Into the Thick of It
Into the thick of it. Into the thick of it.
Into the thick of it. Ugh!
We’re tramping through the bush.
On and on we push. Into the thick of it,
But we can’t see where we’re going.
We’ve made a stellar start.
To find the jungle’s heart.
But all we’ll find is nothing,
If we can’t see where we’re going!
Into the thick of it.
Into the thick of it.
Into the thick of it.
But we can’t see where we’re going!
Into the thick of it.
Into the thick of it.
Into the thick of it.
But we can’t see where we’re going! Ugh!
The jungle’s kind of tricky,
The path is never straight,
And sometimes there’s no path at all
Which makes it hard to navigate.
Although the jungle’s thick,
We’re moving through it quick.
But that won’t do us any good
If we’re going around in circles.
Into the thick of it.
Into the thick of it.
Into the thick of it.
We’re going round in circles! Ugh!
These trees look so familiar,
We’ve been here once before.
You’re right, except it wasn’t once
It was three times, or four.
Stuck in the thick of it!
Stuck in the thick of it!
Stuck in the thick of it!
We’ve gone around in circles
The Backyardigans
Creating the Backyardigans was Janice Burgess a computer-animated musical series for children. Nickelodeon Animation Studio wrote and recorded the series. An imaginary backyard adventure is envisioned by five animal neighbors. The episodes each feature four songs composed by Evan Lurie and lyrics by McPaul Smith, set to a different musical genre. It is no surprise that The Backyardigans’ adventures span a wide variety of genres and settings. In many episodes, the writers parodied action-adventure movies.
As Nick Jr.’s production executive since the mid-1990s, Janice Burgess was part of the show’s creative team, which was a home-grown Nick Jr. property. In 1998, Nickelodeon Studios Florida filmed a live-action pilot episode titled “Me and My Friends,” which launched The Backyardigans. A stage was set up indoors with puppets playing the characters. Animated series instead of the pilot was chosen by Burgess after Nickelodeon rejected the pilot. New York-based Nickelodeon Digital animated a second pilot in 2002. Production of the series began after the second pilot was successful.
There were 80 episodes in the show’s four seasons. Most episodes aired on Nickelodeon on weekday mornings. In 2009, the show was planned to continue beyond the fourth season. A revival of Winx Club on Nickelodeon caught the attention of the series’ creator Janice Burgess in 2010. Prior to retiring from Nickelodeon in 2014, Burgess was the creative director of Winx Club and a writer.
There was critical acclaim for The Backyardigans. Compared to Nickelodeon’s other preschool shows, this one had sophisticated writing and was enjoyable for older viewers. In addition, the New York Times and Common Sense Media praised the show as frequently referencing action-adventure franchises in order to appeal to an older audience. Critics also praised the quality of the music on the show, and it also received eight Daytime Emmy Award nominations for its music during the show’s run.
