Barney

Barney, with Christine Baranski (left), at the The Jerry Franklin CPTV Gala in 2019

### Created by

Sheryl Leach
Kathy Parker (co-creator)
Dennis DeShazer
(co-creator)
Jamie Ruth Conner (designer)
Suzanne Lockridge
(designer/builder)
Irene Corey (builder 1991-1999)

### Voiced by

**Principal voices**
Bob West (1988-2000, 2005)
Dean Wendt (2001-2013, 2019)
*see all below*

### Costume performer

**Principal performers**
David Joyner (1991-2005, 2008)
Carey Stinson (1991-2013, 2019)
*see all below*

## In-universe Information

### Favorite Foods

PB&J sandwhiches,
pumpernickel bread,
pistachios,
vegetables

### Catchphrases

Super-Dee-Duper!
Tee-rific!
Stu-u-u-pendous
Oh boy, Oh boy!
Remember, I love you!

**Barney** is a purple dinosaur and the main protagonist of the television series *Barney & Friends*, and its home video predecessor *Barney & The Backyard Gang*. A two hundred million year (two dinosaur years) old, six-foot (sometimes seven-foot) tall purple tyrannosaurus-rex with a green tummy and green spots on his back and his tail and yellow toes, he comes to life through a child's imagination, springing up from a doll to full size. In turn, Barney opens children's eyes to the joys of learning and discovery, to the wonders of make-believe, and to the beauty of unconditional love. Dubbed as the "Elvis for Toddlers" in the early days, he is best known for his silly and optimistic attitude.

His birthplace is Dallas, Texas (as he was created there by the creators), however, he lives and resides in one's imagination. His place of residence would later be expanded in the video *Come on Over to Barney's House* (2000). Although Barney comes to life through a child's imagination, he isn't imaginary. Once Barney springs to life from imagination, any and everyone can see him and no one else needs to use their imagination to see or interact with him in his large form.

Created by former teacher Sheryl Stamps Leach, Barney first appeared in the video titled *The Backyard Show* (1988), which was the first episode of the *Barney & The Backyard Gang* home video series.

David Voss originally performed as the costume for Barney from 1988 to 1990, and was succeeded by David Joyner, who would later define the costume mannerisms of the character. The character has been succeeded by many other costume performers during Joyner's time and after his resignation. The Barney character was originally voiced by Bob West from 1988 until 2000, but since his resignation has been voiced by many other voice actors.

Barney generally appears with his dino pals, Baby Bop, BJ and/or Riff, including the kids.

### Creation

Barney was first created in 1987 by Sheryl Leach, who was looking for a way to entertain her then two year old son, Patrick. Originally, Barney was going to be a clown doll and in early scripts, he was a sea serpent named Cecelia (and or also written as Sea-celia). Another idea was for Barney to be a blanket. When that was proven to be too hard, he became a teddy bear who came to life. When Sheryl took Patrick to the "Invasion of the Robot Dinosaur" exhubit in Dallas in the winter of 1988, she noticed that he was fascinated with dinosaurs at the museum, particularly the Tyrannosaurus rex. In response, Sheryl made Barney a T. Rex. Kathy Parker, a fellow teacher-turned-mother who had helped Sheryl create the character, agreed to the change, but on the condition that he was not to appear menacing (a realistic t-rex would have scared her daughter Kaitlin). The original design attemps of Barney by Irene Corey depicted a fierce T-Rex. After producers rejected her designs, she handed the construction of the costume over to her niece Suzanne Lockridge and moved on to other projects. John Grable, the director of the original Barney and the Backyard Gang series asked art director Jamie Ruth Conner to design a plush dinosaur that a child would easily be able to embrace. Her design for Barney was approved by the producers and creators. The colors purple, green, and yellow were selected by art director Jamie Ruth Conner simply because they were trendy colors in the late 1980s.

### Naming

Some concept names for Barney were Cosby, Colby, and Danny. Co-creator Dennis DeShazer came up with the name Barney.

## Costume

 File:EIv1lkvW4AAVRc5.png
Around a table, the television show’s producers, creator, and then art director, Jamie Conner considered the possibilities for how the costume design would look, initially thinking of a plush dinosaur that closely resembled a Tyrannosaurus-Rex. The attributes first designed were approach-ability, “hug-ability,” and playfulness.

Barney was originally a dark purple color, however, on camera appeared blue. The color was adjusted, and was given a lighter purple / magenta color. The costume would weigh about seventy pounds, but was later shaved down to fifty pounds with the final costume. Inside the costume could get up to over 120 degrees. For the performer to walk around, the actor would look through Barney's mouth for vision. When the mouth was closed, the costume actor could not see anything, even for some variations of the costume, Barney would have its eye mechanism or blinking mechanism.

*See Also: Barney Through the Years*

## Portrayal

### History

 File:83845285 155775429207709 4791652028667396096 n.jpg
#### Body

Originally the character was intended to be performed by one person in terms of doing the voice and being in the costume (similar to Big Bird). Bob West was the first individual hired to portray the character, however he was too tall for the costume that was already made. David Voss was brought in to fulfill the costume performance. The Barney character was originally portrayed as the actor using their hand to move the mouth while another hand was in one arm of the dinosaur, hence leaving Barney's other arm unfilled. Sometimes, both arms were filled (if required).

