The Heart of the Jungle

**The Heart of the Jungle** is the second episode of The Backyardigans from the first season. The genre of the songs in this episode is Gilbert and Sullivan.

## Characters

* Uniqua
* Pablo
* Tyrone
* Tasha (still absent, only in intro)
* Austin
* Wormans (*debut*)
* Sherman (*debut*)
* Can't-See-Ums (*debut*)

## Summary

Tyrone is Tarzan, and so are Pablo and Austin! Each Tarzan has a different jungle skill, and they use them all to help Uniqua, the brilliant scientist. Their quest, set to Gilbert and Sullivan-style operetta, is to help tiny Sherman the Worman find his jungle home. Will they succeed? Or will the treacherous jungle force them to bug off?

## Plot

At first, Tyrone is seen alone in the backyard, yelling like Tarzan. He greets the viewer and tells them he is Tarzan the Animal Guy, who can talk to animals. He starts the song "I'm Tarzan." Pablo walks over as the song is still being sung, starting a second part explaining to the viewer that he is Tarzan the Very Strong. Austin then comes over to the two Tarzans. As Tyrone and Pablo explain in the song that Austin is Tarzan Who Doesn't Say Too Much.

After the song ends, Uniqua (in a tan hat) walks over carrying something and introduces herself as Professor Uniqua. Uniqua unfolds her hands, revealing a yellow worm-like creature called a Worman. His name is Sherman, and he is sad because he is lost and separated from his family. Uniqua cannot understand what Sherman is trying to say because he can only speak in squeaks. Uniqua wants to know where his home is to take him back there. Tyrone volunteers to listen to Sherman because he is Tarzan the Animal Guy (who can talk to animals). Tyrone tells the rest that he is from the heart of the jungle.

So the foursome venture into the jungle as the backyard transforms into it. Uniqua goes through the jungle to find Sherman's home, but the Tarzans go after her saying that she needs someone to guide her and to protect her from dangerous things in the jungle, such as Can't-See-Ums, tiny insects that tickles people. Tarzans warn her about getting lost, the rain, and quicksand. Uniqua thinks that jungles do not carry any quicksand, stating it as a scientific fact, and she is unaware of any muddy puddles.

They travel deep into the jungle. Uniqua and the Tarzans start to sing the song "Where in the World Do the Wormans Live?". After the song, Uniqua was about to step into a watering hole. The Tarzans think it is quicksand, but with a stick, they see it is not. Suddenly, a group of Can't-See-Ums chases the Tarzans, but Uniqua wards them off with Bug-Away Spray.

They all start to sing the song "Into the Thick of It!" as they walk around in circles. Then the Tarzans realize they have seen all the flowers, trees, and leaves before. Then they all realize they have yet to get closer to the jungle's heart. Uniqua uses a vine to swing, but her attempt is fruitless. Tyrone tells her that swinging on a vine only works if she does the Tarzan yell. Her next attempt works, taking Tyrone's advice. The Tarzans follow, swinging off as they sing a reprise of "I'm Tarzan."

As they get closer to the heart of the jungle, they start to feel the rain. Uniqua sings the song "It's Drizzling, It's Pouring." The rain gets heavier, and they have to all sit in leave to drift closer to the small stream the rain has created. While they were going by the stream, they saw that the leave would fall by a waterfall. Uniqua hooked the umbrella to a vine and told the others they would swing over to the bank. Pablo offers to help because he says they need someone strong like him to do that. After they landed on the bank, Sherman said his house was nearby. They walk and see a lot of other Wormans crawling on leaves. One Worman spots Sherman, and all the Wormans scream to greet him. Uniqua and the Tarzans say goodbye to Sherman.

After they had taken Sherman home, Uniqua decided to go back to her laboratory and report their discovery. Austin spots a muddy puddle and thinks it is quicksand. Uniqua does not see it and steps into it. The Tarzans are alarmed and try to help Uniqua out of it as she sinks deeper into the puddle. They all see that it is, in fact, quicksand. Austin uses the stick he finds to pull her out.

When they got her out, she thanked the Tarzans for helping her and invited them all over to her house for a snack of pretzels after Austin's stomach growled. They all return to the backyard as the imaginary rainforest transforms back into its previous form. They sing the end song and enter Uniqua's House. Pablo, Tyrone, and Austin open the previously closed door and yell like Tarzan.

## Roles

* Uniqua: Professor Uniqua
* Pablo: Tarzan the Very Strong
* Tyrone: Tarzan the Animal Guy
* Austin: Tarzan Who Doesn't Say Too Much

## Songs

* "I'm Tarzan"
* "Where in the World Do the Wormans Live?"
* "Into the Thick of It!"
* "It's Drizzling, It's Pouring"

## Trivia

* At one point, Tarzan the Animal Guy says, "She's gonna need help, you'll see." This is the first time a character speaks to the Viewer during the story sequence. In other words, this is the first-ever fourth wall break during the main adventure.
* Tasha is the only main character not featured in this episode and the previous one. She'll make her first appearance in the next episode.
* This is the first episode:
	+ To be written by Janice Burgess.
	+ Where Austin doesn't have a lot of speaking lines (besides saying "Ugh!"), the second being Best Clowns in Town, where he only honks his horn that whole episode until near the end.
* The song "Into the Thick of It!" became popular on TikTok.
* This is the second episode of season 1 to feature Austin, as he is absent on the next 5 episodes, 3-7.
* Footage of this episode is later used in the *Face's Music Party* episode, "Jungle."

## Errors

* After the characters say the name of the episode and the camera zooms in to Tyrone in the backyard, the picnic table is in front of Uniqua's house, but when the scene changes, the picnic table is not there.