Customer Reviews

The Backyardigans - Surf's Up [VHS]

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sadly we have now come to the end of this wonderful musical series created by Janice Burgess. We own all five DVDs, and the first one "It's Great to be a Ghost" is still a regular on our play list, as are the others.


This one has four episodes as usual, two of which were also included in the Nick Jr Favorites DVDs. The list for this one is:


Surf's Up: Pablo, Tyrone and Uniqua brush up their "rad" surfing moves in order to ride the perfect wave at Tiki Beach, but who is that mysterious lifeguard?


Riding the Range: Tyrone is on his way to Texas, and meets up with Pablo, Uniqua and Tasha who're tracking down a jump-rope bandit.


Race to the Tower of Power: Two supervillains battle it out with two superheroes for possession of the Key to the World and with it, world domination. Whahahahhahaha!!


The Quest for Flying Rock: Four explorers quibble over the directions on a mysterious map, and end up having an obstacle race.


This series is highly recommended for children of all ages, and is one of the most imaginative and entertaining at the moment. If some of the other shows make you want to put on earplugs and run out of the room, you'll find this one a refreshing change.


Please Ms. Burgess, may we have some more?




Amanda Richards, June 14, 2006




Edited to note: The series has been renewed and there are more DVDs available since I wrote this review.

I'd say that out of the Backyardigans DVDs that are out now, this one trumps them all.

If you're clueless, the Backyardigans is a show about 5 preschool kids (Tyrone, a moose; Tasha, a hippo; Pablo, a penguin; Austin, a kangaroo; and Uniqua, a.....um.....unique....looking pink.....person) using their imaginations in their backyard to go to other places (the places represented are the Wild West, a beach, a jungle/desert setting, and a large tower). What makes this show rise above most other kids' shows are its addictive music and its comical moments, as well as its choreographed dance numbers, which compliment the music nicely. It's definately safe viewing for the kiddies.

So the four episodes represented here are:
Surf's Up - Pablo, Tyrone and Uniqua search for a beach with awesome waves. But will Lifeguard Austin lead them to it? Music - Afro-Cuban/Surfing style
Riding the Range - Cowboy Tyrone is heading to a Wild West party, while Cowpokes Uniqua, Pablo, and Tasha are looking for a theiving bandit. Will their trails cross? Music - Hip-Hop
Race to the Tower of Power - The key to the world is hidden in the Tower of Power, and superheroes Captain Hammer (Austin) and Weather Woman (Uniqua) must prevent supervillians Yucky Man (Pablo) and Dr. Shrinky (Tyrone....complete with long rubber gloves!) from obtaining the key and ruling the world. Music - Latin
Quest for the Flying Rock - It's another race, as the legend of Stone Step Hill states that a flying rock awaits those who undertake a perilous quest. Pablo and Tyrone take the desert path in an attempt to beat Tasha and Uniqua, who are going through the jungle. Music - Disco

All in all, the episodes are great viewing for the kids, and there's enough comical undertones to keep the adults entertained (if you grew up during the disco years, I dare you to watch "Quest for the Flying Rock" and not laugh at the dance moves they use).

There's also bonus content of Tasha and Tyrone dancing (to the tunes of "Shake Your Body" and "Dance By the Light of the Moon", respectively) and previews for some of Nick Jr.'s other shows (like Dora and Diego).

Two complaints that I have (and they don't have to do with the shows themselves) - one, the DVDs don't come with any subtitles on them. I can get around them by using the closed-captioning function on my TV, but still. It's a very minor complaint. And two, sometimes the DVDs are made very poorly, not allowing you to view other features. It's not present on this DVD, but it is on my "Cave Party" DVD, and viewing complaints from other customers, it's imperative that Paramount get on the ball and fix this.

Regardless, if you have little ones, you will not be disappointed, and you'll get quite a bit of wear out of this DVD. My son and I have.

I've played all five of the dvd's every day for months and I haven't had one single problem with skipping or freezing like the reviewer below claims. My twins are completely in love with this show... they love the music, the bright colors, the happy characters... and I love the imagination and cooperation that the characters show individually and with one another. This is an absolutely brilliant show and I feel quite justified in playing it for my kids--I monitor what they watch very closely and this show gets an A in my book.