In 1990, he entered the military as a Cavalry Scout where he was based in Mannheim, He was succeeded in the role by David Joyner. The night before the audition, Joyner had a dream that Barney passed out and that he (Joyner) gave the purple dino mouth-to-mouth CPR. While driving to the audition, he noticed a billboard that said "Breathe Life Into Your Vacation," which made him think about breathing life into Barney and he decided to be as energetic and animated as possible. Joyner took some of what David Voss had already instilled in Barney and tried to bring out more personality.

The Barney character was now performed with a newly re-designed costume mechanic: the body performer bites down on a bar padded with a sponge connected to Barney's bottom jaw to move his mouth up and down, while giving access to both hands of the costume. Each syllable the voice actor speaks is a movement for the costume actor's to move the mouth. Joyner's mannerisms would later be carried on into other Barney performers during his time with the character and after.

The character would eventually grow to over seven feet when performed by Carey Stinson as he was one of the taller performers.

#### Voice

Barney's voice was originally very low pitched when he debuted in *Barney & The Backyard Gang* as the creators thought that since Barney was a big guy, he needed to have a deep voice. The voice was hard to maintain for West, but it was made cheerful when Joyner came into the costume, and it proved to be a more friendly voice. Following West's retirement, Duncan Brannan, Tim Dever, were handed the role of the character, and soon after Dean Wendt, making the final result of the character's voice nasal on the television series.

### Actors

#### Costume Actors

* David Voss (1988–1990)
* David Joyner (1991–2005, 2008)  File:60331762 10213651765197913 9197350728383856640 n.jpg
* Carey Stinson (1991–2013, 2019)﻿
* Josh Martin (1996–2009)
* Maurice Scott (1997-2004)
* Antwaun Steele (1999-2001, 2010-2011)
* Sarah Vernon Swartz (First leg of *Barney's Colorful World!*) (2003)
* Corby Sullivan (First leg of *Barney's Colorful World!*) (2003)
* Patrick Mcalister (2003-2008)
* Rick Starkweather (2003-2007)

*See Also: International Barney Costume Actors*

#### Voice Actors

* Bob West (1988–2000, 2005)
* David Franks (1996-1998)
* Duncan Brannan (1997–2000)
* Tim Dever (1999–2001)
* Dean Wendt (2001–2013, 2019)

*See Also: International Barney Voice Actors*

## Characteristics

Barney's expressions didn't stem from his face but from his attitude and gestures, given his facial expressions are always the same on the costume. While Barney can feel sympathy and concern for others, he's optimistic most of the time due to his dedication in making others happy, and not having concerns about himself.

Barney expressions.jpgAs seen in *I Love You, You Hate Me*, this image of Barney's expressions stems from "The Barney Bible".
## Achievements

 File:BarneyStaronPaseo de las Luminarias.png
* Barney was ranked at #3 for the highest paid entertainer, a list compiled by Forbes Magazine, in 1993-1994, following Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey.
* Barney was named one of People magazine's "25 Most Intriguing People of 1992"
* Barney received the 1994 ‘License of the Year’ Award from the Licensing Industry Merchandiser’s Association in honor of the sales and demand his products created.
* In 2007, Barney received a star on Paseo de las Luminarias, the Mexican equivalent of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

### Music

* From 1996-1998, Barney ranked as Billboard's top children's artist.
* Barney become a Grammy nominated and a 3× Platinum artist due to his successful debut album, *Barney's Favorites, Volume 1*.
	+ See: Barney Discography

## Trivia

* In *Barney & The Backyard Gang*, Barney originally lived with Michael and Amy. In that series, Barney had to be kept a secret from the parents. That running gag lasted until *Three Wishes* where Michael and Amy's Mom is informed on who Barney is.
* Although he celebrates his birthday in the Barney franchise, he remains over 200 million years old.
* Barney first reached official pop culture status when he was parodied in a *Saturday Night Live* sketch in the fall of 1993. The Barney likeness played a game of one-on-one basketball against Phoenix Suns superstar Charles Barkley.

## References

1. ↑ Year of the dog, *Dallas Observer*, August 28, 1997
2. ↑ | Barney, the Elvis for Toddlers : Dinosaur Is a Star, Spreading Love With Hugs, Kisses, Songs
3. ↑ DUMPING THE LITTLE DINOSAUR THAT COULD
4. ↑ | Barney's big success breeds some equally big problems
5. ↑ Coming to Tulsa, in all his purpleness
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hatched Purple: The Designer of Barney
7. ↑ | He's the Big Bird of the '90s - Barney
8. ↑ The Concept: The Loveable Dinosaur
9. ↑ ‘Barney’ Actor David Joyner on Life as Big Purple Dinosaur
10. ↑ Carey “Barney” Stinson takes his turn in the guest chair - Purple Tales Episode 11
11. ↑ Barney Tells All: David Joyner Talks Being the Man in the Purple Dinosaur Costume for 10 Years
12. ↑ Hello my name is David Joyner and I played Barney the Dinosaur for over a decade on the Hit TV Series, Barney and Friends. AMA!
13. ↑ David Franks | Voice over actor | Voice123
14. ↑ SPIELBERG BUMPS OPRAH AS BEST-PAID ENTERTAINER
15. ↑ SPIELBERG IS TOP-PAID ENTERTAINER; SYRUPY BARNEY RINGS IN AT NO. 3
16. ↑ | BARNEY MAKES A DINOSAUR-SIZE IMPRESSION
17. ↑ Licensing Diary: Barney and Friends
18. ↑ Barney is far from extinct
19. ↑ CPTV Guide Connecticut Magazine June 2013