BARNEY
HISTORY
Barney, the purple dinosaur, was created in 1987 by a former
teacher named Sheryl Leach. Leach had dreamed of creating educational
and entertaining videos for preschool children. She joined with
another former teacher, Kathy Parker, and video producer, Dennis
DesShazer, to tape the first Barney home videos. Initially, they
envisioned the main character to be a cuddly bear which comes to
life. After Leach noticed her toddler son’s fascination with
dinosaurs at a museum exhibit, the main character for the videos
became the purple dinosaur we all know as “Barney”.
The first Barney home videos were released in 1988. Leach organized
a sales team (dubbed “Mom Blitzers”) to sell the videos
to toy and video stores across the country. In 1991, a Barney video
was rented from a Connecticut video store for four-year-old Leora
Rifkin, the daughter of Larry Rifkin. Rifkin happened to be the
executive vice president of programming for Connecticut Public Television.
Rifkin’s daughter’s enchantment with the video led to
a phone call to Leach inviting her to put Barney on public television.
Barney & Friends made its debut on the Public Broadcasting Service
(PBS) in April 1992 and quickly became the #1 preschool show. Barney
& Friends features Barney’s friend Baby Bop, her big brother
BJ, and a culturally diverse cast of children who have fun learning
about friendship, sharing, cooperation, respect for others, good
manners, self-esteem, and good health and safety habits. At the
conclusion of each episode, Barney reviews and summarizes the episode’s
educational concepts. According to Educational Research & Development
Director, May Ann Dudko, Ph.D., “Each Barney episode emphasizes
language and cognitive development, physical activity and social
interaction.” Dudko adds, “Interesting, meaningful, and
relevant topics are selected to present educational concepts appropriate
for, and eagerly embraced by, the target group of children ages
two to five.” The educational value of Barney & Friends
has been documented by a Yale study that revealed as many as 150
teaching moments per episode. The Yale study concluded by describing
Barney & Friends as, “nearly a model of what a preschool
program should be.”
Barney & Friends is produced and owned by Lyric Studios, a U.S.
based entertainment company that distributes television shows, movies,
home videos, DVDs, CDs, cassettes, book and toys. On February 9,
2001, Lyrick Studios announced that it was merging with HIT Entertainment,
one of the global leaders in children’s entertainment, based
in the United Kingdom.
Interesting Barney Facts:
- Today
Barney & Friends is televised in over 100 countries and
remains one of the top-rated shows for preschoolers.
- The
Barney Fan Club was launched in 1989, is international, and
has a membership of over 1 million.
- Lyrick
has made approximately 50 consumer videos of Barney and more
than 60 million Barney videos have been sold in North America.
- Barney
first audio release, “Barney’s Favorites: Volume 1”
is now triple platinum, and has remained on top of children’s
overall charts since its release in 1993.
- The
first Barney books were published in 1993, with over a hundred
million copies sold worldwide.
- The
Barney Magazine was launched in 1994.
- Barney
was rated the #1 Kids’ Artist according to Billboard Magazine
in 1996, 1997 and 1998.
- A
touring theatrical stage, “Barney’s Big Surprise”,
was seen by almost two million fans during 1996-1998, and was
named the “Best Family Touring Show of the Year” in
1997 by Performance magazine.
- The
first Barney feature film, “Barney’s Great Adventure”,
was released in 1998.
- Barney’s
second stage show, “Barney’s Musical Castle”,
made its debut in 1999 and will be seen by a projected two million
fans in 80 cities over two years.
- Over
100 episodes of Barney & Friends have been made and a new
broadcast contract with PBS licensing has been signed for 40
new episodes until 2007.
Click
here for Barney products.
This
information is brought to you by Character
Products Inc.
DISCLAIMER: Barney and all related characters and elements
are the rightful property of Lyrick Studios. This web site is
not operated or endorsed by Lyrick Studios. This page was created
for informational purposes only. Although our intent was to provide
accurate information, we are unable to guarantee accuracy and
are willing to make corrections. Please see Character Product's
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and Conditions for further details. Upon entering this
site, you released Character Products Inc., and it's owners and
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for the inconvience of this diversion.
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