Babar the Elephant
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Babar the Elephant is a popular French children's fictional character who first appeared in L'Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff in 1931, and enjoyed immediate success. English language versions, entitled The Story of Babar, appeared in 1933 in Britain and the United States. The story is based on a tale that Brunhoff's wife, Cecile, had invented for their children. It tells of a young elephant called Babar who leaves the jungle, visits a big city, and returns to bring the benefits of civilization to his fellow elephants.
Jean de Brunhoff published six more stories before his early death in 1937 at the age of 37. His son Laurent de Brunhoff was also a talented writer and illustrator and he carried on the series from 1946 with Babar et Le Coquin d'Arthur and many more.
An animated TV series was produced by Nelvana Limited and Clifford Ross Company, and originally ran from January 3, 1989 to June 5, 1991. There were 78 episodes.
After Babar witnesses the slaughter of his beloved mother, he flees from the jungle and finds his way to Paris where he is befriended by the Old Lady. Babar eventually returns to the Elephant realm following the death of the previous King, who had eaten some poisonous mushrooms. Babar is crowned king, marries his 3rd cousin twice removed Celeste, and founds the city of Celesteville. Babar, who tends to wear a bright green suit, introduces a very French form of western civilization to the elephants, and causes them to dress in western attire.
Among Babar's other associates are the monkey Zephir, the old elephant counsellors Cornelius and Pompadour, his cousin Arthur, and his children, Pom, Flora and Alexander. Recently, a second daughter, Isabelle, was introduced. The Old Lady comes to live in the Kingdom as an honoured guest. Despite the presence of these counsellors, Babar's rule seems to be totally independent of any elected body, and completely autocratic.
Besides his Westernizing policies, Babar engages in warfare with the warlike rhinoceroses, who are led by King Rataxes.
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[edit] Pronunciation
Babar's name is pronounced /ˌbɑːˈbɑːr/. In North America, his name is most often pronounced /ˈbæbɑr/. Babar (pronounced IPA: [ˈbaːbər]) was the name of the first Mughal emperor of medieval India.
[edit] Criticism
The books are written in a charming and appealing style with an attention to detail which captivates both children and adults. Underneath they could be seen as a justification for colonialism, with the benefits of French civilisation being visited on the rustic African elephant kingdom. Some writers, notably Herbert R. Kohl and Vivian Paley have argued that, although superficially delightful, the stories are politically and morally offensive. Others argue that the French civilisation described in the early books had already been destroyed by the Great War and the books were originally an exercise in nostalgia for pre 1914 France. Ariel Dorfman’s The Empire’s Old Clothes is another highly critical view, in which he concludes, "In imagining the independence of the land of the elephants, Jean de Brunhoff anticipates, more than a decade before history forced Europe to put it into practice, the theory of neocolonialism."
[edit] Books
Jean de Brunhoff wrote and illustrated seven Babar books; the series was continued by his son, Laurent de Brunhoff.
Jean de Brunhoff's Babar books were:
- Histoire de Babar (1931)
- Le Voyage de Babar (1932)
- Le Roi Babar (1933)
- L'ABC de Babar (1934)
- Les vacances de Zéphir (1936)
- Babar en famille (1938)
- Babar et le père Noël (1941)
Laurent de Brunhoff's books:
- Babar et ce coquin d'Arthur (1948)
- Pique-nique chez Babar (1949)
- Babar dans l'Île aux oiseaux (1952)
- La fête à Celesteville (1954)
- Babar et le professeur Girafon (1956)
- Le château de Babar (1961)
- Je parle anglais avec Babar (1963)
- Je parle allemand avec Babar (1966)
- Je parle espagnol avec Babar (1966)
- Babar à New York (1966)
- Babar's Museum of Art (2003)
[edit] Films and programmes
- Babar (1960) (1960) [1]
- Babar (1969): broadcast in the UK on BBC1 weekdays from 29th September
- The Adventures of Babar (1985)
- Babar and Father Christmas (1986) [2]
- Babar (1989) [3], [4]
- Babar: The Movie (1989) [5]
- Babar: King of the Elephants (1999) [6]
- The new Babar (2006) [7]
The Babar stories are popular around the world. They have inspired musical works by Francis Poulenc and Raphael Mostel, and an extremely popular animated television series by Ellipse (France) and Nelvana (Canada).
[edit] Pop culture references
- The children's dining room of the French ocean liner Normandie was decorated by Jean de Brunhoff, who covered the walls with Babar and his entourage.
- In an episode of Lost, Sawyer calls Hurley "Babar," to mock his obesity.
- In the 1985 movie Fletch, Chevy Chase's title character assumes the identity of a fictional "Arnold Babar," suffering from "kidney pains" to get information from a doctor. The doctor asked, "Aren't there children's books about an elephant named Babar?" To which Fletch replied, "I don't know. I don't have any." "No children?" "No, elephant books."
- In the 1988 movie Coming to America, Prince Akeem's elephant is named Babar.
- Babar is also mentioned in James Frey's A Million Little Pieces as a fond childhood memory.
- In a February 1985 episode of the long-running soap opera Another World, then-new character Jake McKinnon praises the Babar series in comparison to other children's books.
- In Howard Stern's movie "Private Parts" there is mention of his wife Alison looking like Babar when she's pregnant.
- The Bhangramuffins make a reference to Babar in Goodness Gracious Me series 1 (episode 4): “So, what was the last book you read, man?” “The one about that African leader and his struggle to achieve power for his people. What’s that geezer’s name? Tall, grey…” “Nelson Mandela.” “…trunk…Babar the Elephant, man!” “You mean to say you haven’t read a book since you were six?!”
- Babar is occasionally referenced in the British TV comedy series Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
- In an episode of the cartoon The Critic, Duke tells Jay that his ratings are high with the French because he looks like "Babar, King of the Elephants." Jay asserts that he doesn't before walking away swinging his arm like a trunk while "Baby Elephant Walk" plays.
- In two episodes of Frisky Dingo ("The Odd Couple," and "Flowers for Nearl"), Nearl Crews (the mentally retarded identical twin of billionaire playboy, Xander Crews) repeatedly asks to be taken to Babar's house.
- In the movie Metropolitan, Nick reads Babar while high on mescaline.
- In Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, Sheila mentions that she and Mouse Ellis have called Russell Sweeny Babar in private, due to him frequently making clay elephants in pottery class.
- The atrium of Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital features a Lego sculpture of Dr. Babar treating an elephant child. The sculpture, which was made by LEGO, is modeled after a Laurent de Brunhoff watercolor. According to Yale-New Haven Hospital, "The Dr. Babar sculpture is six feet tall, weighs 400 pounds and is composed of 96,647 LEGO bricks." [8]
- The George Saunders short story "My Flamboyant Grandson," from the collection In Persuasion Nation concerns a grandfather and grandson who travel to New York to see the fictional Broadway musical "Babar Sings!"
- On an episode of The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert confuses Babar with Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr.
