Ego Nwodim, Donald Faison, Tiffany Haddish, and Ashleigh Crystal Hairston are stepping up to the plate for the first-ever animated special inspired by the classic Backyard Sports video-game franchise. Arturo Castro, Adam Pally, Chris Mintz-Plasse, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Lindsay Barnett, and Michael Vlamis round out the cast.
Playground Productions — the independent studio that revived the Backyard Sports games last year — is bringing the world of neighborhood athletics and pint-sized legends like Pablo Sanchez to animation for the very first time.
The Story
It’s Opening Day at Steele Stadium, but superstar player Stephanie “Bubbles” Morgan has a problem — her lucky bubble gum is missing. With the clock ticking toward game time, the Backyard crew races to find it and save their season.
Who’s Playing Who
- Ego Nwodim voices Stephanie “Bubbles” Morgan and Jocinda Smith
- Donald Faison as Dante Robinson
- Tiffany Haddish as Kiesha Phillips
- Arturo Castro as Pablo Sanchez
- Ashleigh Crystal Hairston as Sunny Day
- Adam Pally as Pete Wheeler
- Chris Mintz-Plasse as Dmitri Petrovich
- Utkarsh Ambudkar as Achmed Khan
- Playground founder Lindsay Barnett as Vinnie and the Webber Twins
- Michael Vlamis as Tony Delvecchio
Behind the Scenes
The special comes from Lighthouse Studios with director Mike Roberts (Bojack Horseman, Final Space) and writer Joe Purdy (Hey Arnold!). Music is by Jonny Shorr. And rather than partnering with a major studio, Playground Productions is independently financing the project — with support from Dave & Buster’s.
The special will debut on the Backyard Sports YouTube channel and inside Dave & Buster’s locations nationwide.
The Real-Life Mission Behind the Revival
Playground Productions founder Lindsay Barnett, a former elementary school teacher, tracked down the rights during the pandemic after searching for kid-friendly games for her students. With no original source code available, the team reverse-engineered the ‘90s CD-ROM games to bring them back — sparking a full-on brand revival rooted in nostalgic joy and kid-friendly sports storytelling.
This animated special marks the franchise’s first scripted project, with more sports titles potentially on deck including football, soccer, basketball, and hockey.
Barnett and Chief Product Officer Chris Waters say the vision is simple: build a multigenerational world where parents who grew up with the games can enjoy them alongside their kids — just like we did in the ’90s.