If you had a toddler between 2004 and 2013, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of the Nick Jr. show The Backyardigans. The show’s creator, Janice Burgess, sadly passed away at 72 after a battle with breast cancer. Her death was confirmed to The New York Times by her friend Brown Johnson.
Before Burgess created The Backyardigans in 2004, she worked on several other popular children’s shows. She worked at the Sesame Workshop before her time at Nick Jr. began in 1995. She oversaw production on Blue’s Clues and Little Bill before she created her own show, which she won an Emmy for in 2008.
In an interview with The Times in 2004, Burgess explained that her childhood in Pittsburgh laid the groundwork for The Backyardigans. “I really remember it as a wonderful, happy, safe place,” she said. “You could have these great adventures just romping around. From there, you could go anywhere or do anything.”
The Backyardigans was about five animals — Tyrone, Tasha, Pablo, Austin, and Uniqua — who would meet for adventures in the backyard. It was important to Burgess that kids of color were hired to provide the characters’ voices, and music and dance were a big part of the show.
“I loved musicals, and my mother would put a record on and use that to get me and my brother to move the sweeper around,” she explained. “You can leap about and pretend to be Fred Astaire or Michael Jackson or whoever your musical idol of the moment is.”
After her death was announced, many people shared their thoughts on Burgess and the impact she had on children’s television.
“We are saddened to learn of the passing of one of the great architects of Nick Jr. and creator of the globally beloved series The Backyardigans. Janice was one of the greats — inherently creative and kind, and dedicated to the preschool audience everywhere,” Nickelodeon shared in a statement.
“Janice was an early champion of mine. I worked for her on Little Bill, and then got to write some of The Backyardigans. I won my first Emmy with her in the early 2000s. She was a force. Unique. Like the character. RIP Janice. Thank you for everything,” Doc McStuffins creator Chris Nee tweeted.
