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''Barbapapa'' is a 1970 children's picture book by the French-American couple
Annette Tison Annette Tison, (born in 1942 in Hossegor, France) is a French architect and writer, mainly known for being co-creator of the '' Barbapapa'' series with her American husband, Talus Taylor Talus Taylor (1933 – 19 February 2015) was a writer of ...
and
Talus Taylor Talus Taylor (1933 – 19 February 2015) was a writer of children's literature, best known for being the co-creator with his wife Annette Tison of the ''Barbapapa'' series. Taylor was born in 1933 in San Francisco. He was a biology teacher and th ...
, who lived in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Barbapapa is both the title character and the name of his "
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
". The book was the first of a series of
children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...
originally written in French and later translated into over 30 languages. ''Barbe à papa'' – literally "Daddy's beard" – is French for
cotton candy Cotton candy, also known as fairy floss and candy floss, is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. It usually contains small amounts of flavoring or food coloring. It is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrifu ...
or candy floss.


Background

The inspiration for Barbapapa came by chance in the
Luxembourg Garden The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. Creation of the garden began in 1612 when Marie de' ...
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 ''Barbe à papa'' (cotton candy, literally 'daddy's beard'). 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 spend the publishing cost. Frank Fehmers, a Dutch publisher, subsequently set up a co-production and the first editions were published in 1970. The original editions were published in French by ''L'École des Loisirs'', in Dutch by Frank Fehmers Productions, 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 In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited the ...
at will. In their native form, Barbapapas are
blob Blob may refer to: Science Computing * Binary blob, in open source software, a non-free object file loaded into the kernel * Binary large object (BLOB), in computer database systems * A storage mechanism in the cloud computing platform M ...
-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 color. Barbapapa himself is a generally
papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus ''Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...
-shaped, pink shapeshifting blob-like creature who grows from the ground and tries to fit in the human world. 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 narcissistic beauty queen (purple), and Barbalib, an intellectual (orange).


Adaptations


Television

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 PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
, with the story boards designed by Taylor. After twelve years, Fehmers and Tison/Taylor discontinued their business relationship. The first cartoon film was almost five minutes long and was released on television in 1974. One hundred episodes of the cartoon series, spanning two seasons, were produced and aired on television. In 1999, a Japanese animated series called Barbapapa Around the World (Japanese: バーバパパ 世界をまわる, Hepburn: Barbapapa Sekai wo Mawaru) was aired. Animated by Studio Pierrot and produced by Kodansha, the series depicted the family going on vacation through different countries. The series aired over 50 episodes. In 2019, a new animated show, called "'' Barbapapa: One Big Happy Family!''", was produced by Normaal Animation. It currently airs on TF1 in France,
Yle TV2 Yle TV2 ( fi, Yle TV Kaksi; sv, Yle TV Två) is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by Yle. TV2 was launched in 1965 as the successor to the former television channels TES-TV (Tesvisio) and Tamvisio, and broadcasts public service p ...
in Finland, and
Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
in other countries. The show was written by Alice Taylor and Thomas Taylor. Alice is the daughter of Tison and Taylor. The English dub was produced by Jungle Studios in the United Kingdom and features a cast of up-and-coming child actors.


Music

The first Barbapapa theme's lyrics were written by
Harrie Geelen Harrie Geelen (born 10 January 1939, in Heerlen) is a Dutch illustrator, film director, animator, translator, writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers pro ...
, and the music composed by
Joop Stokkermans Johannes Andreas "Joop" Stokkermans (20 February 1937 in Leiden – 25 October 2012 in Hilversum) was a Dutch composer and pianist.
. The Japanese version of the series, as aired on TV Tokyo, features an entirely different theme song from the original series, composed by Chuuji Kinoshita with lyrics by Zenzo Matsuyama. The Italian version's song were sung by singer-songwriter
Roberto Vecchioni Roberto Vecchioni (born 25 June 1943) is an Italian singer-songwriter, singer-lyricist, lyricist, teacher and writer. Biography Vecchioni was born in Carate Brianza, Province of Monza and Brianza, to a Neapolitan family . In 1968 he graduated i ...
. The Spanish kids' group Parchis made a song about the characters of the cartoon, named "Barbapapá". An Israeli song named "Barba'aba" (ברבאבא) was written by
Yoram Taharlev Yoram Taharlev ( he, יורם טהרלב; 24 January 1938 – 6 January 2022) was an Israeli poet, lyricist, and author. He wrote lyrics for hundreds of songs recorded by prominent composers and performers. Biography Yoram Taharlev was born on ...
and performed by
Tzipi Shavit Tzipi Shavit ( he, ציפי שביט; born April 1, 1947) is an Israeli actress, comedian entertainer, who is best known as a children's entertainer. She is sometimes described by the media as the "First Lady of Israeli entertainment." Early lif ...
in 1978. It talks about Barbapapa being shunned by everyone for looking weird until he met Barbamama. The song became a kids' classic.ברבאבא - שירונט
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Comic book

A
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
version was also created. Both the cartoons and comics sometimes show concerns about the environment and contain environmental messages.


Legacy

The Barbapapa cartoon is popular in many countries worldwide and has been dubbed into a wide variety of languages, including five separate English dubs. In the United States, it was syndicated on various networks throughout the 1970s with a dub by Magno Sound and Video in New York. The original series continues to air to this day on television in Italy and France, and ''Barbapapa'' merchandise is still being produced annually in Japan.
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
created a doodle celebrating the 45th anniversary of the publishing of Barbapapa on May 19, 2015. Also to memorialise Talus Taylor The song "Ce matin là" by the French electronic music duo
Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...
(from their album ''
Moon Safari ''Moon Safari'' is the debut studio album by French electronic music duo Air, released on 16 January 1998 by Source and Virgin Records. ''Moon Safari'' was re-released on 14 April 2008 to mark the album's 10th anniversary, including a bound book ...
'') was inspired by the horn sounds on the Barbapapa show, per the band.


References


External links

*{{Official website, https://www.barbapapa.com/ 1970 children's books French children's books French picture books Series of children's books French comics titles Topcraft Fictional shapeshifters Children's books adapted into television shows Novels adapted into comics 1973 French television series debuts 1975 French television series endings 1977 French television series debuts 1977 French television series endings French children's animated fantasy television series Male characters in literature Male characters in animation Internet memes Television series about shapeshifting Television series by Saban Entertainment