Publication Date: 02-10-2026

Backyard Sports: The Animated Special (2026) review

Dir. Mike Roberts

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★½

The recent revitalization of 1990s touchstones has been, if nothing else, inspiring. I’m not talking Good Burger 2 and Scream. I’m talking about A Chuck E. Cheese Christmas, and now, Backyard Sports: The Animated Special, based off of two properties that could’ve loaned themselves to the medium of TV and movies many moons ago. This past holiday season, Chuck E. Cheese tested the ability of its cartoon characters, led by the inimitable Charles Entertainment Cheese, to resonate in an episodic format. The result was surprisingly spirited. Now, it’s Backyard Sports‘ turn.

Sure, the animated special — based on the video game series that featured child versions of famous professional athletes across the five major American sports leagues — is brought to you by Dave & Buster’s, so the presence of product placement is instantly noticeable even to those used to having their nostalgic staples perverted by corporations, but it retains the innocent charm of its source material. The games were runaway successes because they weren’t trying to copy the intricacies of the Madden franchise nor were they really even about the rules of baseball or the plays of football. When you played them, you felt like you were playing a cartoon TV show featuring characters with whom you’d become familiar as if they were part of your PBS or Nickelodeon diet.

At ten minutes long, Backyard Sports: The Animated Special races past, revolving around the excitement of Opening Day at the sandlot being briefly derailed by a panicking Stephanie Morgan (voiced by Ego Nwodim). While warming up for the first pitch, she accidentally spits out her “lucky” bubblegum, and of course she can’t hit one out of the park unless she’s chomping on it. Her teammates, Kiesha (Tiffany Haddish), Achmed (Utkarsh Ambudkar), and Pete (Adam Pally), help her track down a snack cart where she can buy more before the game is set to begin. This leads the crew to crossing paths with a snarky greaser (Michael Vlamis) jocking the register at a pizzeria and series-staple Pablo (Arturo Castro), whose Spanish commentary is an utter delight.

At the risk of sounding like Pete Repeat, the camaraderie of the diverse characters reminded me of the Recess crew, just like it did in A Chuck E. Cheese Christmas. More impressively, while that special had a 45-minute runway to introduce its personalities, Backyard Sports does it in 10, playing very much like an episode of a preexisting show. The characters are all distinctly drawn and written, and their interplay recalls the Peanuts (or “The Boo Crew,” if you remember that short-lived experiment). The trio of writers (Joseph Purdy, Will McRobb, and Teddy McDonald) keep things plucky and fast-moving, but never manic. They match the speed of “now” without overdoing it, and make enough time so asides like a stop at the local pizzeria are memorable.

The future of Backyard Sports looks bright. Following the series’ acquisition by Playground Productions, Backyard Basketball ’01 and Backyard Hockey ’02 were rereleased for free on Steam, this animated special was released, and apparently there are talks of additional specials and maybe even a television series. This is an excellent launchpad for a future that’s beaming bright like Pablo’s radiant smile.

NOTE: Backyard Sports: The Animated Special is available to watch on the Backyard Sports’ YouTube channel, free of charge.

Voiced by: Ego Nwodim, Tiffany Haddish, Adam Pally, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Ashleigh Crystal Hairston, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Donald Faison, Lindsay Barnett, Deborah Baker Jr., Michael Vlamis, and Arturo Castro. Directed by: Mike Roberts.