uncontrollably. |
| 437 | %% * LightningReveal: In "Scared of You". |
| 438 | * LimitedWardrobe: Aside from the thematic costumes they wear during the fantasies, their outfits never change. |
| 439 | * LiteralCliffhanger: Uniqua at the beginning of "Polka Palace Party" and Pablo during the snowboarding leg of "Race Around the World". |
| 440 | * LiteralMetaphor: Towards the end of the FeministFantasy episode "Break Out!", Uniqua and Tasha break through a literal glass ceiling. |
| 441 | %% * TheLoad: Pablo for most of "Sinbad Sails Alone". |
| 442 | [[/folder]] |
| 443 | |
| 444 | [[folder:M-O]] |
| 445 | * MadLibsCatchPhrase: At the end of every episode, Tyrone remarks, "That was an excellent (or very) [type] adventure, don't you think?". Some episodes (like "It's Great to Be a Ghost!") omit the word "excellent". In episodes where Tyrone is absent, [[BorrowedCatchphrase Pablo says the phrase instead]]. |
| 446 | %% * MadScientist: Tasha in "Scared of You". |
| 447 | %% * MadScientistLaboratory: In "Scared of You", complete with cool-looking lab equipment. |
| 448 | %% * MagicCountdown: In "Garbage Trek". |
| 449 | %% * MagicMisfire: Quite a few in "A Giant Problem", caused by inept court wizards Pablo and Tyrone. |
| 450 | * MagikarpPower: Tyrone as "Captain Bubble" in "Front Page News" had super bubble power. |
| 451 | * MakeMeWannaShout: Sea Squirt in "The Great Dolphin Race" gains his courage against the Giant Clam by letting out two ear-piercing sonic shrieks, driving the clam away. |
| 452 | * MasterActor: The Backyardigans can play well with whatever role that their adventures might take them. |
| 453 | %% * MasterOfDisguise: Pablo, in, well, "Le Master of Disguise". |
| 454 | * MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's not clear whether the reality of the characters live in is fantastic or not, as in some episodes, supporting characters appear both inside the Backyardigans' fantasies and out, [[spoiler: especially the Gilded Golden Butterfly.]] |
| 455 | * MeaningfulName: Uniqua = unique (because she's a CartoonCreature), and Austin = Australia (because that's where kangaroos come from). |
| 456 | %% * MedievalEuropeanFantasy: In "Knights Are Brave and Strong" and "Tale of the Mighty Knights". |
| 457 | %% * MegaCity: The name of the city in "Robot Rampage". |
| 458 | %% * MeritBadgesForEverything: In "Pablor and the Acorns". |
| 459 | * MinimalistCast: Only five consistent characters, although most episodes only feature four, and some only have three. |
| 460 | %% * MinionWithAnFInEvil: Tyrone in "International Super Spy", and Austin in "The Two Musketeers". |
| 461 | %% * MissionBriefing: Tasha gives Pablo one in "International Super Spy", and Tyrone and Tasha give one in "Mission to Mars". |
| 462 | * MissionControl: Again, Tyrone and Tasha in "Mission to Mars". Austin provides a unique variation in "Break Out!"-- he's a portable magic mirror possessed by Tasha and Uniqua, yet obeys the trope and its associated clichés almost perfectly. |
| 463 | %% * MonsterMash: The monster dance party near the end of "Scared of You". |
| 464 | * MooseAndMapleSyrup: Tyrone, the moose character. [[WordOfGod Indicated]] during "Secret Mission", in which he carries around a bottle of Spy Maple Syrup with an unmistakeable little red maple leaf on the label. |
| 465 | * MoralityDial: In the episode "Cops and Robots", all bots have a morality switch that (child logic, gotta love it) can be flipped to "BAD". |
| 466 | * MoralGuardians / MediaWatchdog: The reason why, among other things, the kids have a sword fight using telescopes ("Pirate Treasure"), and balloons ("The Two Musketeers"). And the reason why, in "Pirate Camp", "swashbuckling" means "sliding down a rope with a piece of cloth". |
| 467 | * MotionCapture: The kids' dancing is animated this way, which explains why the characters often spin so quickly and their movement is perfectly synced. |
| 468 | * MrImagination: All five Backyardigans. |
| 469 | * MundaneMadeAwesome: Episodes such as "Garbage Trek" and "For the Love of Socks" can easily be interpreted as the kids spinning elaborate, fantastical stories out of mundane tasks. There's also the likes of "Samurai Pie" and "Blazing Paddles", which take simple acts (respectively, baking pies and playing ping-pong) and treat them as SeriousBusiness. |
| 470 | * MundaneUtility: During the song "I Get Whatever I Want" from ''Robot Rampage'', Pablo sings that he plans to have the robots in his command bring him stuff and then do the dishes. |
| 471 | %% * {{Mummy}}: Tyrone in "Scared of You". |
| 472 | %% * TheMusical: The whole show. |
| 473 | * MusicalisInterruptus: |
| 474 | ** In "Super Team Awesome!", Tyrone halts the second song when a boulder comes dangerously close to plugging Old Gushie. |
| 475 | ** In "Pirate Treasure," Pablo can't finish his verse in "Falling off a Log," because he almost does just that. |
| 476 | ** Tasha abruptly ends her song in "Match on Mount Olympus" when Tyrone asks her to play basketball with him and Pablo. |
| 477 | * TheNapoleon: In "Who Goes There?", Pablo (the shortest of the five), plays a Napoleon-esque statue. |
| 478 | * NarratorAllAlong: At the very end of "The Secret of Snow", we learn that the narrator of the story is Austin, who plays the deuteragonist of the episode. |
| 479 | * NeverSayDie: Although they kids have been close to danger, the word has never yet been used. This is extremely noticeable in "Escape from Fairytale Village", when Tyrone thinks Pablo (as a giant) is going to "do the scary stuff that fairytale characters do". |
| 480 | ** Finally averted in "The Funnyman Boogeyman", in which Austin says he has jokes that will "knock [Pablo and Uniqua] dead". |
| 481 | * NobodyHereButUsStatues: A recurring theme in "Who Goes There?" with Uniqua, Pablo, and Austin being actual pieces of artwork. It happens again in "What's Bugging You?" with Uniqua and Tyrone as a pest control service trying to hide from house inspector Mr. Spiffy (Pablo). |