I'm a parent, and my daughter loves the Backyardigans. It was the first show that really got her attention when she wasn't even a year old. In the last 3 years, -I've- gotten into the Backyardigans, and know nearly all the songs by heart. This dvd contains some of the most memorable episodes and songs, and that's saying a lot considering how catchy so many of them are.

Surf's Up is the episode where Pablo's looking for the perfect wave on Tiki Beach. While searching, he joins up with Tyrone and Uniqua, while being followed by the mysterious lifeguard, Austin. The music for this episode is Afro-pop, and very cool. And you gotta love those super super rad, totally rad moves the gang shows off on their boards.

Riding the Range has Tyrone going to a hoedown while Uniqua, Pablo and Tasha look for a bandit. The music here is more hip-hop, and it's great having Tyrone hopping along with those smooth hoedown moves to the beat. Ridin' the range, let's go! This episode has a little bit of western action involving horses too!

Then there are the two 'bonus' episodes. I don't like how they're listed as bonus episodes when they could just say that this dvd has 4 regular episodes. These two are Race to the Tower of Power and The Quest for the Flying Rock. Tower of Power is a cool superhero episoe where Tyrone and Pablo are the bad guys, and Uniqua and Austin are the heroes trying to stop them from doing bad guy-type things. Music genre for this episode = Latin. Finally is my favorite episode of the bunch, and one of my top episodes, the Flying Rock. The gang looks for a magical flying rock (yeah, it doesn't actually give you powers, it's just a small, flying rock that they want to go see) and splits up into two teams, trying to beat eachother to it. This is a kind of boys vs girls episode with insanely good disco music. The first song and dance in this episode needs to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's right up there with Thriller I tell you.

If you don't have cable and want to give your child a shot with the show, I highly recommend this dvd because of the music and episode theme diversity. Though that goes for most of the other Backyardigans dvds, I guess I'm just biased because this one has the Flying Rock episode. 5 stars, easy.

All of The Backyardigans adventures are great! I think that this one is my two and a half year old's favorite. He loves Surf's Up! and almost has the whole episode memorized. He jumps up on furniture and pretends that he's surfing like Pablo! It also includes Race To The Tower Of Power, The Quest For The Flying Rock and Riding The Range. It also includes two music videos that are Buffalo Girls and Shake Your Body. The price is right for this collection because you're definitely getting your money's worth.

This is (well was) the only Backyardigans dvd my nephew had (I got him Into the Deep for Xmas) and he LOVES It. The Surf's Up one is his favorite and he asks for "ho daddy" all the time and likes when that particular song (the last one) is repeated.

Ridin on the Range is really great too, I liked the updated version of Buffalo Gals. Honestly I haven't seen much of the other 2 shows because but even though I ended up listening to Ho Daddy about 20 times in one day I didn't get tired of it.

I actually want to watch more of the series to see how they use music and also the adventures they get into. This is not annoying music, and when I got "riding the range, riding the range, yahoo!" stuck in my head it wasn't that bad.

Backyardigans are loved in our household - by my 4.5 year old, myself, and my almost 40 year old husband. The tunes are catchy, the tales interesting, and the stories just the right length. Surf's Up is one of our favorites.

The Backyardigans are fantastic! The use of imagination is something people forget to do and we need to be reminded that life is fun and to just relax a little! The songs are fun, the characters are loveable, and these are videos you can actually watch multiple times without getting sick of them!!

I have been watching them all with my children and my oldest is 4. Even after 4 years I still have all the videos and will always buy more!

This is our favorite Backyardigans DVD! We love the songs in Surfs Up episode & Riding the Range episode! Riding the Range was the first Backyardigans episode we had seen on TV & we had been looking for it on DVD. My son (3) & my neices (2 & 4) all love to watch this! My son took the DVD to his daycare & it was a big hit! You won't regret this purchase!!

My 6 year old, who is very musical, loves the Backyardigans. It's a group of diverse, cute characters who meet in their backyards to play make believe. They sing, dance and problem solve while they imagine they are pirates, surfers, etc. The music is very catchy and eclectic. I even find myself singing the songs. My son loves this particular edition of Backyardigans.