It has been years since they have been a Backyard Gang. It has been years since they have remembered the songs and super-dee-duper adventures, usually in their own yard be it at a house or the school. It has been years since they have played all day with a squirrel and a bird in a tree house, or read through books with an overgrown worm in a library. It has been a long time since they have seen a fated purple dinosaur that brought these misfits together, but the magic wants them back.
Tina works at a caf with Lynn Carter. She asks Lynn to baby-sit Mia while she will be out of town for three days. Lynn is fine with it, though she will have to take Mia to her college with her. Lynn is in Mr. Adam Jhin's programming class. Tina has to go to court to meet up with her appointed lawyer: Michael. Tina and Michael decide to catch up and he offers her a drink at a swanky new bar. Michael's sister Amy is working as a bartender there; they join a lone girl wearing a bridal veil: Tina's big sister Luci.
Tina, Luci, Michael and Amy regroup and decide to visit their old playground, but Tina has to pick up Mia first. When she goes over to Lynn's house, a man surprises her. Lynn's teacher is tutoring her at home and answers the door. Tina recognizes him immediately. Lynn's dad gets home then, and Tina and Adam are shocked to find Derek. Michael has also gone home for his two kids: 16-
year-old Bobby and 7-year-old Colleen.
Michael, Amy, Tina, Luci, Derek, Adam, Lynn, Mia, Bobby and Colleen head to the abandoned playground in the ruins of what was once the kids' school. Lynn, Mia, Bobby and Colleen explore the grounds. The others climb up to their extravagant tree house, and are surprised it is still standing. Everything basically looks vacant like all the magic has vanished. Mia and Colleen find a squirrel and start talking to it, bewildered that it is talking back to them. Lynn and Bobby start a conversation by a dying tree when a purple bird catches their attention. She seems prim and proper. Adam sits by the slide. Derek and Michael sit at the round table. Amy, Luci and Tina are standing at the bridge when the latter softly begins to sing.
"We could go to the moon in a great big boat, build a castle by playing 'Pretend'. We might even explore with the big dinosaur, or make rainbows that never end."
She sighs; trying to remember how much fun she used to have. It's all a little hazy, even for the others. Michael stands then, continuing the song at another standpoint.
"We can go anywhere, we can be anyone,"
Amy stands beside her brother. "We can do it quite easily too,"
Luci and Derek join in. "We just play 'Let's Pretend', and we know in the end that it's so much fun to do."
All but Adam are singing. He looks skeptical, as if his childhood were one big dream. They sing.
"Just imagine, just imagine, just imagine all the things that we could be. Imagine all the places we could go and see."
This line gets him. Adam stands and joins his old friends in singing the last lines of the song.
"Imagination's fun for you and me. Imagination's fun for you and me."
They laugh a little and collapse at the circle table. Suddenly, their voices hitch as they can hear ghosts of their childhood voices in song.
" . Whoever your friend is, he'll come back again soon, if you just use your imagination ."
The adults stand together, straining their ears to hear more of the song.
" . So don't ignore your toy dinosaur, I'm sure that he's eager and ready to play, make-believe friends don't ever go away!"
They climb the stairs leading to the top of the tree house. They do so wearingly, as if their added weight will destroy the whole thing. Arriving to the top, they spot a very familiar purple toy dinosaur teetering on the edge of a table. Their voices, as well as the music, are coming from it.
"So don't you feel sad when your friend has to leave, friends are forever when they're make-believe "
Michael, Amy, Tina, Luci, Derek and Adam have a compulsion to finish the song. Swaying along with the toy, their childhood voices chime in tune with their adult ones.
"We'll have friends forever and ever, when they're make-believe!"
The song ends and the voices disappear. The dinosaur doll topples and the former kids run to the rescue with a 'Barney!' This surprises all of them, but even moreso, the dinosaur does a tumble and a flash of magical light later, an eight-foot-tall purple dinosaur is standing before them. He smiles, looking over each of them. They aren't afraid, but confused as to how this can be. They were sure he was only a figment of their overactive children imagination.
Still, the dinosaur looks first to the lawyer. "Michael, how wonderful to see you."
"It's, yeah, B-Barney."
He moves on to Amy, still in her bartending apron and smelling slightly of the liquor she procures. "Hello, Amy."
"H-Hi, Barney."
Next, to the professor. He pushes his glasses back, still confused this is happening. "Adam."
When Adam only slightly smiles, Barney moves to the next grown child. The rapper fresh home from work gapes at the wonders. "Hi, Derek."
"Hey, man." He tries to act cool but fails.
Barney chuckles at the greeting but moves on to the woman in a business suit and bridal veil. "Nice to see you, Luci."
A few loose tears find their way down her cheek. "You, too."
Finally, he round on the youngest the waitress and stay-at-home mom, which is very evident when you look at her. "Hello, Tina. I'm glad you came to play."
She can't hold it in like her friends. A few tears roll down and she runs up to give the dinosaur a hug. Luci follows in suit, along with the others and just as quickly. A wave of magic and friendship rushes over them. When they let go, Barney seems to have grown or they seem to have shrunk. They look around to each other and quickly come to the realization that they are back to being kids. They are as young as they were the last time they've seen each other.
Just then, their own kids run in, following an excited squirrel and bird. The former adults' eyes widen, recognizing Scooter McNutty and Miss Etta Kette. The dawning glaze stops short when they see their kids, though. Michael is eldest, at thirteen whereas his son Bobby is sixteen and daughter Colleen is seven. The same look crosses ten-year-old Derek's mind, seeing as how his daughter Lynn is eighteen. Seven-year-old Tina looks most shocked, seeing her daughter Mia, now only a year younger. Mia is the first to initiate contact.
"My name's Mia. What's yours?"
Her mom smiles back, but she looks like she might cry. "My name's Tina."
"Like my Mommy."
The girl looks around. The little girl she is talking to is wearing a miniaturized outfit of her mom's.
"Mommy, is that you?"
Tina nods, giving her daughter a hug. Lynn breaks the contact. "How did this happen?"
Mia gasps, looking toward the branches of the treetop. She identifies a purple dinosaur and things click into place.
"Barney did it." She points to the dinosaur in question. "Mommy's told me stories."
Colleen nods. "So did Daddy. I do believe in Barney."
Barney appears on the table, doing a balancing act. Colleen and Mia laugh. Bobby only sees blurry fuzz. Lynn doesn't see anything.
"You expect us to believe some purple dragon made all of you our parents?"
"He's a dinosaur." Michael corrects her.
"And we are your parents." Derek adds. "You just need to imagine."
"You need to believe." Mia looks up to her babysitter with pleading eyes.
Bobby and Lynn look to each other and decide they might as well. The two of them close their eyes and whisper. "I do believe."
When they open their eyes, they are their parents' ages. There is a tall, purple grinning dinosaur before them, ready to play a game. They aren't afraid. They believe in Barney and he is real. Imagination's fun, as long as you believe.