| 482 | * NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: "Scared of You" takes advantage of the musical genre in play by having Pablo put on a Cab Calloway impression. |
| 483 | * NonIronicClown: Uniqua, Austin, and Pablo in "The Best Clowns in Town." Ringmaster Tyrone finds their antics less than amusing and refuses to hire them for his circus (it doesn't help when they cause him to miss his train twice). Thankfully, they manage to bring him around in the end. |
| 484 | %% * NoSeatBelts: Both space cars in "Cops and Robots", though usually the show is very careful not to do this. |
| 485 | %% * NoOSHACompliance: The ice factory in "The Secret of Snow" and the sock factory in "For the Love of Socks!". |
| 486 | %% * NothingCanSaveUsNow: "Save the Day", the "Uh-Oh!" song. |
| 487 | %% * NothingCanStopUsNow: In "Catch that Butterfly", the "How Hard Can It Be?" song. |
| 488 | * OddCouple: Best friends Pablo the tightly-wound and Tyrone the laid-back. |
| 489 | * OddJobGods: In "Match on Mt.Olympus", Austin is the god of laughter, and Uniqua is the goddess of naps. |
| 490 | ** LaughWithMe: |
| 491 | --> '''Austin''': Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other ''slide''. Do ''you'' not think it's funny? |
| 492 | %% * OminousFog: The fog in "Knights are Brave and Strong" and "Whodunit?". |
| 493 | * OnceASeason: |
| 494 | ** Starting with season 2, there was one TwoPartEpisode every season. |
| 495 | ** Each season had one episode involving racing. Season 1 had "Race Around the World", season 2 had "Horsing Around", season 3 had "The Great Dolphin Race", and season 4 had "The Magic Skateboard". Each of these episodes, with the exception of "Horsing Around", was written by Rodney Stringfellow. |
| 496 | * OncePerEpisode: At the end of every episode, once the Backyardigans are finished singing the reprise of the intro song and go inside for a snack, one of them will open up the door and say a line associated with the setting of the episode. |
| 497 | * TheOneWhoWearsShoes: Tasha is always wearing shoes of some kind, usually her red Maryjanes. The other characters don't wear shoes at all until they get a costume change in the fantasy, and even then they sometimes don't have them. |
| 498 | * OnlyOneName: Except for in "Whodunit", with Austin Frothingslosh and Uniqua Underhood, the characters have no surnames. |
| 499 | * OohMeAccentsSlipping: The Backyardigans drop their fantasy accents when they start singing, likely because the performers for their speaking and singing voices are two different people recorded separately. |
| 500 | %% * OrientExpress: "Le Master of Disguise". |
| 501 | %% * OurDragonsAreDifferent: Dragon himself. |
| 502 | %% * OurGiantsAreBigger: Tasha in "A Giant Problem", and Pablo in "Escape from Fairytale Village". |
| 503 | %% * OurGhostsAreDifferent: In "It's Great to be a Ghost" and "Pirate Camp". |
| 504 | %% * OurGoblinsAreDifferent: The Grabbin' Goblin (Austin) in "Tale of the Mighty Knights" and "Tale of the Not-So-Nice Dragon". |
| 505 | %% * OurMermaidsAreDifferent: Tasha in "Viking Voyage", and then Tasha and Uniqua during Into the Deep". |
| 506 | * OurSirensAreDifferent: In "Sinbad Sails Alone", Tyrone and Pablo encounter Siren Uniqua, who makes them play "Siren Says" in order to get water from her island. |
| 507 | %% * OurVampiresAreDifferent: Pablo in "Scared Of You". |
| 508 | %% * OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Uniqua in "Scared Of You". |
| 509 | * {{Outlaw}}: In "Blazing Paddles", we see a wanted poster featured Pablo, the "Ping Pong Bandit", with a reward of $500. |
| 510 | [[/folder]] |
| 511 | |
| 512 | [[folder:P-R]] |
| 513 | * PantslessMalesFullyDressedFemales: Tyrone and Pablo don't always wear pants, although Austin always does. Uniqua and Tasha are also fully dressed. |
| 514 | ** Hilariously enough, this was actually ''inverted'' in "Chichen-Itza Pizza": The girls' uniform only has the shirt (though to be fair, they had their regular clothes on underneath), while Tyrone wears pants (well, a grass skirt) to make up for all the time he spends running around pantsless. |
| 515 | * PaperThinDisguise: Pablo, in "The Master of Disguise". All he does is change his clothing, but to the other characters his disguise is ''perfect''. {{Justified|Trope}} since the kids are using their imaginations and are pretending that Pablo's disguises are perfect. |
| 516 | %% * ParentalBonus: Deliberate, and clever. |
| 517 | %% ** "I don't control the weather. I just report it." |
| 518 | %% * PepTalkSong: "Things Could Always Be Worse" from "Follow the Feather" and "Astronauts Never Give Up" from "Mission to Mars" |
| 519 | * PestEpisode: Played with in "What's Bugging You" has Tyrone and Uniqua pretending to be "pest controllers" trying to rid Tasha's mansion of the wormlike wormans, while trying to keep the "infestation" hidden from [[HouseInspection an inspection]] by "Mr. Spiffy" (Pablo) -- Tasha won't be able to join the "Spiffy Club" if there are ''worms'' inside. |
| 520 | * PilotEpisode: "Fly Girl", if you mean ''literally''. There's some debate over what the true pilot of the series is: there's "Pirate Treasure" and "Knights Are Brave and Strong" (the first episode of the first season, depending on where you live) in addition to an unaired (and unnamed) animated pilot from 2001 and a 1998 live-action pilot titled "Me and My Friends." Confusingly, all four of these have been given the title of "pilot" by the people behind them. |
| 521 | * {{Pirate}}: "Pirate Treasure" and "Pirate Camp". Pablo also played a rather grumpy pirate in "Fly Girl", and a not-so-grumpy superhero pirate in "Super Team Awesome". |
| 522 | * PirateBooty: The diamond in "Pirate Treasure", and Captain Red Boots' boot (plus a pile of gold) in "Pirate Camp". |
| 523 | * APlanetNamedZok: In "Ranch Hands from Outer Space", Uniqua and Pablo are from planet Zorbidor. |
