Barney & Friends | |
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Genre | |
Created by |
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Based on | Barney & the Backyard Gang by Sheryl Leach [1] |
Voices of |
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Opening theme | "Barney Theme Song" |
Ending theme | "Barney's Dilemma" (1992–2000) "Barney Theme Song" (2002–2010) |
Composers | |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 14 |
No. of episodes | 268 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Production locations |
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Running time | 30 minutes (1992–2005, 2008–2009) 15 minutes (2006–2007, 2010) |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | PBS [5] |
Release | April 6, 1992 – November 2, 2010 |
Related | |
Barney & Friends is an American children's television series targeted at children aged two to five, created by Sheryl Leach. The series first aired on PBS on April 6, 1992, and features Barney, a purple anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus rex who conveys educational messages through songs and small dance routines with a friendly, huggable and optimistic attitude. [6] [7] [8] [9] The series ended on November 2, 2010, although new videos were still released on various dates after the last episode aired. Reruns aired on Sprout from 2005 to 2015, and from December 17, 2018 to January 25, 2020 on Sprout's successor network, Universal Kids. On October 6, 2015, the series was initially renewed for revival with a new season to premiere in 2017, but that never came to fruition. [10] A CGI-animated series will air on Cartoon Network's Cartoonito and stream on Max. [11]
While popular with its intended audience, Barney & Friends drew severe negative reaction from the older set, who mocked the title character in popular culture through song parodies and comedy routines such as being beaten up by NBA star Charles Barkley on a Saturday Night Live episode. [12]
Barney & Friends was created by Sheryl Leach of Dallas, Texas. [13] She came up with the idea of a children's program after noticing that her son outgrew Wee Sing Together , [14] [15] and then recognizing that there were no videos to appeal to her son. Leach then brought together a team who created a series of home videos, Barney & the Backyard Gang , initially released in 1988. The first three videos starred actress Sandy Duncan. [16]
One day in 1991, the daughter of Connecticut Public Television executive Larry Rifkin rented one of the videos and was "mesmerized" by it. Rifkin thought the concept could be developed for PBS. Rifkin thought Barney had appeal because he was less neurotic than Big Bird. He pitched it to CPTV president Jerry Franklin, whose preschool son also fell in love with it. Franklin and Rifkin pitched the idea to all of their colleagues with preschoolers, and they all agreed that kids would love a Barney show. Franklin and Rifkin convinced Leach to let CPTV revamp the concept for television. [17] The show debuted as Barney & Friends in 1992. [18] The series was produced by CPTV and Lyrick Studios (later bought by HIT Entertainment). [19]
Although the show was a runaway hit, PBS initially opted not to provide funding beyond the initial 30-episode run. When Rifkin and other CPTV executives learned this, they wrote letters to their fellow PBS member stations urging them to get PBS to reconsider. The Lyons Group, meanwhile, sent out notices through the Barney Fan Club, telling parents to write letters and make phone calls to their local PBS stations to show their support for Barney & Friends. By the time of the yearly member stations' meeting, station executives across the country were up in arms over the prospect of one of their most popular shows being canceled. Faced with an atmosphere that Rifkin later described as "like an insurrection", PBS ultimately relented. [17]
For several years, the show was taped at the Color Dynamics Studios facility at Greenville Avenue & Bethany Drive in Allen, Texas, after which it moved to The Studios at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas, and then Carrollton, a suburb of Dallas. The TV series was produced by WNET from 2006 to 2010.
The episodes open with the theme song (over clips from various episodes) and the title card before it dissolves into the school (in seasons 1–6) or park (in seasons 7–14). The children are seen doing an activity, occasionally relating to the episode's topic. They eventually cause Barney to come to life from a plush doll, transforming into the "real" Barney, how he appears in the children's imaginations. Beginning in season 9, Barney's transformation occurs in a clip at the end of the theme song.
Here, the main plot of the episode takes place. Barney and the children learn about the main topic of the episode, with Baby Bop, BJ, or Riff appearing during the episode and numerous songs themed relating to the subject featured in the series. The roles of Baby Bop, BJ, and Riff have grown larger in later seasons and later episodes venture outside of the school to other places within the neighborhood, and in season 13, to other countries around the world.
