Babar the Elephant: Encyclopedia - Babar the Elephant

Babar the Elephant

Babar the Elephant is a popular French children's fictional character who first appeared in L'Histoire du Babar by Jean de Brunhoff in 1931 and enjoyed immediate success. English language versions entitled The Story of Babar, appeared in 1933 in Britain and the USA. The story is based on a tale de 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 early death in 1937 at the age of 37. His son Laurent de Brunhoff was also a talented writer and illustrator and he carried on the series from 1946 with Babar et Ce Coquin d'Arthur and many more.

Babar the Elephant - Story of Babar

Babar is the son of the King of the Elephants but Babar's mother is killed by cruel hunters, and wandering alone he finds his way to France where he is brought up by the Old Lady in Paris. He eventually returns to the Elephant realm following the death of the previous King, who had eaten some poisonous mushrooms. In later books Babar marries his cousin, Celeste, and founds the city of Celesteville. Babar, who tends 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, Flora, Pom, and Alexander. The Old Lady from Paris 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.

Babar the Elephant - Criticism

The books are written in a charming and appealing style with an attention to detail which captivates both children and adults. Underneath they could be seen as a justification for colonialism, with the benefits of French civilisation being visited on the rustic African elephant kingdom. Some writers, notably Herbert R. Kohl and Vivian Paley have argued that, although delightful, the stories are politically and morally offensive. 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.

Babar the Elephant - List of Babar books

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

Jean de Brunhoff's Babar books were:

• Histoire de Babar (1931)
• Le Voyage de Babar (1932)
• Le Roi Babar (1933)
• L'ABC de Babar (1934)
• Les vacances de Zéphir (1936)
• Babar en famille (1938)
• Babar et le père Noël (1941)

Laurent de Brunhoff's books:

• Babar et ce coquin d'Arthur - 1948
• Pique-nique chez Babar - 1949
• Babar dans l'Île aux oiseaux - 1952
• La fête à Celesteville - 1954
• Babar et le professeur Girafon - 1956
• Le château de Babar - 1961
• Je parle anglais avec Babar - 1963
• Je parle allemand avec Babar - 1966
• Je parle espagnol avec Babar - 1966
• Babar à New York - 1966

Babar the Elephant - List of Babar films and television programmes

• Babar (1960) [1]
• Babar and Father Christmas (1986) [2]
• Babar: The Movie (1989) [3]
• Babar (1989) [4], [5]
• Babar, King of Elephants (1999) [6]

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).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Babar the Elephant", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki