Babar and the Adventures of Badou is a Canadian/French 3D animated children's TV series that premiered in 2010 based on the characters created by Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff. The series has created new characters to the Babar universe, including Badou, who is Babar's 8-year-old grandson and the protagonist of the series. The series is co-produced by Nelvana and TeamTO in association with The Clifford Ross Company, TF1, YTV, and LuxAnimation.
The English version of the twenty-six episode series first premiered on Monday, September 6, 2010 in Australia on ABC2 and in Canada on YTV on Monday, November 22, 2010. Vice President and Managing Director of Jumbo Pictures, and Nelvana Enterprises, Colin Bohm explained "Nelvana is excited to bring Babar into the 21st century with a new 3D TV series as well as a comprehensive licensing program from TF1". On September 16, 2010, Nelvana Enterprises has confirmed that the series will premiere in the U.S. on Disney Junior. The show premiered on February 14, 2011, along with the premiere of the television block.
Although the series features a majority of new characters to the Babar universe, original characters remain though, such as Babar, Celeste and Lord Rataxes, with other original characters also involved.
Babar and the Adventures of Badou was renewed for a second season, which began airing on Disney Junior on March 25, 2013. The third season aired from 2013 to 2016.
The series follows the adventures of Babar's eight-year-old grandson Badou, who along with his friends and family, solves numerous mysteries, puzzles and situations in Celesteville. The city now features other animals besides elephants.
Badou: An elephant, who is prince of Celesteville and lives here with his grandparents. Badou ("Bou" to his friends) is bursting with a sense of adventure. He has inherited his grandfather's daring spirit, plunging into any situation with boundless confidence that he can handle whatever it can throw at him. He idolises his grandfather, and feels the need to prove himself worthy of his legendary status. (Voiced by Dallas Jokic and Drew Adkins & William Healy)
Chiku: A monkey who's like her father, Zephir. Chiku means canary in Swahili. Chiku is widely inquisitive and easily distracted. A fast-talking chatterbox who can ask a dozen questions at once, she is convinced that there is something wonderful under every rock, at the end of every wire, and at the heart of every lesson. She is quite inventive, often building toys or tools for the others to use. She is an accomplished dancer due to her natural acrobatic skills and sense of balance. (Voiced by Samantha Weinstein)
Munroe: A courageous crested porcupine who has been eaten many times, but, due to his spiky body, has always been spit out again. Munroe considers himself Badou's personal champion: a spike-laced Lancelot. Despite being quite chubby he is very athletic. He dreams to one day become a member of the Royal Guard as he is currently to young to actually join and in "Point Guard" Munroe becomes a member Junior Royal Cadets, a new training program created by King Babar as a youth training camp to prepare kids like Munroe who aspire to become the next generation of Royal Guard. He is also practitioner of the martial art Quill-Fu, though in Fu Finder it is revealed that most of the most of his Quill-Fu moves where learned from comics, though after a suggestion from Babar, Munroe seeks out the legendary Quill-Fu master, Jabbsi who becomes Munroe's martial arts mentor. (Voiced by Tyler Stevenson)
Zawadi: A zebra who, like the rest of her kind, sees the world in black and white; right and wrong. Outspoken and sometimes bossy, Zawadi hates blending in with the herd and is determined to make her own stripe on the world. Zawadi means gift in Swahili. Like King Babar, she is shown to have a love of flowers and gardening. (Voiced by Isabel deCarteret)
Jake: A scruffy, five-year-old fox pup. Jake was orphaned as a wild kit and found his way to Celesteville, where he befriended Badou. Cornelius is his legal guardian. (Voiced by Noah Lehman Gage Munroe & Alex Throne)
Miss Strich: An ostrich, she serves as a teacher, the palace guide for tourists, and also organizes most of Celesteville's events. She is very flighty and excitable, with Badou and his friends' merry-making usually making her even more so. Occasionally Badou and the kids end up teaching her new things such as tennis and baking. (Voiced by Catherine Disher)
Crocodylus: A crocodile, who is the ambassador of the Alligator and Crocodile kingdom. A consummate schemer, his underhanded strategies range from trying to take over Celesteville to winning contests. When things go wrong, he groans "Muck and mire!" (Voiced by Ben Campbell)
Dilash: A young crocodile, Dilash is the nephew of Crocodylus, he, along with his cousin, causes trouble and tries to interfere with Badou and his friends' adventures. He lives in Celestville along with Tersh, in order to make his uncle Crocodylus seem more respectable. Unlike Tersh, he is mean and a somewhat of a bully to Badou and his friends. As a result, he is more willing to go along with his Uncle Crocodylus' schemes. Both he and his uncle have no problem taking advantage of Tersh's gullibility. (voiced by Lyon Smith)