| 524 | * PlanetOfSteves: During "Mission to Mars", the CouchGag phrase is "Boinga", which can mean nearly anything. As does "Ugh" during "Cave Party". |
| 525 | * PlayingAgainstType: In-universe. The usually calm Tyrone plays a lot of hot-tempered roles in season 2, while the usually excitable Pablo plays a lot of TheComicallySerious roles in season 3. Whenever this happens, it's nothing short of hilarious. |
| 526 | ** In "A Giant Problem", Uniqua plays a bossy princess, the kind of role you'd expect to be assigned to Tasha. Instead, Tasha gets to be a playful and carefree giant. |
| 527 | * PlotTailoredToTheParty: In "For the Love of Socks", every worker gets their moment to shine. It's easy to tell because their turns come in ''exactly the same order'' as they do in the assembly line. [[spoiler:Except for Foreman Tasha; despite being at the beginning of the line, her moment's at the very end.]] |
| 528 | * PokeThePoodle: Enforced. The MoralGuardians aren't about to let preschool characters do anything genuinely evil. |
| 529 | -->''Who is the girl who never plays nice... and wishes that all rubber duckies would sink? Who interrupts people and never thinks twice? / Me! I'm the Lady in Pink! / Lady in Pink, Lady in Pink! / She does terrible things! / Even worse than you think!'' |
| 530 | %% * PoliceAreUseless: Officer Pablo justifies this in "Caveman's Best Friend". |
| 531 | %% * PoorCommunicationKills: A handful of episode plots are driven by this. Examples include "The Snow Fort", "The Funnyman Boogeyman", and "The Big Dipper Diner". |
| 532 | * PowerGlows: In "The Magic Skateboard," Tyrone finds the magic skateboard because it glows. The Crystal of Power in "Pablor and the Acorns" also glows. |
| 533 | %% * ThePowerOfRock: And zydeco. And rumba. And Bollywood. And nortĕno. And ragtime...must we continue? |
| 534 | * PrimaryColorChampion[=/=]SecondaryColorNemesis: Played straight in "The Great Dolphin Race" where Uniqua, who is pink which is a shade of red, is the hero, and orange Tyrone is the villain, "Robin Hood the Clean" where blue Pablo is the hero and purple Austin is the villain, and "The Masked Retriever" and "Flower Power" where Uniqua is the hero and Austin is the villain. Inverted in "Le Master of Disguise" and "Robot Rampage", where Austin is the hero and Pablo is the villain, and "Pablor and the Acorns", where Uniqua and Pablo have an EvilVsEvil rivalry. |
| 535 | * PrincessesRule: "The Key to the Nile" has Tasha being called a "princess" despite appearing to be the ruler of ancient Egypt. |
| 536 | %% * TheQuietOne: Once again, Austin. |
| 537 | %% * ReactiveContinuousScream: This happens in "The Snow Fort", when the mounties (Pablo and Tyrone) and the Ski Patrollers (Uniqua and Tasha) accidentally come face-to-face with each other on the second floor of the snow fort, just a few seconds before the mounties fall off the ladder and land in a pile of snow. |
| 538 | * RecordNeedleScratch: |
| 539 | ** In "Blazing Paddles". The exciting BackgroundMusic suddenly screeches to a halt when Pablo asks "Uh...when is high noon?". |
| 540 | ** In "Monster Detectives", Tyrone stars to lead Uniqua on a journey to get her soccer ball back, but Uniqua's doesn't know where they're headed, so the usual scenery transformation music fizzles out on the first try. |
| 541 | * RecurringCharacter: The first small martian appears "Mission to Mars"; One appears at the end of "News Flash", three appear at the end of "Los Galacticos" and two of them are major characters in "The Big Dipper Diner." |
| 542 | * RedHerring: In "Whodunit?", [[spoiler:Austin leaves the manor saying that he has to go "feed his cat", looking very guilty indeed.]] |
| 543 | * RedOniBlueOni: Inverted with Pablo and Tyrone. Pablo is blue and panicked frequently in the first season. Tyrone is orange, but more level-headed and laidback. |
| 544 | * RepetitiveName: In "Catch That Train!", Pablo's full name is Pablo Pablovitch. |
| 545 | %% * RhymesOnADime: Austin as the Greek poet Austicles in "Who Goes There?". |
| 546 | * RiddleOfTheSphinx: In "The Secret of the Nile", Tasha has to give Sphinx Uniqua three gifts before Uniqua will tell her the secret of the Nile. [[spoiler:Turns out it's just saying please and thank you.]] |
| 547 | %% * RobeAndWizardHat: Tyrone and Pablo in "A Giant Problem". |
| 548 | %% * {{Robinsonade}}: The episode "Castaways". |
| 549 | %% * RobotBuddy: Rover in "Mission to Mars", as well as all of the robots in "Robot Rampage" before they went haywire. |
| 550 | * RotatingProtagonist: All five characters get turns being the lead. In fact, the spotlight bounces around so much that it's not clear who the ''main'' protagonist is. (WordOfGod says it's Uniqua.) |
| 551 | %% * RuleOfCute: Not at all overplayed, but there nonetheless (they do have plushies to sell, after all). |
| 552 | * RuleOfThree: Nearly every episode. "Le Master of Disguise" actually has ''two'' examples of this trope: Austin mistakes three people (Uniqua, Tyrone, and Tasha) for Pablo, and Pablo wears three disguises (conductor, waiter, and [[spoiler: Austin himself!]]) |
| 553 | * RummageFail: The episode "Eureka!" has Pablo looking in his and Tyrone's horse's pack, and every single time, he'd get about about 2 or 3 unrelated objects to what they were looking for! |
| 554 | %% * RunawayTrain: The plot of "Catch that Train!" |
| 555 | * RunningGag: Pablo's panic attacks. |
| 556 | [[/folder]] |
| 557 | |
| 558 | [[folder:S]] |
| 559 | * SaveTheVillain: In "International Super Spy", Pablo saves Uniqua from a DisneyVillainDeath, [[HeelFaceTurn prompting her to change her ways.]] |
| 560 | %% * ScoutOut: The Acorn Scouts in "Pablor and the Acorns". |
| 561 | * ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Towards the end of "The Secret of Snow", Austin lets Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone into the ice factory against Tasha's orders. |
