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Bear and Barney

Bear and Barney on the set of the "We Are Family" music video.

8693098 452af4b49c

Barney, Big Bird, and Gordon at the PBS Kids Sprout launch party.

WeAreFamily

Barney with Big Bird and Bear for "We Are Family."

Barney and Bear commercial

Barney and Bear in a commercial for "We Are Family."

Barneyworm

A worm dressed as Barney in Wormy Gras.

CoriFilm-Barney

A Barney doll on Sesame Street.

Barney & Friends is a non-Henson, children's television program starring a large, purple dinosaur named Barney. The show was spun off from a home video series and ran on PBS from 1992 until 2010, making it one of the network's longest-running children's shows after Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Appearances[]

  • Barney appeared in the "We Are Family" music video, alongside Big Bird and Bear, asserting their kinship as large puppets whose names begin with B.
    • Barney and Bear also appeared in a commercial for "We Are Family," in which the two deliver a copy of the video via FedEx to an elementary school. (YouTube)

References[]

  • Similarly, Bonnie Rabbit is acknowledged as "the Barney of Bunnies" in the script for the Sesame Street "Home Hopping Network" sketch. (First: Episode 3238)
  • During an appearance on Friday Night Videos, Branford Marsalis asks Clifford how he joined the Muppets. Clifford replies that his choices were between them or "that big purple dinosaur." Marsalis assumes he means Barney, but Clifford corrects him, saying he meant Prince.
  • Teasing what's to come in Smithsonian Fantastic Journey, the narrator announces in the introduction that the special will feature, "The only Smithsonian artifact that can talk." Kermit the Frog appears on-screen and addresses the camera, "You were expecting maybe Barney?"
  • Sesame Street Episode 3856 celebrates Wormy Gras, a holiday for worms to celebrate all things wormy. Slimey has trouble deciding on what costume to wear, so Gabi helps him try on a Tyrannosaurus Rex finger puppet. When another worm passes by wearing a Barney costume (and humming the show's closing song), it's frightened away by the more ferocious-looking dinosaur. The worm appears later in the episode as part of the Wormy Gras parade; Baby Bear asks who that is supposed to be while Oscar scratches his head and replies, "I have no idea."
  • A Sesame Street film shows the life of a young handicapped girl named Cori. During the film, a Barney doll is seen in the family room. (First: Episode 3858)
  • During a 2009 appearance on The Tyra Show, Elmo says that his tux, seen in an event photo with Tyra Banks, was provided by Barney. Not the fashion designer, but the purple dinosaur. During a backstage interview at the Emmy Awards, Elmo tells a Soap Net reporter the opposite, that his tux is from the clothing store, not the dinosaur.[1]
  • In a 2008 Associated Press video "Big Bird: The Muppet Unmasked", Caroll Spinney rehearses a scene as Big Bird (without wearing the suit), ad-libbing "Don't watch Barney!" as he says goodbye.

Trivia[]

  • According to Noel MacNeal, "Bear was designed to be the anti-Barney. He was designed to be a voice that a grown person could actually sit through, while still being a show for kids."[2]
  • In interviews, Caroll Spinney compared his earliest version of Big Bird to "a certain purple dinosaur who became popular later, I won't mention by name" and cited this as a reason why Big Bird's personality had to change.[3][4][5][6]

Connections[]

Barney-BigBird-Performers

Bob West (the voice of Barney, left) and Carey Stinson (the body performer of Barney, right) with Caroll Spinney (Big Bird) at a PBS Kids Sprout press event in 2005.

Barney-BigBird-Performers2

Bob West with Caroll Spinney in 2018.

  • Tomie dePaola appeared as himself on the show.
  • Danny DeVito's name is featured in the Special Thanks section of the end credits for Barney's Great Adventure.
  • Victor DiNapoli was the production designer for multiple ​Barney and Friends​ home videos and designed sets for some of the live shows, including Barney Live! in New York City and Barney's Big Surprise
  • Sandy Duncan played Michael and Amy's mom in the first three Barney and the Backyard Gang episodes
  • Steve Feldman directed several episodes on the show.
  • Teri Garr appeared in Barney's First Adventures
  • Selena Gomez played Gianna (2002-2004)
  • Charles Edward Hall was the announcer for Barney Live! in New York City
  • Jim Lewis wrote episodes for the show
  • Demi Lovato played Angela (2002-2004)
  • Van Dyke Parks composed for Barney's Great Adventure
  • Rhea Perlman's name is featured in the Special Thanks section of the end credits for Barney's Great Adventure
  • Bernadette Peters sang the opening song for Barney's Great Adventure
  • Madison Pettis played Bridget (2006)
  • Bob Phillips was the art director for Barney Live! in New York City
  • Kyla Pratt played Marcella in Barney's Great Adventure
  • Linda Ronstadt sang a song for the soundtrack of Barney's Great Adventure
  • Debby Ryan played Debby (2006)
  • Nina Shelton wrote episodes for the show
  • Jocelyn Stevenson wrote episodes for the show
  • Ellis Weiner wrote episodes for the show
  • Bob West voiced Barney (1988-2000)

Sources[]

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