Tersh: A younger crocodile who's Dilash's cousin and Crocodylus' nephew, he is usually seen unwillingly helping his relations with one of their schemes. He can be mean, but is generally backing up his older cousin or his uncle as opposed to being outright malicious. He is much kinder and friendly than they are, and the other children eventually forged a friendship with him especially Prince Badou. He tends to be a bit less intelligent than the others and somewhat gullible, and his uncle and cousin often take advantage of this. However, despite this, Tersh cares deeply for both Dilash and Crocodylus as he once asks his friends Badou and Munroe to help him keep his uncle from getting into trouble. In another episode, he took Zawadi's Zebra book of Stripes for Dilash who kept telling him how much he liked it, causing Zawadi to wrongly suspect that Dilash had stolen it, unaware that Dilash was innocent and that Tersh had taken the book in order to make Dilash happy. When the truth is reveal Tersh apologizes for taking it without asking, though ironically Zawadi herself had borrowed the book without asking her parents, causing both her and Tersh to learn a valuable lesson about taking things without permission. (Voiced by Sergio Di Zio)
Boss of the Slogs: The matriarch of the Alligator and Crocodile kingdom who rules the swamps. Like Tersh, she is friendly and is a just ruler, unlike Crocodylus. She is protected by a group of elite bodyguards known as the Brawlers.
Gallop: A wise old turtle, who lives just outside Celesteville.
Dandy Andi: A wild lion who is the King of the nearby savanna. Andi calls the animals that live in Celesteville "tame towners". Though unlike the rest of his wild brethren, Andi is cool and friendly. He is quite famous among the animals on the savanna. Like most of his wild brethren, he walks on all fours. He is a good friend of Badou and the gang, and will often alert them if he sees Sleek nearby. Due to living in the wild he rarely visits Celesteville and during rare visits to the Royal Palace he has trouble standing up due to not being used to walking on place's tile floors and as a result has a habit of sliding around.
Hannah, Ramsey and Skylar: Three lionesses who live in the savanna. While usually wild, they did however take Jake in and raise him as a kit, though a monsoon washed him of their den and they had been looking for him ever since. In "The Day of the Jake", they reunite with Jake during his Badou and Chiku's search to find out the day Jake came to Celesteville and almost attack Badou & Chiku but become friendly when they find out they are Jake's friends and are surprised to hear that Jake know lives in the palace with Prince Badou. They later attend Jake's birthday party at the Royal Palace, though like Dandy Andi are not used to the palace's tile floors and as a result have trouble standing up and have a habit of sliding around. The information they provided about Jake's past may prove valuable to Cornelius in his search to find out about Jake's origins.
Deb Mouse: A kind hearted mouse who first appeared in the episode Spy Trap that lives in the palace with her children.
Lulu: Badou's little cousin, who is as excitable and fun-loving as he is. She idolises her older cousin, and wants to spend most of her visits with him, to his chagrin. Visually, Lulu resembles Isabelle, Babar's youngest child, when she was a little girl, suggesting that she is her daughter.
Rhudi: A one rhinoceros stampede who's prince of Rhinoland and Lord Rataxes' grandson. He has a rivalry with Badou, like his grandfather had with Babar. (Voiced by Samantha Reynolds)
Periwinkle: Badou's mother, Babar's daughter-in-law and Pom's wife. She is the Celesteville doctor whose hobby is creating metal sculptures.(Voiced by Molly Johnson)
General Huc: A monkey who is the general representing Monkeyville and happens to be Zephir's father-in-law and Chiku's grandfather. In "Monkey Idol", it is revealed he is talented rapper.
Captain Darling: A crocodile sailor. Affable and likeable, she is often found at the Celesteville docks.
Hoot: A friendly spotted hyena who lives in the savanna. She is the only animal around who shares Jake's taste in food (Spinkweed sandwiches with toad drool dressing) and is a rampant practical joker. She is a good sport about it, though, generally finding jokes played her just as funny as ones she plays on others. She first appeared in "Savannah Scramble", chasing after Badou and Jake who where on their way to help their friend Dandy Andi who's paw was stuck under a rock. Fearing she might hurt Jake as he was in no condition to defend himself, Badou and Jake try to lure her away only to end up trapped in a cave, though they are rescued by Hoot, who they find is friendly and a fan of Andi who thinks he is cool. She helps Badou, Jake, Babar, and Cornelius free Jake and is surprised to find out that not only has she gotten to meet the famous Dandy Andi, but also Babar King of the Elephants.
