Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

With the recent heat wave and subsequent storms, my house was devoid of internet and cable for a few days. With the kids having to resort to other forms of entertainment, I was hoping that we would avoid watching the same old television shows as always. Instead, we were required to not only continue to watch the same television shows, but we had to dust off some of the DVDs that we had put aside with the availability of Netflix. The first DVD that got major usage was The Backyardigans – Tale of the Mighty Knights.  

For those who have never seen the show before, the Backyardigans is one of the best children’s shows that ever came out of Nickelodeon. The show features five best friends (Pablo the penguin, Tyrone the moose, Uniqua the Uniqua , Tasha the hippo, and Austin the kangaroo) who spend each of their days together in their backyards having imaginative adventures. That could be becoming pirates and looking for buried treasure, becomes elves to help Santa save Christmas, or even just forming a polka band. At the end of each adventure, the group sings a song before going home to have a snack.

Tale of the Mighty Knights is a DVD collection of three Backyardigans episodes from its third season. While many of the Backyardigans DVD sets are collections of 4 regular length episodes from the television show, this DVD features one double-length episode and two regular length episodes. The episodes break down like this: 

Tale of the Mighty Knights – Knights Tyrone and Uniqua are put in charge of protecting the king’s egg when King Pablo goes to town to find a new crown. Unfortunately, the egg has a mind of its own, as it rolls out of the castle and into constant trouble. Also joining the knights in their pursuit of the egg are Austin as the Grabbing Goblin (the only episode where he is green instead of purple) and Tasha as the Flighty Fairy, as the group follows the egg all the way to Dragon Mountain…

Blazing Paddles – Uniqua is the sheriff of a town that loves playing ping pong more than anything else. When Pablo, the Ping Pong Bandit, comes into town and beats everyone to take all their paddles, it is up to Uniqua to up her game and win back her town’s pastime.

Garbage Trek – Uniqua, Tasha and Austin are officers on the USS Collector in a Star Trek-themed episode based around collecting trash in space. When Pablo and Tyrone try to steal all the trash in space to fuel their ship, it becomes a race to see which ship can collect trash first.

Of all the Backyardigans DVDs that my family owns or has rented, this is definitely one of the best. The main feature is definitely the double episode, which features some of the best songs in any one episode of the entire series. Still, the two other episodes definitely carry their own weight and are a couple of my kids’ favorites to watch over and over again, whether it is on DVD or on Netflix.

Overall, I think this DVD is definitely worth buying for all fans of the show. It is one of the strongest DVDs in the Backyardigans collection, making it a must-own for fans and a great starter DVD for kids getting into the show for the first time. I’d give the DVD the highest of recommendations.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4