Janice Burgess

Now entering its second season, Nickelodeon's preschool-targeted series "The Backyardigans" features animated characters who bound around their back yards, singing, dancing and imagining themselves on adventures of every stripe.

A week of new episodes rolls out Oct. 16, and tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. the Backyardigans go on a "Mission to Mars" in a new episode that features R&B singer Alicia Keys as the voice of a Mommy Martian. (The episode will be out on DVD Tuesday.) Landing Keys was a treat for series creator Janice Burgess, a Squirrel Hill native and a 1974 graduate of The Ellis School.

Burgess, 52, created "Backyardigans" after a successful stint working as a Nickelodeon executive in the network's preschool division, Nick Jr.

Q: What made you want to make the leap from the corporate side of Nickelodeon to the creative?

A: As I worked at Nick Jr., I got my eyes opened to all kinds of possibilities of storytelling for kids, and I also got an opportunity to be part of scripting and concept development.

The thing I really enjoyed was being part of the script meetings, trying to think up shows, think of characters, think about how little kids process the world, how they think about things. Then my boss gave me a big opportunity and said, "Why don't you try to do it?"

Now I am contracted by Nickelodeon as creator and executive producer, and I have the joy of saying that in my contract I'm called "the artist," which is fabulous.

Q: Did any past kids shows inspire "The Backyardigans"?

A: I know this is going to sound very strange, but the things I really draw upon are action films. I like "Die Hard," "Star Wars," the Tolkien movies. I'm really quite a refined person, but there's nothing I like more than cops and robbers and gun fights and crazy driving and fast and furiousness.

When you think in terms of little kids, you don't want to scare them, and I'm not in favor of showing any kind of violence or aggression, but you can certainly have a big adventure even if you're 3. I thought it would be fun to take kids on that big adventure.

The thing is to give them something to take away, and one of the things I wanted to give them was the idea that you can play imaginatively -- you can be a bandito or a princess or an airplane pilot.

Q: Was there a void you saw in children's TV that you hoped "Backyardigans" would fill?

A: lot of television for preschoolers is primarily instructive. They want to teach you how to spell, make sure you can count. My feeling is that, in general, kids should have more time to relax and play and have things that are created especially for them and that are really for their enjoyment. Not that learning isn't enjoyable, but it's nice also to have something that's just for fun.

Q: Each episode features four original songs and choreography that's been animated. Do those additions make it more expensive than other kids shows?

A: It's not a cheap show to produce, and it's very challenging because it has so many parts. As soon as you add parts, you add to the cost of what you're doing. For instance, the way we get the characters to dance is we do a session that is choreographed, we film it and take the footage and give it to the animators. They have to figure out how to take the movement of these gorgeous, long-legged, beautiful dancers and translate them into movements that five potbellied, short-legged little animals do.

Q: How did you land Alicia Keys for the role of Mommy Martian in the season premiere?

A: I have to thank Nickelodeon Talent for that. It's a fabulous talent department, and they were able to pitch it to Alicia in a way that made her want to do it. She doesn't take herself too seriously, and she has a playful side. She doesn't mind singing, "Everything's boinga here." Her niece was able to be the voice of the little teeny alien, so it was fun for the whole family.

Q: Will the "Backyardigans" ever imagine an adventure in Pittsburgh?

A: In a way, the entire adventure happens in Pittsburgh. My inspiration really came from the fact that as a child, I had a group of friends, and we played in our back yards and I always thought of that as the place where we had extraordinary adventures -- we sailed ships, we fought off lions, and in addition we played hide-and-seek. It's the starting point and ending point of every show and, in my mind, that's my back yard in Pittsburgh.