Backyard Sports animated series sets cast and 20-episode plan
Playground Productions unveiled 20 short episodes at Comic-Con, with Arturo Castro, Tiffany Haddish and more returning to voice the Backyard Kids.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
The Backyard Sports animated series is officially getting a bigger swing: Playground Productions revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that it is developing 20 episodes, each running 11 minutes.
The project brings Pablo Sanchez and the Backyard Kids back after the franchise’s recent animated comeback. According to the announcement, the new run will feature the voice cast that appeared in January’s animated short tied to the revived video game brand.
Arturo Castro is returning as Pablo Sanchez, with Tiffany Haddish as Kiesha Phillips, Donald Faison as Dante Robinson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Dmitri Petrovich.
The cast also includes Utkarsh Ambudkar as Achmed Khan, Deborah Baker Jr. as Kimmy Eckman, Michael Vlamis as Tony Delvecchio, Ashleigh Crystal Hairston as Sunny Day, Will Neff as Mr. Clanky, Vincent Tong as Kenny Kawaguchi, Joey Rudman as Marky Dubois and Playground CEO Lindsay Barnett as Vinnie.
What is Backyard Sports: The Animated Series?
Backyard Sports: The Animated Series is an animated extension of the Backyard Sports video game franchise, centered on the kid athletes who made the games a long-running favorite. The series follows the brand’s return under Playground Productions, which acquired the rights several years ago and has been building new projects around the characters.
The show is tied to the broader revival of Backyard Baseball, the arcade-style game series that dates back to 1997. A revamped version launched July 9 on Steam for Mac and PC, with editions for Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation expected to follow.
Playground has already tested the characters in animation. Earlier this year, the company released a short special called “Sticky Situation,” in which the Backyard kids try to help Stephanie “Bubbles” Morgan find her lucky bubble gum with half an hour left before game time.
That special first appeared on YouTube and later moved to Prime Video in March. Playground has not announced where the newly planned episodes will stream or air.
Who is making the new Backyard Sports episodes?
Chris Waters, Playground Productions’ chief product officer, will serve as showrunner. Waters also executive produced the earlier special with Barnett, who previously worked as a teacher and pursued the video game rights after struggling to find games that suited her young students, according to Deadline’s earlier reporting.
Juston Gordon-Montgomery is supervising director. Adam Aseraf and Sarah Nevada Smith are head writers and co-executive producers.
Waters and Barnett will produce with Ari Pinchot and Stuart Avi Savitsky. Lighthouse Studios is handling animation services.
In a statement, Barnett said the characters have “inspired imaginations for generations” and that their stories have felt larger than the games. She described animation as a natural expansion as Backyard Baseball returns on Steam and heads toward consoles.
Playground also teased a larger “Backyardiverse,” described by the company as a connected world combining sports, storytelling and culture. The revival is being developed independently from major studios, according to Deadline.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.