Barney & the Backyard Gang
Direct-to-video series that launched the Barney franchise.
The franchise's first entry, this series paved the way for the PBS television program Barney & Friends, whose original broadcast run lasted from April 6, 1992, through November 2, 2010.[1]
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Children's series
- Musical
- Adventure
- Creator
- Sheryl Stamps-Leach, Kathy O'Rourke-Parker
- Developer
- Sheryl Stamps-Leach
- Kathy O'Rourke-Parker
- Dennis DeShazer
- Director
- John Grable (1988–1989)
- Dwin Towell (1990)
- Garry Potts (1990)
- Jim Rowley (1991)
- Voices
- Bob West, Julie Johnson
- Opening theme
- Barney & the Backyard Gang Theme Song
- Composer
- Stephen Bates Baltes
- Bob Singleton
- Lory Lazarus
- Philip A. Parker
- Country
- United States
Facts from the source article.
Making and release
The first installment in the Barney franchise was released on August 29, 1988.[1] A typical Backyard Gang video would take about six weeks, with two days for rehearsals and five days of actual filming.[2] During autumn 1987, while caught in traffic, Sheryl Leach reflected on how few videos could engage her son Patrick, who was two years old at the time.[1] Patrick's focus could only be captured by a Wee Sing video, which motivated Leach to create her own program.[3][4]
Leach and Parker tested video content on their own children, recorded observations about effective and ineffective elements, and visited multiple preschools to conduct research.[5] The two women drew inspiration from childhood programs such as Romper Room, Captain Kangaroo, and The Mickey Mouse Club, while also incorporating features from contemporary children's shows including Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.[5][6] Approximately twenty core principles emerged from their research, including the decision to use live-action footage rather than animation to help children connect more easily with the content.[7]
What the cited sources add
A Texas Monthly account describes that in the beginning, Barney began each video as a small stuffed dinosaur who came to life after hearing the wishes of a member of his Backyard Gang.[6] The same source notes that the business aspects began with a $1 million stake from Sheryl Leach's father-in-law.[6][4] An Uncle John's Blog article reports that Leach and company reportedly made $100 million from Barney in 1993 alone.[4] The Texas Monthly account states that Barney and Friends is watched by at least as many kids as watch Sesame Street—about two million a day.[6]
The Uncle John's Blog article recounts that a North Carolina radio preacher put out a pamphlet charging that Barney is a New Age demon.[4] The same article describes a college student who assaulted a woman dressed as Barney to celebrate the opening of a drug store.[4]
References
- Wikipedia, "Barney & the Backyard Gang" (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
- Wikipedia, "Barney & the Backyard Gang" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "BYG Filming", The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 5, 1990 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Barney & the Backyard Gang" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Barney Story", Uncle John's Blog, July 25, 2017 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "The Barney Story", Uncle John's Blog, July 25, 2017. facts only, no text reused. portablepress.com
- Wikipedia, "Barney & the Backyard Gang" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Swartz, "Invasion of the giant purple dinosaur: how did three Dallas pollyannas make Barney as big as Big Bird?", Texas Monthly, April 1993 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Swartz, "Invasion of the giant purple dinosaur: how did three Dallas pollyannas make Barney as big as Big Bird?", Texas Monthly, April 1993. facts only, no text reused. de.jihad.net
- Wikipedia, "Barney & the Backyard Gang" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: SonicHOG - Extended Edition, "The Dinosaur Sensation: The History of Barney - Episode 1 (Barney's Beginnings)", YouTube, April 21, 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Barney & the Backyard Gang (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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