Barney concludes with the song "I Love You", then the children say goodbye to him and leave. Barney dissolves back into his original stuffed form and winks to the audience. The first story in season 10–11 episodes end with the characters singing "A Friend Like You" instead and Barney remaining alive.
The sequence transitions to Barney Says (in seasons 1–8 and 12 only) where Barney, who is off-screen, narrates what he and his friends had done that day, along with still snapshots from the episode. Barney ends the segment in seasons 1 and 2 by saying "I love you!" before the credits roll. In seasons 3–8 and 12, the segment ends with a pre-recorded clip of Barney saying, "And remember, I love you!" and waving goodbye.
This section needs additional citations for verification .(September 2015) |
The adults and children on the show often appear as teachers, storytellers, or other characters.
Role | Actor/Actress | Description and Appearances |
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Mother Goose | Sandy Walper, Michelle McCarel, Julie Johnson | The rhyme master herself appears in the episodes "Let's Help Mother Goose", "Honk! Honk! A Goose on the Loose", "A Little Mother Goose", "Barney's Big Surprise", and "Mother Goose/Fairy Tales". |
Stella the Storyteller | Phyllis Cicero | Stella travels all around the world, collecting new stories to tell Barney and friends, among other people. She appeared in several episodes from seasons 3 to 6 but reappeared in the video The Best of Barney, where she gave Barney a photo album of his friends over the years she made herself. After she finishes a story and when she says goodbye in every foreign language, she says her catchphrase "Toodles!" before closing the door. |
Tomie dePaola | Himself | The famous children's author is also a good friend of Barney and usually meets his friends in the episodes he appeared in, which are "Picture This", "It's Raining, It's Pouring", and "Oh Brother, She's my Sister". |
Mom | Sandy Duncan | Michael and Amy's mother in the first three Barney & the Backyard Gang videos. Duncan also appeared as Molly the Mermaid in A Day at the Beach. |
Dad | Bob Reed | Michael and Amy's father in the first three Barney & the Backyard Gang videos. |
Mr. Boyd | Robert Sweatmon | His full name is Grady Boyd and he has a niece named Colleen and a dog named Bingo. He worked as a musician in "Classical Cleanup", "Barney's Band", "Come Blow Your Horn!" and "Play Piano with Me!", a janitor in seasons 3 to 6 and a park keeper in seasons 7 and 8. He later reappeared in The Best of Barney. |
Colleen | Claire Burdett | Colleen is Mr. Boyd's niece, who comes to town for a visit and is introduced to Barney and the Children. She is a congenital amputee born without her right hand, as is her actress. She appeared in two episodes, "A New Friend!" and "A Perfectly Purple Day". |
Linda | Adrianne Kangas | Linda is Chip's younger sister who appeared in Seasons 5–6, as well as two home videos. |
David | Robert Hurtekant | David is a boy in a wheelchair who appeared at the beginning of two episodes: "Falling for Autumn!" and "Shawn and the Beanstalk". |
A lot of puppets appeared in many seasons. The most notable puppets were:
Throughout the series' run, over 100 children have appeared in the series, with most of them from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.[ citation needed ] Only a small portion of these actors have made notable appearances in media since their roles, including:
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 30 | April 6, 1992 | May 15, 1992 | |
2 | 18 | September 27, 1993 | October 20, 1993 | |
3 | 20 | February 27, 1995 | October 6, 1995 | |
4 | 20 | November 3, 1997 | November 28, 1997 | |
5 | 20 | November 2, 1998 | November 27, 1998 | |
6 | 20 | November 1, 1999 | April 14, 2000 | |
7 | 20 | September 2, 2002 | November 22, 2002 | |
8 | 20 | September 15, 2003 | May 14, 2004 | |
9 | 20 | September 6, 2004 | May 13, 2005 | |
10 | 20 | September 18, 2006 | October 13, 2006 | |
11 | 20 | September 17, 2007 | October 12, 2007 | |
12 | 10 | September 15, 2008 | September 26, 2008 | |
13 | 10 | September 7, 2009 | September 18, 2009 | |
14 | 20 | October 4, 2010 | November 2, 2010 |
