R.I.P. Janice Burgess, creator of The Backyardigans

Janice Burgess, creator of the animated children’s series The Backyardigans, has died. Her death was confirmed by friend and former Gullah Gullah Island head writer Fracaswell Hyman on Instagram. Per The New York Times, Burgess’ cause of death was breast cancer and she died in hospice care in Manahattan on Saturday. She was 72.

“We are saddened to learn of the passing of one of the great architects of Nick Jr. and creator of the
globally beloved
series, The Backyardigans,” a spokesperson for Nickelodeon told The A.V. Club in a statement. “Janice was one of the greats—inherently
creative and kind, and dedicated to the preschool audience everywhere.”

Burgess’ career at Nickelodeon began in 1994 as the Executive in Charge of Production for Gullah Gullah Island, the groundbreaking children’s series that was among the first on Nickelodeon to focus on an African American family. Her next series would be even more successful: the Peabody Award-winning Blue’s Clues, which she oversaw throughout its initial run.

In 1998, she produced the pilot for My Friends And Me, a full-body, live-action puppet show starring a penguin, a moose, a hippopotamus, and a “uniqua.” While initially rejected, the show would add a fifth animal (a purple kangaroo) and evolve into the computer-animated series The Backyardigans, which premiered in 2002. For four seasons, the colorful cast of animals, Austin, Pablo, Tyrone, Tasha, and Uniqua, turned their backyard into an imaginative and musical wonderland, winning two Emmys along the way. Returning to its roots, Backyardigans would eventually become a stage show, once again, in 2008. Following Backyardigans, Burgess worked on Winx Club and Bubble Guppies.

Born on March 1, 1952, Burgess grew up in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill
neighborhood. She attended the all-girls prep school, The Ellis
School, before attending Brandeis University. After college, she worked
in Pittsburgh public television and for the Sesame Workshop before arriving at Nick Jr. in 1995.

Burgess’ philosophy toward children’s entertainment was to provide an alternative to instructive entertainment. She wanted to create space for play.

“A lot of television for preschoolers is primarily instructive. They want to teach you how to spell, make sure you can count,” she told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette in 2006. “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.”

Burgess is survived by her mother and brother, Jack.