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Similar Babar the Elephant, Noddy, Betty Boop, Marsupilami, Pippi Longstocking | ||
Barbapapa is both the title character, and name of the "species" of said character, of a series of children's books written in the 1970s by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor, who resided in Paris, France. The books were originally written in French (barbe à papa - literally "Daddy's beard" - is French for cotton candy or candy floss), and were later translated into over 30 languages.
Contents
The Barbabpapa Family (GB)
From idea to production
The inspiration for Barbapapa came by chance in the Luxembourg Garden in Paris one day in May 1970. While walking in the park with Annette Tison, Talus Taylor thought he heard a child ask his parents for something called "Baa baa baa baa". Not speaking French, he asked Tison what the words meant. She explained that the child was asking for a treat called la barbe à papa (cotton candy). Later at a restaurant, the couple began to draw on the tablecloth, and came up with a character inspired by the candy: a pink and round character. When it came time to give it a name, Barbapapa came naturally.
Several European publishers expressed interest in Barbapapa but did not wish to embark on spending the publishing cost. Frank Fehmers Productions, an Agent who later became a publisher, subsequently set up a co-production and the first edition was published in French, by L'École des Loisirs, in British English, by the Ernest Benn Company, and in American English by the Henry Z. Walck Co.
Characters
The main characters in the books are the Barbapapa family, who are most notable for their ability to shapeshift at will. In their native form, Barbapapas are blob-shaped, with a distinct head and arms, but no legs. Male Barbapapas have rounder bottoms, whereas female Barbapapas have a more slender form. Each Barbapapa can adopt any form they choose, but they remain easily identifiable by always retaining their faces and their distinctive colour.
Barbapapa himself is a generally papaya-shaped, pink shapeshifting blob-like creature who stumbles upon the human world and tries to fit in. The shapeshifting is usually accompanied by the saying "Clickety Click—Barba Trick", or in the 1970s British dub "All Change!"
After various adventures, Barbapapa comes across a female of his species (more shapely, and black-coloured), named Barbamama. They produce seven children: Four sons: Barbabravo, a sports fan (red), Barbabright, a scientist (blue), Barbazoo, a nature enthusiast (yellow) and Barbabeau, a painter (black and furry), as well as three daughters: Barbalala, a musician (green), Barbabelle, a beauty queen (purple) and Barbalib, an intellectual (orange).
Animated series
A few years after the book had been produced, and when more titles had been published, Fehmers expanded the project to television films in conjunction with Joop Visch of Polyscope-Polygram, with the story boards designed by Taylor. After twelve years, Fehmers and Tison/Taylor discontinued their business relationship.
As short cartoons of a length of only five minutes, the Barbapapa stories reached a broader audience via television. Also a comic book version was created. Both the cartoons and comics sometimes show concerns about the environment and contain environmental messages.
Legacy
The "Barbapapa" cartoon series enjoys a unique level of popularity in both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, where it is known as "Chale Papababa." In 2007, a musical group from Dar-es-Salaam drew an analogy between the shape-shifting cryptid Popobawa and the transformative abilities of the cartoon characters by adopting the name "Poppaboppabas," highlighting their musical versatility akin to the cartoon's characters. On May 19, 2015, Google commemorated the 45th anniversary of "Barbapapa's" publication with a special doodle.
Songs
The first Barbapapa theme's lyrics were written by Harrie Geelen, and the music composed by Joop Stokkermans.
One of the several English-language versions had a musical theme composed by Edd Kalehoff. The Italian version's song were sung by singer-songwriter Roberto Vecchioni.