| 562 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: While on a pizza delivery in "Chichen-Itza Pizza," Tasha decides to quit the job after several TempleOfDoom disasters, though she does so in true Backyardigans style - with a flashy college fight song. |
| 563 | %% * SeadogPegLeg: Pablo has one in "Pirate Treasure". |
| 564 | %% * SeaMonster: A playful one appears in "The Amazing Splashinis". |
| 565 | * SeashellBra: Averted with the mermaid characters in "Viking Voyage" and "Into the Deep". Their tails go all the way up to their shoulders. |
| 566 | * SecondEpisodeIntroduction: If you go by the Canadian air dates, Tasha made her debut in "The Yeti". Surprisingly, based on that, ''Austin'' was introduced before her! |
| 567 | * SequelEpisode: "Tale of the Not-So-Nice Dragon" is one for the two "Tale of the Mighty Knights" episodes from season three. |
| 568 | * SeriesContinuityError: A major plot point in the season three episode "Caveman's Best Friend" is that no one [[spoiler: except Austin at the end]] is able to whistle. Even though Uniqua and Pablo can whistle just fine in the season two episode "Horsing Around", as can Tyrone in "Special Delivery". [[note]] Tasha whistling in "Save the Day" doesn't count because she was absent from "Caveman's Best Friend". [[/note]] |
| 569 | * SesameStreetCred: Alicia Keys, for voicing and singing the mama alien in "Mission to Mars", Cyndi Lauper for singing in "International Super Spy," and Adam Pascal for being a narrator and singer in "Tale of the Mighty Knights". Also, Conan O'Brien as SantaClaus in "The Action Elves Save Christmas Eve"! |
| 570 | * SignatureLaugh: "Le Master of Disguise" does this in-universe for Pablo's "Heh-heh-heh!", which is what Inspector Austin uses to identify who is him. |
| 571 | * ShabbyHeroesWellDressedVillains: |
| 572 | ** In "Blazing Paddles", Uniqua's sheriff uniform is much dustier than Pablo's outlaw uniform. |
| 573 | ** In "The Great Dolphin Race", Uniqua wears a plain stable girl outfit and Tyrone wears a sleek racing uniform. |
| 574 | ** In "Pablor and the Acorns", the kind Acorn Scouts wear dusty scout uniforms and space dictators Uniqua and Pablo wear fancy spacesuits. At the end, their {{HeelFaceTurn}}s are symbolized by replacing their space helmets with berets. |
| 575 | %% * ShaveAndAHaircut: How Uniqua, Tyrone, and Pablo get Austin's attention in "Polka Palace Party". Austin drums out the "two bits" part himself. |
| 576 | %% * TheSheriff: Uniqua, in "Blazing Paddles". |
| 577 | %% * ShoePhone: Pablo's hat-phone in "International Super Spy". |
| 578 | * ShortScreentimeForReality: The shared backyard and the rear exteriors of the kids' houses are all that is seen in the real world, being bookended by the imaginary worlds dreamt up by them where most of the plot takes place. |
| 579 | * ShoutOut: |
| 580 | ** Combined with ParentalBonus, a cowboy episode is titled “[[Film/BlazingSaddles Blazing Paddles]]”. |
| 581 | ** Honorable mentions go to some ''VideoGame/BioShock'' shout-outs in "To the Center of the Earth". |
| 582 | ** The music in "The Heart of the Jungle" imitated the Creator/GilbertAndSullivan operas. There's even a song to the tune of [[Theatre/HMSPinafore "I'm Called Little Buttercup"]]. |
| 583 | ** Similarly, "Catch that Butterfly" parodies Rossini operas, and features a song to the tune of "The Barber of Seville" overture. |
| 584 | ** In "Break Out", Princess Tasha has [[Franchise/StarWars Princess Leia]]'s iconic hairstyle. |
| 585 | * ShownTheirWork: You can tell the "Caveman's Best Friend" episode takes place in the Triassic period because of the tar puddles and the fern plants. |
| 586 | %% * ShrinkingViolet: Austin at first. He opens up later. |
| 587 | %% * ShrugTake: Mr. Spiffy's (Pablo) reaction to the Wormans in "What's Bugging You?" |
| 588 | * TheSimpleGestureWins: In the episode "Legend of the Volcano Sisters", the boys have to find out what the titular Volcano Sisters, portrayed by Uniqua and Tasha, want in order to prevent them from having the island's volcano erupt. After two unsuccessful grand gestures by Tyrone and Pablo, Austin comes up with the idea of giving them flowers as a way of inviting them to take part in the luau, and it's this gesture that manages to win them over. |
| 589 | * SirensAreMermaids: Inverted in "Viking Voyage", where Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone sing a lullaby that makes mermaid Tasha [[GoneHorriblyRight and Pablo]] fall asleep. |
| 590 | * SkywardScream: '''''CLOOOOOWNS!''''' (Complete with echo). In the French dub, it's '''''Satanique CLOOOUUUNES!'''''[[labelnote:Translation]] Satanic clowns [[/labelnote]] |
| 591 | ** Used with the typical camera angle in "Caveman's Best Friend" when Austin calls for Boy after he runs away. |
| 592 | %% * SlowAndSteadyWinsTheRace: "Race Around the World" and "Horsing Around". |
| 593 | %% * TheSmartGuy: Austin, especially during "The Legend of the Volcano Sisters" and "Mission to Mars". Uniqua sometimes also fills this role, while Pablo is usually used to parody/subvert it. |
| 594 | * {{Smurfing}}: Almost everything on Mars is "Boinga". In case you hadn't heard. |
| 595 | * SoftGlass: The skylight Tasha and Uniqua escape through in "Break Out!". It falls to pieces on contact, without even scratching their clothes. |
| 596 | * SoundtrackDissonance: Intentionally done. Every episode has a different genre for its songs and background music, and that genre is rarely the one you'd expect for the episode's setting, such as reggae in a pirate episode, or hip-hop cowboys. |
| 597 | %% * SpacePolice: Officer Uniqua and Sergeant Tyrone in "Cops and Robots", as well as Officers Tyrone and Tasha in "The Big Dipper Diner". |
| 598 | * SpecialEditionTitle: The series had these for all three two-parters. For the first one, "International Super Spy" (parodying the ''Film/JamesBond'' movies), there was an opening in the style of the episode. For the second, "Tale of the Mighty Knights", the theme song is done in the style of '70s hard rock. For the third, "Robot Rampage", the theme song is done the style of roller disco music. |
