This article is about the character. For the TV show, see Barney & Friends.

Barney the Dinosaur is a two hundred million year (two dinosaur years) old, six-foot tall, purple tyrannosaurus rex with a green belly, who comes to life through a child's imagination. He is best known for his friendly, kind,

optimistic personality and positive attitude.

Contents 1 Creation 2 Portrayal 2.1 Costume Actors 2.2 Voice Actors 3 Catchphrases 4 Appearances 5 Trivia 6 See also

Creation

Barney was first created in 1987 by Sheryl Leach, who was looking for a way to entertain her then 2 year old son, Patrick. Originally Barney was going to be a blanket. When that was proven to be too hard, he became a teddy bear who came to life. However, Patrick was fascinated by a dinosaur exhibit at a museum, particularly the Tyrannosaurus rex, so Sheryl made Barney a T-Rex. Kathy Parker, 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). In the end, he was colored purple to appeal to both genders (Leach had a thing for the color purple as well), had his features softened (i.e. "toe balls" in place of claws), and was named Barney.

Portrayal

Costume Actors

• David Voss (1988–1990)
• David Joyner (1991–2001)
• Carey Stinson (1994, 1998, 2001, 2002–present)
• Alan Bruce (1994, understudy in Barney Live in New York City)
• Josh Martin (1997–1998)
• Maurice Scott (1997, 2004)
• Antwaun Steele (1999–2001, 2010–2011)

Voice Actors

• Bob West (1988–2000)
• Duncan Brannan (1997–1999, 2000–2002)
• Tim Dever (2000–2002)
• Dean Wendt (2002–present)

Catchphrases

• Super-dee-duper!
• Tee-rific!

  

• Stu-u-u-pendous
• That was fun!
• Oh, boy! Oh, boy!
• Remember, I love you!

Appearances

• Barney first appeared in "The Backyard Show", though he was introduced to most of the Backyard Gang in "A Day at the Beach".
• In 2007, Barney made a special appearance in The Sunny Side Up Show with Nina for Thanksgiving. He made another appearance with Sean in the St. Valentine's Day episode in 2009. Barney also hosted "Sprout's Dino-Mite Valentine's Sing-A-Long" with Dorothy the Dinosaur, which contained a back-to-back marathon of Barney & Friends and Dorothy the Dinosaur.
• Barney (along with Baby Bop and BJ) has made appearances in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. They also appeared in "Kids for Character".
• Barney appeared in the We Are Family music video along with characters from fellow children's TV shows.
• Barney also made an appearance with Dolly Parton in 2004 to open her Dollywood amusement park.

Trivia

• Since "Waiting for Santa", Barney has been a magenta color technically. Since then he has changed his appearance slightly and gotten a lighter magenta color over time. Despite this, his color is only claimed as purple by HIT Entertainment.
• Some concept names for Barney were Cosby, Colby, and Danny.
• Although Barney's birthday has been celebrated five times on the series (including Birthday Bash), he remains over 200 million years old.
• Barney's favorite foods are peanut-butter sandwiches (with a glass of milk), vegetables, pumpernickel bread, and pistachios (as of Season 11).

See also

• Barney Through the Years