Barbapapa
Were there ever more unlikely cartoon stars than those
shape-shifting, multicoloured blobs called the Barbapapas?
A French children's book series turned into a Dutch cartoon, Barbapapa
was the creation of Annette Tison and Talus Taylor, who derived
their characters' names from the French word for candyfloss
('cotton candy' to our American viewers).
The family was headed by pink blob Barbapapa and his black blob
wife, Barbamama. From this happy union sprang seven offspring: red
Barbabravo, orange Barbalib, yellow Barbazoo, purple Barbabelle,
green Barbalala, blue Barbabright, and fuzzy black Barbabeau.
Rounding out the family was Irving the Dog.
The entire Barba family could change their bodies into any
shape imaginable, making them the envy of young readers around the
globe.
With the multinational success of the Barbapapa books,
Netherlands-based animation company Polyscope produced a cartoon
version in 1975 and the TV series was broadcast in more than 40
countries.
US distributor LBS Communications, who had earlier taken the
Dutch cartoon Doctor Snuggles
to America, imported the series to the US for a brief syndicated
run in 1981.
In 1997, Teletoon TV in France re-broadcast this memorable
series in answer to popular demand by those who enjoyed watching
the series when they were children. Over 300,000 copies of the
video-cassettes have been sold to date.
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