| 599 | %% * SpeechImpairedAnimal: The Wormans in their first two appearances. |
| 600 | * SpeedSmartsAndStrength: The episode "The Legend of the Volcano Sisters" gives us the Luau brothers Tyrone the Strong, Pablo the Swift, and Austin the Smart. |
| 601 | %% * SpinAttack: Pablo's "Bandit Slam It" move in "Blazing Paddles". |
| 602 | %% * SpinToDeflectStuff: Uniqua does this in "Blazing Paddles" during the song "I Must Be Ready". |
| 603 | * SpinoffBabies: An international merchandise line known as "Backyardigans Baby", or less commonly, "Backyardibabies", featured the characters as infants. |
| 604 | %% * SpitTake: Uniqua does this in "Catch that Butterfly", after they've fallen off a waterfall. |
| 605 | %% * SplitScreenPhoneCall: Uniqua and Tyrone have this in "Movers of Arabia". |
| 606 | %% * SpiritualSuccessor: Is one to ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', and arguably has one in WesternAnimation/BubbleGuppies, produced by some of the same staff. |
| 607 | %% * SpookyPainting: Spoofed with Pablo in "It's Great to be a Ghost". |
| 608 | * StealthHiBye: This from ''Race Around The World''. |
| 609 | -->'''Uniqua:''' Hi Tyrone. |
| 610 | -->'''Tyrone:''' Hi Uniqua. |
| 611 | -->'''Uniqua:''' Bye Tyrone. |
| 612 | -->'''Tyrone:''' Bye Uniqua. |
| 613 | -->''(A few seconds later...)'' |
| 614 | -->'''Pablo:''' Hi Tyrone. |
| 615 | -->'''Tyrone:''' Hi Pablo. |
| 616 | -->'''Pablo:''' Bye Tyrone. |
| 617 | -->'''Tyrone:''' Bye Pablo. |
| 618 | * StealthPun: Austin and Rover (namechecking the Austin Rover car) in "Mission to Mars", and the fact that purple Austin starts out as a ShrinkingViolet. |
| 619 | * TheStoic: Austin in the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' parody episode "Garbage Trek". A clear instance of this is when the U.S.S. Collector is about to be sucked by the black hole; Uniqua and Tasha scream for their lives while he remains silent like he's deep in thought or something. |
| 620 | %% * StorybookEpisode: "Knights are Brave and Strong", "A Giant Problem", "Tale of the Mighty Knights", and "Escape from Fairytale Village". |
| 621 | %% * StorybookOpening: "The Secret of Snow". |
| 622 | * StoutStrength: |
| 623 | ** Tasha, specifically from the second season onwards. An example is in "Swamp Creature", where she pulls Pablo out of the water by his snorkel ''with one hand''. Just look at her arms. She's a muscular little thing. |
| 624 | ** Pablo in "The Heart of the Jungle" can lift Tyrone in the air. Keep in mind that Pablo is probably 12 pounds at most[[note]]Assuming he is an Adelaide penguin[[/note]], meaning Tyrone was heavier since ''birth'' (moose calves are about 30 pounds at birth). They're FunnyAnimals though, so the weight difference between them probably isn't the same as it would normally be. |
| 625 | %% * StraightMan: Usually played by Tyrone, with Pablo as his comic foil. |
| 626 | * StrappedToAnOperatingTable: In "International Super Spy", [[spoiler: Tyrone (accidentally), Tasha, Pablo, and Austin]] are strapped to a Tickle Table. |
| 627 | %% * StreamingStars: Seen in "Cops and Robots" and "Garbage Trek". |
| 628 | * SuperCellReception: In "Mission to Mars", a martian from Mars is able to phone Tyrone and Tasha using a cellphone. |
| 629 | * SustainedMisunderstanding: "The Snow Fort". Ski Patrollers Uniqua and Tasha think Pablo and Tyrone are trapped in the titular fort and need rescuing. The latter two are actually mounties who have been assigned to protect the world's biggest snowball, and they keep the girls out of the fort because they think they're trying to steal it. |
| 630 | %% * SuperheroEpisode: Four: "Race to the Tower of Power", "Front Page News", "Flower Power" and "Super Team Awesome". |
| 631 | %% * SuperheroesWearCapes: Tasha has one as Super Snap in "Front Page News" and [[spoiler: Tyrone]] gets one in "Super Team Awesome!". |
| 632 | %% * SuperSpeed: Tasha as Super Snap in "Front Page News", Uniqua as The Pink Fury in "Blazing Paddles", and Pablo in "Legend of the Volcano Sisters". |
| 633 | %% * SuperStrength: Tyrone in "The Legend of the Volcano Sisters"; Uniqua as Bug Girl in "Front Page News" ''and'' as Strong Blossom in "Super Team Awesome"; Pablo as Tarzan the Very Strong in "Heart of the Jungle". |
| 634 | * SwiperNoSwiping: While you can't stop the Grabbin' Goblin from taking your stuff just by asking, he will generally give it back if you ask nicely... most of the time. |
| 635 | * SwissArmySuperpower: In "Flower Power", Flower Girl's titular powers seem to drift into this territory at times. At one point, she makes a ''cage'' out of flowers. Possibly a necessary evil, though, as otherwise her powers would probably wind up in [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway heart]] territory. |
| 636 | * SwordFight: The first episode "Pirate Treasure", had Austin and Tyrone having a sword fight using their ''telescopes''. In "The Two Musketeers", it gets better with Uniqua and Austin against Pablo, Tyrone, and Tasha with cool parring moves like a BladeLock, and SwordOverHead... though their swords ''are'' made of balloons. |
| 637 | [[/folder]] |
| 638 | |
| 639 | [[folder:T]] |
| 640 | %% * TakeOverTheWorld: Several episodes have characters wanting this, in particular "Race to the Tower of Power". |
| 641 | * TakeThat: In the soundtrack exclusive version of the "W-I-O-Wa" song from "News Flash," Uniqua delivers one at what often passes for the state of news-reporting these days: |
| 642 | -->'''Uniqua''': ''I'm not that sort of newswoman who sits at a desk and talks. I'm the sort who'd rather report, 'cause being a reporter '''rocks'''!'' |
