Thomas Sharkey Movies
- 2005
This spinoff of the popular interactive cartoon series Dora the Explorer was more adventure-oriented than its comparatively sedate role model. The title character was Dora's cousin, eight-year-old Diego Martinez. Despite his age and size, Diego could easily pass as Latino "Indiana Jones", his fearlessness and resourcefulness guiding him through a variety of high-risk situations. Diego was not motivated by financial gain nor ego, but instead was dedicated to rescuing animals from a variety of natural and man-made perils. He was accompanied in his perambulations by his 11-year-old sister Alicia and a veritable meanagerie of animal pals and anthropomorphic equipment. In keeping with the interactive ambience established on Dora the Explorer, Diego urged the viewers at home to help him out at certain junctures by cheering, clapping, jumping up and down, and issuing bilingual orders in English and Spanish. First broadcast over cable's Nickelodeon on September 6, 2005, Go Diego Go! was also seen on Nickelodeon's sister over-the-air network CBS on weekend mornings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jake Toranzo-Szymanski, Constanza Sperakis, (more)
- 2004
Debuting over the Nickelodeon cable channel on October 11, 2004, the weekly, half-hour Nelvana production Backyardigans enthusiastically revived a format that, on commercial TV at least, had lain virtually dormant for decades: The children's musical program. The stars were a quintet of rambunctious, computer-animated preschool animals: Austin the kangaroo, Pablo the penguin, Tyrone the moose, Tasha the hippo, and Uniqua the. . .well, no one was quite sure what Uniqua was, but she was certainly unique! In the tradition of Muppet Babies, the fearless fivesome imagined themselves into all sorts of fantastic adventures in a vast array of mythical worlds. The series' appeal--which extended far beyond the youngsters to whom it was aimed--was manifested in the splashy, CGI production numbers (running the gamut from classic Broadway to hip-hop) and complicated choreography (accomplished by filming live-action dancers in motion-capture), as the main characters gamboled around an ever-changing backdrop of sky, water, and mountains. Created by Janice Burgess and intended to stimulate the imaginations of the kids at home (which it accomplished splendidly), The Backyardigans ultimately achieved over-the-air TV play when it was added to the Saturday morning lineup of Nickelodeon's sister network CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonah Bobo, Thomas Sharkey, (more)
