It's official, and children's television icon Barney is getting a fresh face and a new animated series. The original, as you may recall, was live-action, with the titular dinosaur being played in a suit by actor David Joyner. Mattel TV's reintroduction of this nostalgia-infused purple dinosaur via a slate of planned programming makes sense.
Daniel Kaluuya and his production company, 59%, were involved in a film adaptation from 1992 to 2010.
The simply-titled Barney reboot will be available on Mattel sometime in 2024, with a cartoon series that "promises to reintroduce the famously friendly purple dinosaur to a new generation of preschool children," according to Variety. Nelvana, a Canadian animation studio, is also responsible for Esme & Roy, an award-winning series directed at preschoolers by the creators of Sesame Street, which HBO Max removed from its streaming service in August.
There's no word on how the world will receive the return of this singing T. Rex, which is planned to be expanded into a feature film, online content, and plenty of merchandise.
The Godfather's legacy, this breathtaking meme, can always be attributed to the internet's denizens.
Highkey, we agree. Why not try and bring a little more goodness back into the world? Sure, it is not a huge purple outfit, but in this day and age, an animated Barney makes a lot more sense.
The children who attended Barney & Friends are old enough to be parents themselves, and for those of us who remember when the program was still running, that's a wild guess. The new-look Barney remains polarizing in terms of appearance, but the producers behind the program anticipate that folks of all ages will accept their new name. In the touching documentary I Love You, You Hate Me, Mattel Television's Fred Soulie discussed how Barney might reclaim his place among current audiences.
“With our modern interpretation of Barney, we hope to instill confidence in the next generation to listen, care, and strive big. We think that parents, many of whom will fondly remember the original Barney from their childhoods, will enjoy the show as well.