| 643 | * TakeYourTime: In "Sinbad Sails Alone", Tyrone's ship is about to literally [[spoiler: fall off the edge of the world]] within a couple of seconds. Tyrone has gotten his foot caught on a rope, making Pablo their only hope. Pablo just has to turn the wheel which drops the anchor of the ship, but it takes a ''very'' long time for him to do this. It seemed like every time the camera cut to show how close the ship was to falling, the ship always seemed be at the same distance, even though it was moving. |
| 644 | * TalkingAnimal: All five of the characters, albeit this is almost never referenced (creating some rather odd visuals, as when Austin the kangaroo is shown ''running''). |
| 645 | %% * TalkingPest: The Wormans in "What's Bugging You?" |
| 646 | %% * TeamShot: Usually how episodes end. |
| 647 | * TeamTitle: ''The Backyardigans'' stars the Backyardigans. |
| 648 | %% * TempleOfDoom: Several in "Chichen-Itza Pizza". |
| 649 | * TemptingFate: |
| 650 | ** In the episodes "Follow that Butterfly" and "Chichen-Itza Pizza", the question "How hard could it be?" gets asked ''just'' before things go to hell. |
| 651 | ** Pablo has a bad habit of this in "For the Love of Socks". It gets lampshaded after the third time, and he defies it afterwards. |
| 652 | %% * TenPacesAndTurn: Tasha, Uniqua, and Austin used this as a visual joke in "The Two Musketeers", when they are having, mind you, a ''politeness'' duel. |
| 653 | * TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Played very straight with Tasha's dress, Pablo's bowtie, Uniqua's [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick piiiinkness]] -- and, more subtly, Tyrone's antlers. |
| 654 | ** Uniqua is a subversion: she wears overalls, lacks eyelashes and in later seasons has a rather deep voice. Some viewers even [[ViewerGenderConfusion mistook her for a boy]]. That is, until some of her girlier roles in the later seasons, and until those viewers realized she was ''[[PinkGirlBlueBoy pink]]''. |
| 655 | * ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: From "Best Clowns in Town": |
| 656 | -->'''Tyrone''': I am ''so mad''! You made me miss my ''train''! I have a circus to lead tonight in Big City, but I can't ''be'' there because of... ''[[TheKhan CLOOOOOOOOOWNS]]''! |
| 657 | * ThatsNoMoon: In "A Giant Problem", Tyrone and Pablo rest on a large red boulder which happens to be Tasha's giant foot. Tyrone does this again in "Escape from Fairytale Village", this time to Pablo's foot. |
| 658 | * ThatPoorCat: |
| 659 | ** Happens in the double-length episode "International Secret Super Spy" when The Lady in Pink's secret headquarter lights end up dying from The Lady Pink pushing on the tickle table button several times. The Lady to Pink orders Henchman Tyrone to activate the emergency lights. While doing so, Henchman Tyrone crashes off-screen and we hear the screeching cat noise. |
| 660 | ** It also happens in "Catch That Train!" when Czar Tyrone's train ends up in a tunnel while Uniqua and Pablo go off after it. We hear a cat screeching, along with a chicken clucking, a telephone ringing, and a weird talking device. |
| 661 | * ThematicThemeTune: The theme song gradually climbs an octave in pitch, while the titular characters switch from regular clothes to fantasy gear and back. |
| 662 | * ThemeTuneRollCall: "Hi, I'm Pablo!" "My name's Tyrone!" "I'm Uniqua!" "I'm Tasha!" "And my name's Austin!" "And we're... your backyard friends, the Backyardigans!" |
| 663 | * ThirdPersonPerson: Austin as the Grabbin' Goblin in "The Tale of the Mighty Knights" often talks in the third person, though he is capable of still using "I" to refer to himself. |
| 664 | -->"I nab them and I seize them, if I could go bad, I'd freeze them. These things that Goblin has grabbed, that Goblin has grabbed..." |
| 665 | * ThisIsNoTimeToPanic: Pablo's frantic chant during his panic attacks. Subverted to some degree in ''The Flipper!'' where, instead of panicking, he's actually excited. |
| 666 | %% * ThreateningShark: The sharks in "Save the Day". |
| 667 | * ThreePlusTwo: Almost inevitable, due to there being [[MinimalistCast five characters]]. |
| 668 | ** "Knights Are Brave and Strong" has three commoners who become knights (Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone) and two rulers (Tasha and Austin). |
| 669 | ** "Cave Party" has three valley cavepeople (Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone) and two mountain cavepeople (Tasha and Austin). |
| 670 | ** "Mission to Mars" has three astronauts (Uniqua, Pablo, and Austin) and two members of MissionControl (Tyrone and Tasha). |
| 671 | ** "Scared of You" has three monsters (Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone) and two laboratory workers (Tasha and Austin). |
| 672 | ** "Whodunit" has three residents of Mystery Manor (Tyrone, Tasha, and Austin) and two detectives (Uniqua and Pablo). |
| 673 | ** "The Legend of the Volcano Sisters" has three Luau Brothers (Pablo, Tyrone, and Austin) and two Volcano Sisters (Uniqua and Tasha). |
| 674 | ** "The Secret of Snow" has three characters who want to see snow (Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone) and two ice factory workers (Tasha and Austin). |
| 675 | ** "International Super Spy" has three heroes (Pablo, Tasha, and Austin) and two villains (Uniqua and Tyrone). |
| 676 | ** "News Flash" has three news reporters (Uniqua, Tasha, and Austin) and two farmers (Pablo and Tyrone). |
| 677 | ** "Who Goes There?" has three pieces of art (Uniqua, Pablo, and Austin) and two museum workers (Tyrone and Tasha). |
| 678 | ** "Garbage Trek" has three garbage collectors (Uniqua, Tasha, and Austin) and two Moose-ians (Pablo and Tyrone). |
| 679 | ** "Match on Mount Olympus" has three gods (Uniqua, Tasha, and Austin) and two mortals (Pablo and Tyrone). |
| 680 | ** "The Action Elves Save Christmas Eve" has three elves (Uniqua, Pablo, and Tasha) and two abominable snowmen (Tyrone and Austin). |
| 681 | ** "Los Galacticos" has three mariachi musicians (Pablo, Tyrone, and Tasha) and two Googors (Uniqua and Austin). |
