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.
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