THE Sports in the garden franchise will soon return after a nearly decade-long hiatus. Announced today, Playground Productions will bring the games back and introduce the iconic characters to TV, film and other media.
The franchise began in the late 90s with Backyard Baseball, developed by Humongous Entertainment, and soon blossomed to include entries centered on skateboarding, hockey, football, and more. The last releases before the new announcement were in 2015 Backyard Sports: Baseball AND Backyard sports: basketball.
For VarietyBackyard Sports creator and Playground Productions founder and CEO Lindsay Barnett called the franchise “more than just a game; it's a treasured part of childhood for millions of people. I think of media as the world's largest classroom. As such, our goal is to produce meaningful content that not only entertains, but also educates and inspires. The return of Backyard Sports is the perfect embodiment of that goal.”
Backyard sports and playground production
Playground Productions it labels itself “a company for kids and families focused on creating high-quality films, television programs, digital media and games, while promoting literacy, STEM and social-emotional learning.”
THE Playground Productions Website It also lists a series of newspaper articles, such as The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline, detailing the media group's “substantial” investment.
While details on the game's new releases are scarce, the transmedia aspect is interesting. Iconic Backyard characters like Stephanie Morgan and Kenny Kawaguchi were a memorable part of many millennials' childhoods, making the film and TV work potentially powerful. The new animated trailer introduces some of the existing characters who are preparing to play and actually tackle children's media.