| 682 | ** "Pablor and the Acorns" has three Acorn scouts (Tyrone, Tasha, and Austin) and two space dictators (Uniqua and Pablo). |
| 683 | %% * TickleTorture: In "International Super Spy", this is the Lady in Pink's method of punishment. |
| 684 | * TitleDrop: See [[TitleDrop/TheBackyardigans here]]. |
| 685 | * ToTheTuneOf: Often, songs are set to tune of other well known songs, though this is mostly exclusive to Season One. |
| 686 | ** ''What Do You Do With A Scurvy Pirate?'' is actually a [[FilkSong filk]] of a classic sea shanty called ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunken_Sailor Drunken Sailor]]''[[note]]Sadly, this song is not well known outside of North America and parts of Europe. When the episode was exported, it resulted in [[ParodyDisplacement many viewers not from the mentioned regions associating the tune with The Backyardigans]] instead of the original[[/note]]. |
| 687 | ** "When I'm Booin'" from "It's Great to Be a Ghost!" is sung to the tune of Judy Garland's "When You're Smiling". |
| 688 | ** "Please and Thank You" from "The Key to the Nile" is sung to the tune of Ruth Etting's "Shine on Harvest Moon". |
| 689 | ** "I'll Catch a Whopper" from "Save the Day" is sung to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel". |
| 690 | ** "Don't Flip Out" from "The Flipper" is sung to the tune of "I Want Candy". |
| 691 | ** "Oh, My Sherman" is sung to the tune of "Oh My Darling, Clementine." |
| 692 | * TooDumbToLive: Uniqua in the episode "Monster Detectives". The plot of the whole episode is [[GenkiGirl Uniqua]] keeps breaking most of [[DeadpanSnarker Detective Tyrone's]] rules while they look for the [[YouNoTakeCandle soccer monster]]. Despite Tyrone trying to get Uniqua to be serious and trying to be quiet so the Soccer Monster doesn't find it, she eventually is too curious to even bother looking for the Soccer Monster. For example, Uniqua saw and looked at the 4 trophies and eventually another trophy with Pablo on it, causing Tyrone to firmly snap at her, "Don't touch ANYTHING". This can prove that Uniqua, being the CheerfulChild she is, may be a ditz sometimes, but mostly, it's all in good pleasure. It is [[JustifiedTrope justified]], being that Uniqua is, 1: a curious little kid, 2: this IS a kid show, and 3: she doesn't know better. Poor Uniqua though..... And also, she gets turned into a Soccer Monster along with Tyrone himself. This happens to be a rare occurence in a preschool show. |
| 693 | %% * TotallyRadical: The characters talk like this throughout "Surf's Up". |
| 694 | * TrainStationGoodbye: A variation happens in the episode "Best Clowns in Town". When Pablo, Uniqua, and Austin help Tyrone catch up to his train, they hug him goodbye...and cause him to miss his train ''again''. |
| 695 | * [[{{TraintopBattle}} Traintop Chase]]: Austin and Pablo do this in "Le Master of Disguise", the chase ending with a train tunnel escape. |
| 696 | %% * TreasureMap: In "Pirate Treasure", naturally. |
| 697 | %% * TriumphantReprise: Of "I Love Snow" at the end of "The Secret of Snow". |
| 698 | * {{Troperiffic}}: This show took every child-friendly trope in the book and wrote a song about each one. |
| 699 | %% Why? * {{Turncoat}}: [[spoiler: Austin]] in "The Secret of Snow" may count. |
| 700 | * TurnedToStone: [[spoiler: Pablo and Tyrone]] are petrified by Tasha as Medusa in "Sinbad Sails Alone" in a literal game of "freeze tag". Later in said game, [[spoiler:Pablo tricks Tasha into petrifying herself]]. |
| 701 | %% * TwitchyEye: Tyrone has one in "Best Clowns in Town" right after the clowns make him miss his train the second time, and Pablo gets one every time he's about to become the Flipper in "The Flipper". |
| 702 | %% * TwoGirlsToATeam: Tasha and Uniqua |
| 703 | * TwoGuysAndAGirl: Whenever three characters appear in an episode, it's (usually) Pablo, Tyrone, and Uniqua. Austin replaces Tyrone in a few episodes. However... |
| 704 | ** TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Some episodes feature only Uniqua, Tasha, and only one of Pablo and Tyrone. |
| 705 | %% * TwoPartEpisode: Starting with season two, there was one per season. |
| 706 | |
| 707 | [[/folder]] |
| 708 | |
| 709 | [[folder:U-Z]] |
| 710 | * UnexpectedKindness: Throughout "Escape from Fairytale Village", Tyrone mistakes the Fairytale Village as them trying to hurt him. First off, Austin (as a wolf) says that he's about to "huff and puff" so that he can blow up Tyrone's flat tire, but Tyrone thinks he's trying to blow him far away and runs off thanks to PoorCommunicationKills. He also wrongly believes Pablo the GentleGiant and Uniqua the witch want to eat him when they invite him to their houses for lunch. At the end of the episode, he finds out that their kindness was genuine. |
| 711 | %% * UnlimitedWardrobe: Although it could be argued that their fantasy wardrobes are purely imaginary... |
| 712 | %% * TheUnmasking: [[spoiler:Tasha]] in "Front Page News" does this. |
| 713 | %% * UnrealisticBlackHole: In "Garbage Trek". |
| 714 | * TheUnReveal: |
| 715 | ** In "The Masked Retriever", none of the other characters find out about Uniqua's alter ego, with Austin's question of "Have you ever heard of the Masked Retriever?" left unanswered by the end-of-story stomach rumble. |
| 716 | ** Played as a TearJerker in "The Secret of Snow". At the end when Tasha reveals that she doesn't know the secret of snow, Uniqua is sad because her journey has been rendered useless. Until she realizes that she has made four great friends. |
| 717 | * UnusualEuphemism: In "The Great Dolphin Race", the characters exclaim "[[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Jumping jellyfish!]]", "Leaping lobsters!" and "Holy cowfish!". During "International Super Spy", the Lady in Pink (Uniqua) uses "Oh, for [[ForTheEvulz evil]]'s sake!". There's also the episode title "For the Love of Socks!". |
