Zach Tyler Movies
- 2005
Originally created for (and telecast on) Nickelodeon, the half-hour anime series Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in an alternate world in which the "nations" are divided along the lines of elements: the Water Nation, the Earth Nation, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nation. The titular Avatar was supreme master of the four elements and was predestined to protect the rest of his world against the evil Fire Nation. Abruptly disappearing from view, the Avatar resurfaced in the form of 12-year-old Aang, the last of the Airbender tribe. Discovered frozen in ice near the South Pole by two young members of the Water tribe, Katara and Sokka, the irresponsible Aang had to summon up enough strength -- and self-esteem -- to do battle against the villainous Firebenders. The series' requisite "cute little animal" was Aang's pet lemur, Momo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zach Tyler, Mae Whitman, (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)