Professor Rozeekeewhack: A giraffe scientist who is incredibly smart, but due to her size also happens to be very clumsy - banging her head on almost anything. She uses her blimp airship as a mobile laboratory called the Blimp-Lab. In "Point Guard", her Blimp-Lab is shown to be equipped with a vacuum nasal capable of sucking up all kinds of objects, though care must be taken as sucking up to much or something heavy like a boulder could weight down the Blimp-Lab preventing it from flying. (Voiced by Ellen-Ray Hennessy).
Jabbsi: A legendary porcupine martial arts Master who was searching for the Needle Noggin, a legendary porcupine spiked helmet. In the past, he trained Babar in the martial arts. In "Fu Finders", Munroe and Badou seek him out so he can teach Munroe. While doing so they end up being followed by Prospero who wants the map they are carrying, though Jabbsi helps them defeat the bush pirate. Jabbsi is very perceptive as he easily identified Prince Badou and Munroe from having heard stories of their exploits. He becomes Munroe's Quill-Fu teacher. In "The Needle Noggin", it is revealed that Jabbsi found the cave where the Needle Noggin was located but realized he wasn't the one meant to claim it and decided to wait for the one who was. Munroe and Badou eventually found the Needle Noggin it was decided that Jabbsi would hold onto it until Munroe becomes a Quill-Fu Master.
Heropotamus: A hippopotamus and an archaeologist. He calls "pup". (Voiced by Dwayne Hill).
Queen Cleo: The elephant Queen of an ancient lost tribe of Elephants who lived long ago in the distant past. Many artifacts from the time in which she ruled can be found in Wind Song Canyon. Heropotamus, Babar, and Badou have discovered artifacts dating back to Queen Cleo's time, most of which are on display in the palace. Members of Cleo's tribe are said to be fond of bananas as rotten bananas can often be found in ruins and important sites dating from Cleo's time. In "Don't Press that Button", Babar and Badou help Heropotamus save a statue of Queen Cleo from collapsing after Badou accidentally triggers an ancient trap. In "Ayla", it is revealed that the descendants of Queen Cleo and her tribe had settled in the Hidden Valley that could only be accessed via the use of a horn known as the Passing Pipe. It is revealed that some aspects of her tribe's culture are shared by Babar's family and the Green Elephant tribe such as Babar's Hiking Song is known among the Green Elephant tribe as an old song from Cleo's time, which Babar's family adopted at some point unaware of its connection to Queen Cleo. Since her three known descendants are Green Elephants, it can assumed that Queen Cleo herself was green as well.
Ayla: The princess of the Green Elephant Tribe, daughter of King Grank, and sister of Candeen. She is also a descendant of Queen Cleo. She lives in the Hidden Valley with her father, her brother, and the rest of her tribe. She quite athletic and adventurous much like Badou.
King Grank: The King of the Green Elephant Tribe and father of Ayla and Candeen. He is also a descendant of Queen Cleo. He rules over the Green Elephant Tribe in the Hidden Valley. At first he is distrustful of Babar, Badou, and Munroe due to them being outsiders, though after Babar, Badou, Munroe, help Ayla save her father from some Tiger Snakes, he becomes friends with them. He later explains that in Queen Cleo's time the Valley was a place to hide during troubling times, though eventually some members of Cleo's tribe settled in the Valley to raise their families. Grank laments that his people are not yet ready to explore the outside world yet, Babar promises to keep the tribe's Hidden Valley a secret until they are ready.
Candeen: The prince of the Green Elephant Tribe, brother of Ayla, and son of King Grank. He is also a descendant of Queen Cleo.
Tiger Snakes: Snakes that inhabit the jungle of the Hidden Valley, that are called tiger snake due to their stripes. In "Ayla", two tiger snakes attack King Grank and another green elephant. Badou, Babar, Munroe, and Ayla save them using an old trick of the green elephant tribe, where they trap the two in a hollow log.
Kylus: A rogue lion in the savanna and rival of Dandy Andi.
Squeeze: A large snake who lives in the jungle.
