Customer Reviews

The Backyardigans - Cave Party

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are twenty episodes in all for this series, and this is the fourth DVD, each with four episodes. The fifth is due out in May, and you’d better believe I’ve already pre-ordered it.

The ones before this are “It's Great to Be a Ghost” (2005), “The Snow Fort” (2005), and “Polka Palace Party” (2006).

This DVD has the following episodes:

Cave Party: Set to a calypso beat, albeit a somewhat dated version of the genre. The friends go back in time to the Ice Age to howl at the moon, and invent some pretty useful things along the way.

Race Around the World: Not sure of the music genre here, but the friends take part in a tough race involving running through the jungle, snowboarding, kayaking across the ocean and hiking across the desert.

Eureka: A couple of crusty old prospectors and a couple of brilliant scientists join forces to find gold and dinosaur bones in them thar hills

Castaways: To a Bossa Nova beat, three castaways get a little help from a mysterious benefactor to survive on a deserted island.

Another excellent source of entertainment for kids and the adults who love them.



Amanda Richards, March 23, 2006

We're big backyardigans fans at our house. Our 1.5-year-old son is mesmerized by the show, the characters are cute and very watchable, and the music is suprisingly entertaining and listenable even after many, many viewings.

The bonus episodes on this disc are "Eureka" and "Castaways," both of which feature some of the best music in the entire series. The featured episodes "Cave Party" and "Race Around the World" episodes are also pretty good, making this the best of the Backyardigans releases so far. This is the one I would recommend to anyone who wants to sample the series -- just put on "Eureka," and try to stop yourself from singing along!

Happily, the next DVD will feature "Surf's Up," which ranks up there with "Eureka" and "Castaways" in our book.

A big thanks to Nick Jr. and Paramount for releasing this great series on DVD so quickly.

My 14 month-old baby boy & I are huge fans of these characters. I recommend any of the 4 Backyardigans DVDs on the market so far. My son loves the castaways' episode in this particular DVD. It calmed him down. I mainly prefer the cave party. It's so ingenious how the writer tied great inventions with the story... The music, dances, images are fantastic.

For those who are so confuse about what kind of animals are the characters or why they have been stereotyped with foreign names. Let me suggest you to look at the special features in "It's great to be a ghost" DVD & to read about the writer @ Nickjr.com. Thus, you would learn that:

"Uniqua" is an undefined species (She looks like an ant to me, but she isn't according to her creator). She is a female because of her pink color & her name means unique (only one of its kind)

"Pablo" is a penguin. Penguins are distinctive animal of the Antarctica (South Pole). The closest countries to this continent are Argentine & Chile (Spanish speaker countries in South America. As a matter of fact, both countries claim sovereign over the Antarctic territory). It's for this reason his name is in Spanish.

"Tasha" is a hippo. Hippopotamus are original from Africa. So, her name has African flavor. She tends to be a very "bossy" character because hippos are very territorial.

"Tyrone" is a moose. His name means "Young Soldier". That is what his character is about. He always follows the group & is a very full of life team player - like a young soldier.

"Austin" is a kangaroo (My husband insists Austin is a wallaby - a small kangaroo specie). Kangaroo is an Australian animal, & Austin is a common name over there

I also read that the author selected these species, because there were so littler children stories with this kind of animals @ the time she created the Backyardigans

The Backyardigans are a great joy in our household with a not-quite 3-year-old and a 15-month-old. Our older child also has a speech delay, and both children are benefitting greatly from the language in this series. Cave Party seems to be particularly good, since the kids help to identify "new" things. Unlike other reviewers, I think that the choice of animals and names is perfect. My older child understand perfectly that Tyrone is a moose, Pablo is a penguin (and there are South American penguins, hence the South American name), Tasha is a hippo, Austin is a kangaroo (Austin, Australia - the tail is a dead give away to a 3-year-old), and Uniqua is a lizard. All of the names are also easily pronounced by a small child, which is great. Both of my children love Eureka, too, so we were happy that it was included as a bonus; both kids pretend to look for bones or gold in our yard just like the Backyardigans. Well done once again!

My 2 1/2 year old loves, loves, loves Backyardigans. Unlike another reviewer, we have not had any trouble with playing the Backyardigan DVDs (and we don't have an expensive DVD player), and they have been played a hundred times so far. For good or bad, the stories have entered into my child's playlife and imagination, as she plays out the adventures in racing day, or proclaims "I'm Tarzan!" My husband and I have watched each of these a number of times ourselves and they are fun and clever and definitely a hit with the younger set. Blues Clues is now a distant second when it comes to picking out which video to watch.

As usual, another excellent Backyardigans DVD. As a rule, I find shows aimed for toddlers are unbearable. But this tends to be something I can watch with my daughter and enjoy.

The main episode, "Cave Party" features a Calypso theme. The other shows and themes are:

"Race Around The World", which features a Zydeco theme.
"Eureka!" features a Township jive theme.
"Castaways" features a Bossa Nova/Brazilian samba theme.

The CGI animation looks great. The characters are sweet, and they have the cutest little singing voices. I love the way they dance. All around, it's a great show. I have no problem letting my daughter watch it, and she remains captivated throughout each show.

I tend to dislike children's programming that is really aimed for the older set, meaning any show that is overly sarcastic or "snarky." I mean, call it what it is - because I enjoy the heck out of stuff like that, but I don't think it's entirely appropriate for small children. I'm really glad we have shows like The Backyardigans to turn to.

...and my 20 month old daughter simply loves them. The themes
are clever, the music is calming and nice with different tunes
all the time, the messages coming through are educational, it
is non-violent - what more can you ask for? It's simply fantastic.

Every single episode is a mini Broadway production! Excellent music is matched by incredible realistic animated choreography and the stories are great, too! Not only is it entertaining, it fuels the imagination and teaches appreciation for music and dance. There's nothing bad I can say about this show!!

My two and a half year old son loves this one. The songs and dances are great and you can't help but to groove along. They really help your little one's imagination to blossom. This is definitely a must have to add to your collection. The episodes are Cave Party, Race Around The World, Eureka and Castaways (my favorite).

I love to watch my kids when the video starts. Their faces light up and they start dancing and singing with the backyardigan characters. Plus, it's not an irritating cartoon to actually sit and watch with them. I am a backyardigan fan. This DVD gets an A from me as well as the others.