Other than the United States, the series has aired in Canada, Mexico and Latin America, France, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Japan (on English-based DVDs under the name "Let's Play with Barney in English! (バーニーと英語であそぼう!, Bānī to Eigo de asobō!)" and on television as simply "Barney & Friends (バーニー&フレンズ, Bānī ando Furenzu!)"), the Philippines, Turkey, Australia, and New Zealand, among others. Australian based company and distributor Southern Star handled non-US rights to the series from the mid-'90s [25] until 2001 when HIT revoked the deal after acquiring Lyrick. [26]
Two known co-productions of Barney & Friends have been produced outside of the US. The Israeli co-production Hebrew : החברים של ברניHachaverim shel Barney (The Friends of Barney) produced from 1997 to 1999 in Tel Aviv, Israel, was the first of these. Rather than dubbing the original American episodes in seasons 1 to 3, the episodes were adapted with a unique set and exclusive child actors. [27] [28] The second co-production was broadcast in South Korea from 2001 to 2003 on KBS (under the name "바니와 친구들" (Baniwa Chingudeul (Barney and Friends))). This one, however, adapted the first six seasons (including the first three that the Israel co-production did).
The show's theme song was "I Love You", with new lyrics sung to the melody of the public domain song "This Old Man". The new lyrics were written for the melody in 1982 by Indiana homemaker Lee Bernstein for a children's book titled "Piggyback Songs" (1983), and these lyrics were adapted by Barney producers in the early 1990s, without knowing the words had been written by Bernstein. Upon discovering the usage of her lyrics, Bernstein retained lawyer Daniel Glavin who negotiated with Barney producers for writing credit and royalties, reported as a one-time payment of $7,500 plus $2,000 "every several years." In 1994 when Barney-related licensing was bringing in an estimated $50 million for the Lyons Group, Bernstein sought a higher royalty payment in court. [29] [30]
A majority of the albums of Barney & Friends feature Bob West as the voice of Barney; however, the recent album The Land of Make-Believe has Dean Wendt's voice.
The song "I Love You" was among those used by interrogators at Guantanamo Bay detention camp to coerce detainees. [31]
Year | Award | Recipient | Result |
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1993 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Series | Sheryl Leach, Kathy Parker, Dennis DeShazer | Nominated |
1993 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series | Stephen White, Mark S. Bernthal | Nominated |
1994 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Live and Tape Sound Mixing and Sound Effects | Ron Balantine, David M. Boothe | Nominated |
1994 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Series | Sheryl Leach, Kathy Parker, Dennis DeShazer | Nominated |
1996 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series | Sheryl Leach, Dennis DeShazer, Jim Rowley | Nominated |
1998 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lighting Direction | Ken Craig, Murray K. Campbell | Nominated |
1998 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Sound Mixing | Ron Balantine, David M. Boothe, Gary French | Nominated |
1999 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Directing | Jim Rowley, Fred Holmes, Steve Feldman | Nominated |
1999 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Live and Direct to Tape Sound Mixing | Ron Ballantyne, David M. Boothe, Gary French | Nominated |
2000 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Live and Direct to Tape Sound Mixing | Ron Ballantyne, David M. Boothe, Gary French | Nominated |
2001 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Live and Direct to Tape Sound Mixing | Ron Ballantyne, David M. Boothe, Gary French | Won (tied with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ) |
2003 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Sound Mixing – Live Action and Animation | Patrick Sellars, Neal Anderson | Nominated |
2006 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Directing | Jim Rowley, Fred Holmes, Steve Feldman | Nominated |
2008 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design/Styling | Lisa Odette Albertson, Traci Hutton, Lyle Huchton | Nominated |
2009 | Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design/Styling | Lisa Odette Albertson, Traci Hutton, Lyle Huchton | Nominated |
Several people have concluded that episodes contain a great deal of age-appropriate educational material, including Yale University researchers Dorothy and Jerome Singer, who called the program a "model of what preschool television should be". [32] Others have criticized the show for a lack of educational value, as well as being repetitive. [33]