| 718 | * VerbalTic: Tyrone has a habit of saying "certainly" when stating his opinion or agreeing with another character, though this is reduced a bit after the first season. |
| 719 | * VillainSong: Expect any episode with a "good versus evil" thematic to have at least one. Notable ones include [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul0KyUjU-xA "Lady In Pink"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BgsQoZ9kaQ "Me and My Shadows"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBgVk1vfPWo "I Am Professor Bug"]]. |
| 720 | * TheVoice: |
| 721 | ** The mystery voices near the end of the episodes "Secret Mission" and "It's Great to Be a Ghost!" do not come from any of the main characters. They're rumored to have come from Evan Lurie, one of the show's composers. There are also announcer voices near the beginning of "News Flash". |
| 722 | ** Dragon's singing voice is provided by guest star Adam Pascal, the actor who played Roger in RENT. Total ParentService. |
| 723 | ** SantaClaus in "The Action Elves Save Christmas Eve" is heard over the phone, but never seen. |
| 724 | * TheVoiceless: |
| 725 | ** Tasha doesn't speak in the Nintendo DS game. |
| 726 | ** Austin doesn't speak in his appearance in Nickelodeon Fit [[note]]However, his voice actor Jonah Bobo was credited[[/note]]. |
| 727 | * VocalEvolution: |
| 728 | ** Uniqua's voice got ''very'' deep as the series progressed. |
| 729 | ** Austin's voice deepened as well (though not as fast as Uniqua), and got less raspy. |
| 730 | %% * VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: Austin as the princesses' magic (compact) mirror in "Break Out". |
| 731 | * VoluntaryShapeShifting: Pablo could turn into a bat in "Scared of You". |
| 732 | %% * WallCrawl: Pablo's vacuum shoes in "To the Center of the Earth". |
| 733 | %% * WallJump: Uniqua is able to do this with two trees in "Samurai Pie". |
| 734 | %% * WalkThePlank: In "Pirate Treasure", and "Fly Girl". |
| 735 | * WasntThatFun: In "Scared Of You", Austin, Tyrone, and Uniqua are warned against proceeding with their journey. [[TemptingFate They do so]], and are rewarded with a falling staircase. Uniqua is left hanging on to the top landing for dear life. She then says this: |
| 736 | --> '''Uniqua''': Hey! That was fun! Let's do it again! |
| 737 | --> '''Tyrone''': Or let's not! |
| 738 | * WastefulWishing: In "Movers of Arabia", [[spoiler: Pablo wastes a wish by saying "I wish I knew where we were." Cue Genie Austin, yelling "You're in Arabia! Boy, that was easy!"]] |
| 739 | * WerewolvesAreDogs: In "Scared of You", Uniqua the werewolf whimpers like a puppy when Austin and Tyrone accidentally startle her. |
| 740 | %% * WhipPan: Used in "Tale of the Mighty Knights", "Le Master of Disguise", "Robin Hood the Clean", and several other episodes. |
| 741 | %% * WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Tasha during "Chichen-Itza Pizza" -- logically enough, the ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' parody episode. |
| 742 | %% * WigDressAccent: Austin during "International Super Spy", with a strange mustache instead of the wig. |
| 743 | * WithCatlikeTread: According to Pablo at the beginning of "Secret Mission", having ''BackgroundMusic'' is a necessary part of being a secret agent. Heck, ''any'' time someone's on a stealth mission, you can bet they'll break out into a musical when they're trying not to get noticed. And it ''never'' blows their cover. |
| 744 | * WithFriendsLikeThese: In the episode "It's Great to Be a Ghost!", Pablo and Uniqua force off Tyrone into being a ghost, when he tries to tell them that he is too nervous about the whole "ghost" thing, and just wants to play off something else. But Pablo and Uniqua want Tyrone to play ghosts with them, and apparently, throughout the whole episode, they want Tyrone to scare somebody. But Tyrone's too nervous and he wants to be friendly. Pablo and Uniqua, [[TooDumbtoLive not knowing that Tyrone doesn't wanna play ghosts with them]], force him out there anyway, in a BedsheetGhost-esque style upstairs in the haunted house. |
| 745 | * WouldHitAGirl: In "The Snow Fort", Pablo and Tyrone have no qualms against using booby traps on Uniqua and Tasha. |
| 746 | * WorstNewsJudgmentEver: In "News Flash", Reporter Uniqua mistakes [[spoiler: Tyrone and Pablo's corn decoration for Crop Circles.]] |
| 747 | * WrongGenreSavvy: At the beginning of "Attack of the 50 Foot Worman", Pablo mixes blue and orange paint, thinking it will make blue-and-orange-striped paint. Instead, it makes brown paint. |
| 748 | * YouCanSayThatAgain: A RunningGag primarily in the first season, in which a character would literally repeat themselves after this is said. |
| 749 | * YouGoGirl: This happens more than once, and shouldn't be surprising because this show was created by a woman. |
| 750 | ** Becomes a plot point in "Blazing Paddles" when sheriff Uniqua must demonstrate table tennis skills to defend her town. |
| 751 | ** In "Match On Mount Olympus", both Uniqua and Tasha [[PersonAsVerb pull a Lisa Leslie,]] dunking a basketball at different times. |
| 752 | * YoungestChildWins: In "The Legend of the Volcano Sisters", [[spoiler: Austin the third Luau Brother succeeds after his other siblings each failed.]] |
| 753 | %% * YouShallNotPass: Used literally by Pablo in "Knights are Brave and Strong". Of course, he then admits that ''he'' can't open the door either. |
| 754 | * ZorroMark: (Or CallingCard) Uniqua, as the heroic librarian in "The Masked Retriever", leaves a big black checkmark to show where she's been. This was the {{Franchise/Zorro}} parody episode, funnily enough... |
| 755 | [[/folder]] |
| 756 | ---- |
| 757 | ->''We've got the whole wide world in our yard to explore!\ |
| 758 | Now it's time for us to have a snack,\ |
| 759 | Meet you next time when we're back!\ |
| 760 | With your friends, [[TitleDrop the Backyardigans]]...'' |
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