Comments on: Which Barbapapa are you?

Which Barbapapa are you?

not_on_display — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:39:06 -0800

The Barbapapa family are shapeshifters. (In French, Barbapapa's name loosely translates to "Cotton Candy.") Barbapapa was lonely; thus he went on an adventure to find others of his species, only to find that his Barbamama had been laying dormant in the same garden where he'd been first discovered! He and Barbamama now have seven brightly-colored children. Here are all of their names.

• The first ten episodes of Barbapapa (1973) in German--although you can probably follow along easily, no matter what your native tongue. • Nine episodes in English. • Synopses of the books upon which the cartoon was based.

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:41:14 -0800

No, Barbital wasn't in the immediate family.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:42:44 -0800

Is this a Hannah-Barbara production?

By: Bromius

Bromius — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:43:32 -0800

Is this where they got the idea for Barbarella from?

By: Floydd

Floydd — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:44:24 -0800

Superlambananabarbapapa.

By: DU

DU — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:45:28 -0800

foreign language + 70s + children's entertainment + cartoon + on the internet Does it get any better than that?

By: PigAlien

PigAlien — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:51:20 -0800

Aren't these just schmoos?

By: VulcanMike

VulcanMike — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:53:06 -0800

These remind me of the blobbiemorphs, which were previously discussed on Metafilter.

By: the cuban

the cuban — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:53:09 -0800

IIRC, the new schmoo was based on a French cartoon

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:54:14 -0800

...but he couldn't change his feet back. So he started whining. That's why we call him Strong Sad.

By: Kabanos

Kabanos — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:59:37 -0800

Clickety-click! Barba-trick!

By: grounded

grounded — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:59:58 -0800

How to rid the world of Barbapapas: roll 'em in sugar and call 'em Peeps.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:04:24 -0800

WTF? You people are responding as if you've never heard of Barbapoppa. Is this possible?! I've hated these things for on 35 years.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:05:41 -0800

My sisters (born 1969 and 1972) loved these books. The name sounded a little familiar, but as soon as I saw the pictures I remembered every one of their names.

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:06:27 -0800

Loved those books as a nipper

By: kuujjuarapik

kuujjuarapik — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:09:24 -0800

I remember the little black one was a shaggy hippie. Didn't like that show.

By: bove

bove — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:12:54 -0800

Wow, I have remembered this show, but have never met anyone else outside of my family who had heard of it. Thanks for this post.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:18:37 -0800

Ahhh, memories. Here's a cool ToyHack* for all my fellow ToyHackers and Barbapapa fans: You'll need: -Bag of balloons -Sharpie Marker -Imagination Step one: Inflate balloons to varying sizes. Step Two: Draw eyes, arms and mouth on balloons. Voila! Instant Barbapapa action figures (If you want a Barbabeau, you'll either need a bunch of yarn or a very forgiving imagination)! *Read: We wuz poor.

By: tits mcgee

tits mcgee — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:25:09 -0800

Holy crap! I had Barbapoppa's Ark as a little girl (born in '74) but had completely forgotten about it until this moment. I loved that book and am totally bidding on it on eBay for my kid now. Thank you!

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:37:17 -0800

Show me your magic Barbapapa.

By: Epenthesis

Epenthesis — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:41:08 -0800

I had Barbapapa's New House myself. Such a cute book.

By: misanthropicsarah

misanthropicsarah — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:49:10 -0800

i have never heard of these things or seen them. did i miss out on something?

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:09:33 -0800

PigAlien: "Aren't these just schmoos?" Kirth Gerson: "Is this a Hannah-Barbara production?" No, Shmoo's aren't Barbapapas. Not real Shmoos, that is. Easy to see the confusion, because Hanna-Barbera sucks!

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:25:19 -0800

Aren't these just schmoos? NO THEY ARE NOT. BARBAPAPA > SCHMOO. Good lord. WTF? You people are responding as if you've never heard of Barbapoppa. I think it's mainly a Canadian/Euro thing. Most American kids I've known (and knew when i was a kid) had never heard of them, and looked at me with thinly-veiled condescension when i would talk about them.

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:26:23 -0800

I loved these things, and still remember the theme all these years later. Can't believe there's never been a MeFi post on them before. They always reminded me of Weebles (they wobble but they won't fall down). Also, their houses were always pretty 70s cool, whether from the outside or the inside. I'm going to have that song stuck in my head all day now. "Barbamama, Barbapapa..."

By: Chrischris

Chrischris — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:29:08 -0800

We own Barbapapa's New House in the 1978 Scholastic edition. We read it to our kids regularly, but it is by no means a real favorite (that would be Daniel Pinkwater's Big Orange Splot). Hell, if I'd known how much the damned thing was worth, we would have ebayed it a long time ago...

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:06:44 -0800

I see a, perhaps somewhat distant, familial relationship to Mr. Blobby. This Mr. Blobby may be a closer relative.

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:47:53 -0800

StickyCarpet: "I see a, perhaps somewhat distant, familial relationship to Mr. Blobby. This Mr. Blobby may be a closer relative." I think Mr. Blobby #1 is more closely related to Mr. Bill. Mr. Blobby #2 is either Calvert DeForest (Larry "Bud" Melman) or StrongSad. All of them likely descended from the same common ancestor.

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:10:26 -0800

Mr Bloody is the Babapapa that grew up in Chernobyl.

By: unSane

unSane — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:25:47 -0800

Fucking Barbapapa. What a downer it was when it came on instead of Scooby Doo or Tom and Jerry.

By: cerulgalactus

cerulgalactus — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:34:18 -0800

Man, I had the whole run of those books when I was a kid back in the 70s. I wonder if my parents still have them.

By: jonp72

jonp72 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:07:09 -0800

They always reminded me of Weebles (they wobble but they won't fall down). Ever try to drown a Weeble? Those suckers will fly out of the water like a bullet out of a gun.

By: harriet vane

harriet vane — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:58:45 -0800

I used to have a few of the books when I was a kid. Had forgotten about them until Catatonia's song "Part of the Furniture", where she starts by singing "I'll be your Barbapapa".

By: saucysault

saucysault — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:16:00 -0800

Thanks, I've been looking for english language Barbapapa's for years. I was really disappointed that Suspect video in Toronto didn't have them when I looked. When I was in Tokyo in the nineties they had several of those photo sticker machines (is there a name for those machines?) with the Barbapapa's on the stickers. Totally made my trip worthwhile.

By: vodkaboots

vodkaboots — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:20:23 -0800

Barbapapa! I loved the books when I was a little kid in French school. I still wish I could shapeshift to this day...

By: Hal Mumkin

Hal Mumkin — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:54:21 -0800

Like Tits McGee, born at a similar time, I too had Barbapapa's Ark as a kid. Also a bunch of other BP (plus TinTin, Spirou, Asterix) comics that I couldn't read because they weren't in English. We also had some squeezy rubber barbapapas, about fist-sized, perfect for the bath. Then again, my father was French. I never saw a cartoon though, so thanks for this. And as for the title, I'm totally the orange one.

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:55:56 -0800

Hal Mumkin: And as for the title, I'm totally the orange one. I remember always relating to the black furry one myself.

By: phliar

phliar — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:11:52 -0800

They can change their shapes and sizes --
very easily! 30+ years later I can still sing the song. Thanks for the links!

By: Megami

Megami — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:19:57 -0800

I loved the books, but I didn't know there was a cartoon version. I grew up in Australia though, perhaps it never aired here. Thanks for the link.