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Janice Burgess, a veteran Nickelodeon television executive who sought to foster children’s curiosity and sense of play for decades, overseeing popular shows like “Blue’s Clues” and “Little Bill” and creating her own children’s musical show, “The Backyardigans ”, died on Saturday. in palliative care in Manhattan. She was 72 years old.
Her death was confirmed by Brown Johnson, a long-time friend and creator of Nick Jr., who said the cause was breast cancer.
In “The Backyardigans,” five cartoon animals (Tyrone, Tasha, Pablo, Austin and Uniqua) imagine their backyard as a place of adventure, traversing deserts, oceans, jungles, rivers and outer space while dancing and singing to the beat. of the music.
With the series, Ms. Burgess hoped to help children use their imaginations for fun. In 2004, Burgess said in an interview with The New York Times that the idea for the show came from her memories of playing in her childhood backyard in Pittsburgh.
“I really remember it as a wonderful, happy, safe place,” he said. “You could have these great adventures just by playing. From there you could go anywhere or do anything.”
The series became a favorite of American preschoolers after it premiered on Nickelodeon in 2004. It was adapted into a live show, “The Backyardigans live! The Tale of the Mighty Knights”, in 2008.
In 2021, several songs from “Backyardigans,” including “Into the nitty-gritty!” and “Castaways”, found a large and nostalgic audience on TikTok, years after its original launch in 2005.
“Janice really taught me about representation in children’s media and how important it was for children to not only see themselves, but also hear themselves,” Ms. Johnson said.
Burgess made sure to cast children of color, and the roles were recast every few years as their voices changed, Johnson said. Burgess wanted her vocals to sound natural and “not Broadway,” she said. Burgess, a music lover, included 80 different musical genres in “The Backyardigans,” Johnson added.
“It was like writing a musical every week,” he said.
The music was composed by Evan Lurie, who said in an interview that Burgess’ “ability to get to the heart of what needed to be done was simply amazing.”
Janice Burgess was born March 1, 1952, daughter of John Wesley Burgess and Alma Naomi (Thomas) Burgess. She grew up in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh and attended the Ellis School, an all-girls college preparatory school. She graduated from Brandeis University in 1974, according to the university website.
He worked at WQED, Pittsburgh’s public television station, and at Sesame Workshop before joining Nick Jr. in 1995. Working at Nick Jr. taught him everything he needed to know about creating a television show for young children, he said at a national news conference. Club lunch in 2006.
At Nick Jr., he oversaw production on “Blue’s Clues” and “Little Bill,” which won Peabody and Emmy Awards. she won a 2008 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program for his work on “The Backyardigans.” In a statement, Nickelodeon called Burgess “one of the great architects of Nick Jr.”
Mrs. Burgess is survived by her mother and a brother, Jack Burgess.
Mrs. Burgess told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette In 2006, he built on action films like “Die Hard” and the “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” series to create “The Backyardigans,” toning down the exciting, high-stakes narratives to a kid-friendly level. in preschool age. .
“I’m actually a pretty refined person, but there’s nothing I like more than cops, robbers, shootouts, crazy driving, fast and furious,” he said. “When you think in terms of little kids, you don’t want to scare them, and I’m not a fan of showing any violence or aggression, but you can certainly have a great adventure even if you’re 3 years old. “
Burgess said in her interview with The Times that the music she danced to as a child also influenced the creation of her show, which took children on musical adventures as well as imaginary geographic adventures. The five animal friends sang and danced to jazz, funk, bossa nova, Irish jig, township jive, tarantella and psychedelic soul.
“I loved musicals, and my mother would play a record and use it for my brother and I to move the sweeper,” he said. “You can jump around and pretend to be Fred Astaire or Michael Jackson or whoever your musical idol of the moment is.”
The dances in “The Backyardigans” were adapted from performances by five Alvin Ailey dancers, Johnson said. The dancers were videotaped and shown to the animators, who used their movements as references for the creatures in the show.
Ms. Burgess hoped those characters would inspire children’s sense of adventure.
“I hope they feel like they can create their own adventures by seeing what’s on the screen and playing with it however they want,” he told The Times. “If they want to put on pirate hats and go to outer space, that’s fine.”