Barney & Friends
A purple dinosaur teaching preschoolers through songs and imagination.
Barney & Friends is an American preschool television series created by Sheryl Leach that features Barney the Dinosaur, an anthropomorphic purple Tyrannosaurus rex who teaches through songs and dances.[1] The show originally aired on PBS from April 6, 1992, to November 2, 2010.[1]
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Children's television series
- Educational
- Adventure
- Musical
- Creator
- Sheryl Leach
- Kathy Parker
- Dennis DeShazer
- Voices
- Bob West
- Duncan Brannan
- Tim Dever
- Dean Wendt
- Julie Johnson
- Patty Wirtz
- Michaela Dietz
- Opening theme
- "Barney Theme Song"
- Ending theme
- "Barney's Dilemma" (1992–2000); "Barney Theme Song" (instrumental) (2002–2010)
- Composer
- Philip Parker (1990–1999)
- Bob Singleton (1990–2000)
- Joe Phillips (1996–2009)
- Holly Doubet
- Angelo Natalie
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
Facts from the source article.
Making and release
PBS initially opted not to fund the show beyond the initial 30-episode run, but after letters from station executives and fan club notices to parents, PBS relented.[2] After noticing that her son had outgrown the video Wee Sing Together and finding a shortage of videos that captured his interest, Sheryl Leach conceived the idea for a children's program.[3] Leach gathered a group to produce a home video series titled Barney & the Backyard Gang, which first came out in 1988.[4] Actress Sandy Duncan appeared in the initial three videos of that series.[4]
What the cited sources add
The Deseret News noted in 1994 that Bernstein's lawyer negotiated a settlement including a one-time payment of $7,500 plus $2,000 "every several years," and that unresolved litigation continued over whether that compensation was sufficient given Barney's estimated $50 million in licensing fees.[5] The Spinoff noted in 2018 that many parents continue to be haunted by the Barney theme tune.[6] A US soldier quoted in Newsweek, as reported by The Guardian in 2003, said of the song's use: "Trust me, it works."[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Barney & Friends" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gorman, "TELEVISION VIEW; Of Dinosaurs Why Must This One Thrive?", The New York Times, April 11, 1993; "Stuuuupendous!", December 21, 1992; Cerone, "Dinosaur Is a Star, Spreading Love With Hugs, Kisses, Songs", Los Angeles Times, April 3, 1993; "Barney the launching pad", Los Angeles Times, January 30, 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Barney & Friends" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Grandjean, "CPTV Celebrates 50 Years: Present at the Creation", Connecticut Magazine, April 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Barney & Friends" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lev, "Barney! Barney! He's Kid Dinomite", Chicago Tribune, December 10, 1992; Wakin, "Women Entrepreneurs Only: 12 Women Entrepreneurs Tell the Stories of Their Success", John Wiley & Sons, April 26, 1999; "The Dinosaur Sensation: The History of Barney – Episode 1 (Barney's Beginnings)", YouTube, April 21, 2019 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Barney & Friends" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lawson, "Why Young Children Scream", The New York Times, December 3, 1992 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Marshall, "Monster of a Battle to be Waged over Barney's Song", Deseret News, 2 May 1994. facts only, no text reused. deseret.com
- Writes, "The worst mother fluffing kids TV theme tunes on this Godforsaken planet", The Spinoff, 2018-06-15. facts only, no text reused. thespinoff.co.nz
- Hann, "No, not the Barney song!", The Guardian, 2003-05-21. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Barney & Friends (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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