Babar the Elephant

Cover of the first Babar story, Histoire de Babar (Story of Babar), published 1931

File:Babar2.jpg

Cover of the second Babar story, Le Voyage de Babar (Babar's Voyage), published 1932

Babar the Elephant is a very popular French children's fictional character who first appeared in L'Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff in 1931 and enjoyed immediate success. An English language version, entitled The Story of Babar, appeared in 1933 in Britain and also in the United States. The book is based on a tale that Brunhoff's wife, Cecile, had invented for their children. It tells of a young elephant called Babar who leaves the jungle, visits a big city, and returns to bring the benefits of civilization to his fellow elephants.

Jean de Brunhoff published six more stories before his premature death in 1937 at the age of 37. His son Laurent de Brunhoff was also a talented writer and illustrator, and from 1946 onwards he carried on the series with Babar et Le Coquin d'Arthur and many more.

An animated TV series was produced by Nelvana Limited and Clifford Ross Company, and originally ran from January 3, 1989 to June 5, 1991. There were 78 episodes.

Story synopsis

After Babar witnesses the slaughter of his beloved mother, he flees from the jungle and finds his way to Paris where he is befriended by the Old Lady. Babar eventually returns to the Elephant realm following the death of the previous King, who had eaten some poisonous mushrooms. Babar is crowned king, marries his third cousin twice removed Celeste, and founds the city of Celesteville. Babar, who likes to wear a bright green suit, introduces a very French form of Western civilization to the elephants, and causes them to dress in Western attire.

Among Babar's other associates are the monkey Zephir, the old elephant counsellors Cornelius and Pompadour, his cousin Arthur, and his children, Pom, Flora and Alexander. Later, a second daughter, Isabelle, was introduced. The Old Lady comes to live in the Kingdom as an honoured guest. Despite the presence of these counsellors, Babar's rule seems to be totally independent of any elected body, and completely autocratic.

Besides his Westernizing policies, Babar engages in warfare with the warlike rhinoceroses, who are led by Lord Rataxes.

Pronunciation

Babar's name is pronounced /ˈbæbɑr/. Examples of this pronunciation can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67B1vCjQlcc. Babar (pronounced IPA: [ˈbaːbər]) was the name of the first Mughal emperor of medieval India.

Criticism

Some writers, notably Herbert R. Kohl and Vivian Paley have argued that, although superficially delightful, the stories are politically and morally offensive and can be seen as a justification for colonialism. Others argue that the French civilisation described in the early books had already been destroyed by the Great War and the books were originally an exercise in nostalgia for pre 1914 France. Ariel Dorfman’s The Empire’s Old Clothes is another highly critical view, in which he concludes, "In imagining the independence of the land of the elephants, Jean de Brunhoff anticipates, more than a decade before history forced Europe to put it into practice, the theory of neocolonialism." Author Adam Gopnik has a different point of view. In Freeing the Elephants he writes that it "is not an unconscious expression of the French colonial imagination; it is a self-conscious comedy about the French colonial imagination and its close relation to the French domestic imagination. The gist ... is explicit and intelligent: the lure of the city, of civilization, of style and order and bourgeois living is real, for elephants as for humans." He concludes that the satisfaction derived from Babar is based on the knowledge that "while it is a very good thing to be an elephant, still, the life of an elephant is dangerous, wild, and painful. It is therefore a safer thing to be an elephant in a house near a park."

Books

Jean de Brunhoff wrote and illustrated seven Babar books; the series was continued by his son, Laurent de Brunhoff.

Jean de Brunhoff's Babar books, and the titles of the english translations, were:

• Histoire de Babar (1931) - The Story of Babar
• Le Voyage de Babar (1932) - The Travels of Babar, or Babar's Travels
• Le Roi Babar (1933) - Babar the King
• L'ABC de Babar (1934) - A.B.C. of Babar
• Les vacances de Zéphir (1936) - Zephir's Holidays, or Babar and Zephir
• Babar en famille (1938) - Babar and His Children, or Babar at Home
• Babar et le père Noël (1941) - Babar and Father Christmas

Laurent de Brunhoff's books:

• Babar et ce coquin d'Arthur (1948) - Babar's Cousin: That Rascal Arthur
• Pique-nique chez Babar (1949) - Babar's Picnic
• Babar dans l'Île aux oiseaux (1952) - Babar's Visit to Bird Island
• La fête à Celesteville (1954) - Babar's Fair
• Babar et le professeur Girafon (1956) - Babar and the Professor
• Le château de Babar (1961) - Babar's Castle
• Je parle anglais avec Babar (1963) - Babar's English Lessons (published as French Lessons in English)
• Je parle allemand avec Babar (1966) - Babar's Italian Lesson
• Je parle espagnol avec Babar (1966) - Babar's Spanish Lesson
• Babar à New York (1966)
• Babar's Museum of Art (2003)

English translations of the original Babar books are routinely republished in the UK and in the USA, individually and in collections.

Other english titles about Babar include:

• Babar Comes to America. New York: Random House, 1965.
• Babar Learns to Cook. New York: Random House, 1967.
• Babor Loses His Crown. New York: Random House, 1967.
• Babar's Games. New York: Random House, 1968.
• Babar's Moon Trip. New York: Random House, 1969.
• Babar's Trunk. New York: Random House, 1969.
• Babar's Birthday Surprise. New York: Random House, 1970
• Babar's Other Trunk. New York: Random House, 1971.
• Babar Visits Another Planet. New York: Random House, 1972.
• Meet Babar and His Family. New York: Random House, 1973.
• Babar's Bookmobile. New York: Random House, 1974.
• Babar and the Wully-Wully. New York: Random House, 1975.
• Babar Saves the Day. New York: Random House, 1976.
• Babar's Mystery. New York: Random House, 1978.
• Babar's Little Library. New York: Random House, 1980
• Babar the Magician. New York: Random House, 1980.
• Babar's Anniversary Album. New York: Random House, 1981.
• Babar's A.B.C. New York: Random House, 1983.
• Babar's Book of Color. New York: Random House, 1984.
• Babar and the Ghost. Easy to Read Edition. New York: Random House, 1986.
• Babar's Counting Book. New York: Random House, 1986.
• "Christmas with Babar & Baby Isabelle." Woman's Day, 22 December, 1987.
• Babar's Little Circus Star. New York: Random House, 1988.
• Babar's Busy Year. New York: Random House, 1989.
• Isabelle's New Friend. New York: Random House, 1990.
• Babar and the Succotash Bird. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2000.

Films and programmes

• Babar (1960) (1960)
• Babar (1969): broadcast in the UK on BBC1 weekdays from 29 September
• The Adventures of Babar (1985)
• Babar and Father Christmas (1986)
• Babar (1989) ,
• Babar: The Movie (1989)
• Babar: King of the Elephants (1999)
• The new Babar (2006)

The Babar stories are popular around the world. They have inspired musical works by Francis Poulenc and Raphael Mostel, and an extremely popular animated television series by Ellipse (France) and Nelvana (Canada).

External links

• Official publisher's Site
• Digital maquette of Jean de Brunhoff's Histoire de Babar le petit Éléphant
• New York Review of Books article