The show is often cited as a contributing factor to the perceived sense of entitlement seen in millennials, who grew up watching the show. [34] [35] One specific criticism is:
His shows do not assist children in learning to deal with negative feelings and emotions. As one commentator puts it, the real danger from Barney is "denial: the refusal to recognize the existence of unpleasant realities. For along with his steady diet of giggles and unconditional love, Barney offers our children a one-dimensional world where everyone must be happy and everything must be resolved right away." [36] [37]
In 1992, the Barney franchise generated $500 million in retail sales. [38]
The creator and performer of the San Diego Chicken mascot, Ted Giannoulas, called Barney a "ubiquitous and insipid creature" in a 1999 court case. [39] [40] [41]
Barney & Friends ranked No. 50 on TV Guide 's 2002 list of the 50 worst TV shows of all time. [42]
In a 1993 newspaper article, Jerry Franklin, the head of Connecticut Public Television, which co-produced Barney & Friends at the time, was quoted thus:
When adults say they do not like Barney, Franklin says, 'in a way, we take that as a compliment. Barney is not designed for parents, whereas Sesame Street is designed for parents and children. We made a conscious decision to make Barney simple. It is not a program for parents. Barney relates to preschoolers. We think he speaks to them at their level, which is in simple terms and with music. [43]
Howard Blumenthal, producer of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, said "Even the most knowledgeable people … can't really understand why that [Barney] phenomenon happened and another didn't". [44]
HIT Entertainment Limited was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sophie Turner Laing. Orton alone took over the company in 1989 after learning Henson intended to sell the company to The Walt Disney Company. HIT owned and distributed children's television series such as Thomas & Friends, Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder, Pingu, Barney & Friends, and Angelina Ballerina.
Caillou is an animated educational children's television series that aired on Teletoon – with the first episode airing on the former channel on September 15, 1997 – until the fourth season. After that, the fifth season channel was moved to Treehouse TV, and the series final aired on April 17, 2011. It also aired on PBS and the PBS Kids Channel.
Peep and the Big Wide World is an animated children's television series created by Danish-Canadian animator Kaj Pindal. It revolves around the lives of Peep, Chirp, and Quack, as viewers discover, investigate, and explore the world around them.
Jay Jay the Jet Plane is an American live-action/CGI-animated musical children's television series created by David and Deborah Michel and first aired on The Learning Channel and later moved to PBS Kids, with reruns on Qubo and TBN's Smile. The series aired for a total of 4 seasons and has 62 episodes.
Anti-Barney humor is a form of humor that targets Barney the Dinosaur, the main character from the children's television series Barney & Friends, and singles out the show for criticism.
Dino is a fictional character featured in the Hanna-Barbera animated television series The Flintstones, and its spin-offs and feature films. He is a pet dinosaur of the series' main characters, Fred and Wilma Flintstone. Dino debuted in the opening credits of the pilot episode of The Flintstones, but is not mentioned by name until the first season's fourth episode, "No Help Wanted". Dino was voiced by voiceover actor Mel Blanc from 1960 to 1989 and in 1994 and 2000.
Robert Matthew West is an American voice actor and graphic designer. He is best known as the original voice of Barney in the PBS children's television series Barney & Friends, and its preceding home video series "Barney & the Backyard Gang".
Barney & the Backyard Gang is an American direct-to-video series produced by The Lyons Group and released in periodic installments from August 29, 1988, to September 21, 1991. The series' success led to the launch of the children's television show, Barney & Friends, which in its original run aired on PBS from April 6, 1992, to November 2, 2010.
Barney in Concert is a Barney & the Backyard Gang stage show, which was performed live in May 1991. The May 26th performance was released on video on July 29, 1991, in the United States and France. It was reissued many times worldwide until July 2000.
