Who is Babar

Babar the Elephant is a very popular French children's fictional character who first appeared in 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. Then he comes back and becomes king of the kingdom. He then has children and teaches them valuable lessons.

Jean de Brunhoff published six more stories before his premature death in 1937 at the age of 37. His son Laurent de Brunhoff, also a writer and illustrator, carried on the series from 1946 onwards with Babar et Le Coquin dArthur'' 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 with 65 episodes, plus an additional 13 episodes in 2000. The character has also appeared in a number of films, and the Babar stories have inspired musical works by Francis Poulenc and Raphael Mostel.

Category: File - :Babar-2.jpg|thumb|Brunhoff is most famous for his creation Babar.

Jean de Brunhoff (December 9, 1899 - October 16, 1937) was a French writer and illustrator known for co-creating Babar, which first appeared in 1931. The stories were originally told to their second son, Mathieu, when he was sick, by his wife Cecile de Brunhoff. After its first appearance, six more titles followed authored by Jean de Brunhoff.

He was the fourth and last child of Maurice de Brunhoff, a successful publisher, and his wife Marguerite. He attended Protestant schools, including the prestigious L'Ecole Alsacienne. Brunhoff joined the army and reached the front lines when World War I was almost over. Afterwards, he decided to be a professional artist and studied painting at Academie de la Grand Chamiere. He married Ceccile Sabourand, a talented pianist from a Catholic family, in 1924.

Brunhoff died of tuberculosis at the age of 37. After his death, Hachette bought the printing and publishing rights to the Babar series, and Jean's son, Laurent de Brunhoff, took on his late father's role of illustrating the books. The first seven Babar albums were reprinted and millions of copies were sold all around the world, but they were all abridged; they had 30 pages instead of the original 48.

The Babar books are thought to be a way for Brunhoff to share himself with his family. Ten years later, his eldest son Laurent revived the series. Many people did not notice the 10 year gap, as Laurent also showed exceptional talent in drawing elephants.

De Brunhoff and his wife are buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Babar is an animated television series produced in Canada by Nelvana Limited and The Clifford Ross Company. It premiered in 1989 on NTV, and HBO, subsequently was rerun on HBO Family and qubo (in America). The series is based on Jean de Brunhoff's original Babar books, and was Nelvana's first international co-production. The series has been broadcast in 30 languages in over 150 countries. New episodes of Babar currently air on NBC during the weekends, via Qubo.