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"Race to the Tower of Power" is an episode of The Backyardigans from the first season. It was the final episode of the first season to air in Canada before going on a 1 year hiatus. CharactersSummary"Pablo and Tyrone are supervillains who want to rule the world and make it Shrinky and yucky. But Uniqua and Austin are superheroes out to stop them! Spanish and Cuban Salsa accompanies the super-competitors on their super-adventure." PlotThe episode begins with Pablo and Tyrone coming out of Tyrone's House wearing black domino masks and start doing evil laughs. They introduce themselves as supervillains to the viewer. Pablo is Yucky Man, a supervillain with the power to cover everything in sticky green goo, and Tyrone is Dr. Shrinky, a supervillain with shrinking powers. Yucky Man covers the backyard slide with his goo, and Dr. Shrinky shrinks the backyard slide down to almost the size of a mouse. They plot to take over the World by stealing the Key to the World, located in the Tower of Power, and follow it up by singing "We Are Supervillains." They then leave for the Forest of Darkness to plan on capturing the Key. Less than two seconds later, Uniqua and Austin jump into view, donning domino masks; however, Uniqua's is purple, and Austin's is blue. They introduce themselves to the viewer as superheroes, the supervillains' opponents. Uniqua is Weather Woman, a superhero with the power to change the weather, which she demonstrates by creating a raincloud over her and Austin's heads. Austin introduces himself as Captain Hammer and uses his toy hammer to showcase his power to build anything by turning a shovel into an umbrella and placing it over himself and Uniqua. They explain they're tasked to protect the Key to the World from the villains and will come to the rescue should the villains intervene. Uniqua makes the raincloud disappear, and Austin closes the umbrella and puts it to the side before they sing "We Are Superheroes." After the song, they see the shrunken, goo-coated slide and head off to stop the villains from stealing the Key to the World as their backyard transforms into the Forest of Darkness and the mission begins. Deep into the forest, the supervillains try to find the Tower of Power to steal the Key to the World, and they spot the Land of Cold, where the Tower is located. They sing "Key to the World" and continue on their way but are intercepted by the superheroes. When asked where they're headed, Yucky Man bluntly replies they're off to the Tower of Power to steal the Key to the World, making the heroes all the more determined to stop them. The heroes proceed to chase after the villains, but then there was trouble: Yucky Man shoots goo on the ground at the heroes' feet to get them stuck, allowing the villains to get away. Weather Woman gets her right hand stuck in the goo after she tries to dig them out, but Captain Hammer has an idea: he uses a little rock and builds it into a "gunk-sucking vacuum cleaner" and sucks up the goo, receiving praise from Weather Woman before they carry on chasing after the villains. The heroes reach the Land of Cold and spot the Tower of Power, and the villains skate across a frozen pond to get to the Tower. Weather Woman proposes a plan and requests Captain Hammer to create a boat. Despite initial confusion, Captain Hammer goes through with this, uses a stick, and turns into a wooden rowboat. Weather Woman uses her powers to cast aside the clouds and increase the area's temperature. The sun causes the frozen pond to melt and strands the villains on a patch of ice. The superheroes pass by the villains in the boat and brag. Yucky Man has a panic attack and is promptly calmed down by Dr. Shrinky, who encourages him to think of a solution. Then there was trouble: Yucky Man has an idea and uses his powers to turn the water into goo, getting the heroes stuck again. As the villains make their way to shore, the heroes struggle to get out, singing "The Sea of Gobbly Goo." Noticing that the villains are inching closer to the Tower of Power, Captain Hammer turns the boat into a bridge with his hammer at Weather Woman's suggestion. Meanwhile, the villains are halfway there. They laugh maniacally and are so caught up in their seemingly imminent victory that they overlook the heroes nonchalantly walking past them until Weather Woman says "hi" to them. Baffled at the sight of the heroes getting past them, Yucky Man asks them how they could get out of the goo, and Captain Hammer directs them to the bridge. The villains chase after the heroes and battle while performing "Super Heroes vs. Super Villains." When the villains arrive at the Tower, they pretend to be tired, deceiving the heroes, so Dr. Shrinky can surprise them, shrinking Captain Hammer. This proves to be what the villains need to finally enter the Tower, and despite initial awe over the seemingly endless staircase leading to the top, they press on. Outside, Captain Hammer and Weather Woman discuss how to get to the top of the Tower even with Captain Hammer shrunken -- especially as it's become difficult for Weather Woman to hear him -- and they perform "You and Me to the Rescue." Weather Woman makes a tornado appear, blowing them toward the top of the Tower. The villains reach the top floor of the Tower where the Key is, but before they can do anything, the heroes enter. Weather Woman somersaults over the supervillains' heads to save the Key from the villains, using it to deflect their attacks against them. With the villains covered in goo and shrunken, Captain Hammer uses his hammer to turn a nearby paper clip into a cage that traps the villains. The heroes relish in their victory, and the villains, upset over having their powers used against them, start crying and beg to be let out. Weather Woman agrees, as long as they turn to the side of good and help protect the Key to atone for their evil deeds. The villains promise to do so, and upon being let out of the cage, Dr. Shrinky makes himself, Yucky Man, and Captain Hammer grow back to their normal size. Now that they've turned good, Tyrone and Pablo transform into their new superhero alter-egos, Dr. Grow and Very Clean Guy. Pablo's stomach growls, prompting him to joke that he is also "Hungry Guy." Tyrone invites everyone to his house for granola bars. Everyone accepts as the tower transforms back into the backyard, and the heroes transform back to normal. They sing the end song and enter Tyrone's house for their snack break. Pablo sticks his head out of the door and laughs maniacally and adruptly says, "I mean, to the rescue!" before going back in and reclosing it as the screen irises out, and the mission has success, ending the episode. Roles
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