Sleek: A wild black leopard, who is always trying to capture devour and eat the civilized animals who live in Celestville, whom she calls "tame towners". She resides in the jungle outside Celesteville and she is one of the antagonists of the series. However, in one episode, the kids save her from Prospero who was trying to capture her for profit. As a result, she views Prospero as an enemy and is willing to work with the likes of Dandy Andi & Badou in order to remove his secret camp from her jungle. Her reasons for attacking and eating other animals appears to be due to her choosing following her natural instincts as a predator and holds disdain towards the "tame towners" to be weak due to choosing to live in civilization. She shares a similar view of other friendly wild animals like Dandy Andi, who she calls "tame mane". Despite the antagonism towards Andi and the "tame towners" at the end of "Kitty Cornered" she joins them in the savannah Poppernut party after the defeat of Prospero, showing that she is not all bad. In "Flower Power", it is revealed that she lives in some old ruins in the deep jungle where the Stone Sunflower grows. In "Monkey Idol", it is revealed Sleek is a talented singer and Badou convinces her to teach Chiku how to sing in exchange for helping Sleek find a way for her to get some sleep which she hasn't had due to all the Monkey's in Monkeyville practicing for singing contest. In the end, Sleek ends up joining Chiku in singing at the contest which both she and Chiku end up winning.
Prospero: A cape buffalo and a bush pirate. Officially banned from the kingdom, he still sneaks about doing bootleg activities, especially if they earn him a profit. He has a habit of talking to his snake-shaped walking stick, which he calls Sly. He calls "boyoo". (Voiced by Dan Chameroy).
Blacktrunk: A vicious elephant pirate whose dastardly crew were once outfoxed and outfought by Babar.
Snaggle-Eye: A dastardly croc pirate who works alongside his best mate, Monkey Mate.
Monkey Mate: A dastardly monkey pirate who works under Snaggle-Eye.
Candy Cook: TBA
Avery O'Dare: TBA
Babar - The king of Celesteville and grandfather of Badou. He is called "Pappy" by his grandson. (voiced by Gordon Pinsent)
Celeste - Babar's wife and queen. She is the namesake of Celesteville and grandmother of Badou. She is called Nana by her grandson. (voiced by Dawn Greenhalgh)
Babar's mother - Babar's mother, Pom's grandmother and Badou's great-grandmother who is killed by a hunter.
Cornelius - Babar's chief advisor and Prime Minister of Celesteville. A former army medic, he occasionally provides his emergency medical knowledge in a crisis such as when Dandy Andi's paw was trapped under a large rock in "Savannah Scramble". He is also the legal guardian of the orphaned kit, Jake and spends his free time trying to learn more about Jake's origins in the hope of locating Jake's real parents or relatives. (voiced by Christopher Wigins)
Pom - Babar's oldest son of his children and firstborn, as an adult he became the father of Badou. He is also the city's architect and health and safety officer. He used to call his father "Father" and "Dad" but now calls him "Pop". (voiced by Dan Lett)
Zephir - Babar's good friend and father of Chiku. (voiced by Jeff Pustil)
Celesteville Royal Guards - The Royal Guards who protect Celesteville and the Royal Family. They are often seen guarding the palace or protecting the citizens of Celesteville from criminals such as Prospero and Blacktrunk. Munroe aspires to one day join the Royal Guard when he is older and is training to become one as a Junior Royal Cadet, a training program to prepare the next generation of Royal Guard who are not yet old enough to join. They appear to be mostly Elephants, though it is implied that non-elephants like Munroe can join once they are old enough. They are apparently a force to be reckoned with as criminals such as Prospero and antagonists such as Crocodylus have shown fear of them. Badou and his friends often take advantage of this to scare away villains or buy time for Babar and the real guards to arrive, by pretending the Royal Guard is close by mimicking the sound of Guards marching and other tactics.
Lord Rataxes - The king of Rhinoland and grandfather of Rhudi. Although normally shown to be commandeering, his wife can control him whenever she is upset. (Voiced by Adrian Truss)
Lady Rataxes - Lord Rataxes' wife and grandmother of Rhudi. Shown as bitter, although very protective over Rhudi. The personalities of Lord and Lady Rataxes seem to be the reverse of the original series; Rataxes was boastful and mean, and Lady Rataxes was much friendlier than her husband.
Babar and the Adventures of Badou premiered on November 22, 2010 on YTV in Canada. However, it was later moved to Treehouse TV. The series has been sold to Disney Junior in the United States, M-net in South Africa, and ABC in Australia. In the UK it was aired on Citv but now it airs on Pop.