Barney's Great Adventure is a 1998 musical comedy adventure film based on the children's television series Barney & Friends, featuring Barney the Dinosaur in his first feature-length film. The plot follows Barney, along with three young children named Cody, Abby, and Marcella, as they discover a magical egg in a barn. After learning that the egg is a dream maker, Barney and the gang must return the egg to the barn before it hatches. The film was written by Stephen White, directed by Steve Gomer, produced by Sheryl Leach and Lyrick Studios and released by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment on March 27, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall in New York and worldwide on April 3, 1998, in the United States and Canada at the height of Barney's popularity.
Sheryl Lyna Stamps Leach is an American author and creator of the children's show Barney & Friends, along with Kathy Parker and Dennis DeShazer.
The Good Night Show is a defunct television programming block for preschoolers that aired on the Sprout channel. It was designed to help preschoolers get ready for bedtime. The block featured recurring themes based on preschoolers' nightly routines, such as dreams, brushing teeth, and cleaning up before bed.
Lyrick Studios, formerly The Lyons Group, was an American video production and distribution company based in Allen, Texas, best known for their flagship property Barney & Friends.
A Day in the Park with Barney was a live children's show at Universal Studios Florida based on the children's television show, Barney & Friends, that opened in 1995 on the former site of The Bates Motel Set used in Psycho IV: The Beginning. It also had a "Barney's Backyard" playground area with a chance to meet Barney in a meet and greet session after the main show in the Barney Theater. It was one of the few places where Barney's original voice actor Bob West was heard and one of Universal Studios' attempts to appeal to the younger generation.
Sid the Science Kid, also known as Jim Henson's Sid the Science Kid, is an American children's computer-animated educational television series produced by The Jim Henson Company in association with PBS affiliate KCET, that aired on PBS Kids from September 1, 2008, to November 15, 2012. The show is created using digital puppetry. Each character required two puppeteers working in concert, one performing the face and mouth using a remote manipulator or Waldo, and the other performing the body using motion capture.
Barney's Big Surprise was Barney the Dinosaur's first national tour. The show started in 1996 and played in 60 cities, with a program of 28 old and new Barney songs. Originally planned for theaters, it was revised to become more like a rock concert for young children; most of the venues were small arenas with around 5,000 seats, with some larger arenas used as well. A video of the show, which had been taped at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, was released in 1998.
Barney's Musical Castle, also called Barney's Musical Castle LIVE and El Castillo Musical de Barney (Spanish), was Barney's fourth concert and his second US tour. The tour began on September 8, 1999, and the video was released in 2001. In this stage show tour, Barney, Baby Bop, BJ and kids go to the forest to visit the king. The home video was taped at the Rosemont Theater.
Kathryn "Kathy" O'Rourke Parker is a children's educational television producer and writer, best known for being co-creator of the popular children's show Barney & Friends with Sheryl Leach and Dennis DeShazer. Kathy received her B.S. in Special Education in 1976 and an M.A. in Learning Disabilities in 1979, both from Eastern Michigan University. She taught in the field of special education in Michigan from 1976 to 1981, before moving to the state of Texas. From 1981 to 1987 she worked at DLM, Inc. of Allen, Texas marketing early childhood educational products and materials. Then, in 1987, personal friends Parker and Leach began working together on the idea that would become Barney & Friends.
Barney is an American media franchise targeted at children aged 2–6. Centering around the titular character Barney, a purple anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus rex who conveys educational messages through songs and small dance routines with a friendly, huggable and optimistic attitude, the franchise consists of three series: Barney & the Backyard Gang (1988—1991), a direct-to-video series consisting of only eight episodes; Barney & Friends (1992—2010), a television series that ran on PBS Kids; and Barney's World (2024), a fully computer-animated series set to air on Cartoon Network's Cartoonito, and which is currently streaming on Max. The franchise is currently distributed by 9 Story Media Group, under license from Mattel Television.
Barney's World is a 2024 animated television series that premiered on Max on October 14, 2024. Produced by Mattel Television and Corus Entertainment's Nelvana, the series serves as a relaunch to the Barney franchise, which spawned its first television series Barney & Friends which was based on its predecessor Barney & the Backyard Gang. Unlike the previous two series, which were live-action, this show is presented in CGI. This series is aimed at children from ages two to six.