Barney's Christmas Star is a 2002 direct-to-video Barney Home Video that was released on October 22, 2002. Directed by Jim Rowley and written by Mark S. Bernthal and Stephen White, this was the third Christmas video special within the Barney franchise and the second Christmas video special based on Barney & Friends following Barney's Night Before Christmas.
Plot[]
Christmas is fast approaching, so Barney and the children are quite excited. They help decorate the caboose for the Christmas holidays and build a "thinking" snowman in the park. Then, they visit a tree planted by Beth's great-great-grandfather that's now the prettiest, oldest tree in the park. Beth's grandmother is in charge of decorating the tree for Christmas this year, and everyone is shocked to find that the large star to adorn the tree's top is missing! Grammy suggests it's up in her attic and dispatches Barney and the children there to find it. Fun and playful mayhem ensue, with constant distractions from the search by various and sundry dusty "treasures" encountered. The kids, Baby Bop, and BJ discover- and they become- old-fashioned toys. All dictate a musical letter to Santa, typed on an old fashioned typewriter. When an ancient library is discovered, Barney reads 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to the group. The elusive star finally reveals itself, with some urging from the group. Barney and the children arrive back at the tree in time for the lighting ceremony. But the king conifer's grown too tall for its peak to be reached from a ladder! Barney magic ensures the proper placement of the star, and everyone is soon well on their way to a very Merry Christmas season!
Story: The Night Before Christmas
Cast[]
- Barney (Voice: Tim Dever, Costume: Carey Stinson)
- Baby Bop (Voice: Julie Johnson, Costume: Jeff Ayers)
- BJ (Voice: Patty Wirtz, Costume: Kyle Nelson)
- Beth (Katherine Pulley)
- Kami (Makayla Crawford)
- Darnell (Devante Warren)
- Kevin (Sullivan McCormick)
- Grammy Phillips (Allyn Carnell)
- Grandpa Phillips (Bill Flynn)
Songs[]
- "Barney Theme Song"
- "Deck the Halls"
- Holidays Medley: "I Love the Holidays" / "O Little Town of Bethlehem" / "My Dreidel" / "Habari Gani" / "I Love the Holidays (Reprise)"
- "It's Snowing!"
- "Oh Christmas Tree"
- "Over the River and Through the Woods"
- "Just Imagine"
- "March of the Toys"
- "We're Writing a Letter to Santa"
- "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
- "Jingle Bells"
- "Oh Christmas Tree (Reprise)"
- "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"
- "I Love You"
Production[]
Production for this video took place from August to September 2001 during the 9/11 attacks and before season seven of Barney & Friends began production. Half of this video was filmed in the studios at Las Colinas while the other half was filmed at the new Marsh RD Studio in Carrollton, TX. During the filming of this video, Makayla Crawford (Kami) had her snow headband taped to her head due to the air conditioners being broken on set.[1]
Writing[]
Stephen White, who co-wrote Barney's Christmas Star, had already written a Barney script about Barney and the children cleaning out the attic of Stephen's grandfather. For unknown reasons, the script was given to Mark S. Bernthal who retooled it as a Christmas video due to it being requested.
Adaptation[]
Book[]
This video was adapted into a story that was featured in Barney Annual 2004.
Release[]
Home media[]
Barney's Christmas Star was released on VHS and DVD on October 22, 2002 by HIT Entertainment. It marks the final Christmas video be released on VHS. The video debuted on Billboard Top Kid Video charts on November 16, 2002 at #16.[2] It peaked at #7 on January 18, 2003, spending ten weeks on the chart.[3] While the 2002 US DVD has no menu, the US re-releases following afterwards did. This video was featured in the video Children's Favorites: A Christmas Treasure, a compilation featuring various content from HIT Entertainment shows. The United Kingdom release of Barney's Christmas Star spent three weeks on the Official Video Chart for OCC, entering and peaking at #36 on November 16, 2002.[4]
Barney's Christmas Star was later re-released on DVD by HIT Entertainment and Lionsgate Home Entertainment on October 13, 2009. The re-release was initially available for pre-order on September 16, 2009. The 2009 re-release of Barney's Christmas Star was available at a suggested retail price for $14.98.[5] The video would later be re-released again on July 3, 2018, being distributed by 9 Story Media Group and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Releases[]
Front cover[]
Back cover[]
Broadcast[]
Barney's Christmas Star aired on PBS in 2002. For the 2002 PBS broadcast, "Just Imagine" is cut. Also, the credit sequence is slightly shorter and features an instrumental arrangement of "Oh, Christmas Tree" instead of "I Love the Holidays". It marked the first time PBS broadcasted a children's special in HDTV format. During the December Pledge on PBS, stations offered VHS and DVD versions of Barney's Christmas Star as fundraising "thank you" gifts.[6] Barney's Christmas Star also aired on Sprout[7] from 2010 until 2013.
Trivia[]
- This video was filmed before season seven of Barney & Friends, and has several differences:
- The season four through six Barney doll is used.
- BJ and Baby Bop do not have their new mouth mechanisms (they still have their ones from the previous seasons). They would get mouth mechanisms similar to Barney's in season seven.
- A different BJ costume is used rather than the one that would be used in season seven.
- Filmed before her official debut as "Gianna", Selena Gomez, makes an uncredited cameo appearance in this video.
- On the HIT Entertainment logo at the end of the video, the globe is bigger than normal. On the TV rerun on Sprout in December 2013, the logo plasters to the current HIT Entertainment logo.
- The Mother Goose book seen in the attic is the same one seen in Barney's Rhyme Time Rhythm/A "Little" Mother Goose
Casting[]
- Although Tim Dever voiced Barney in this video, Dean Wendt voiced Barney in the promotional preview for this video.
- According to Katherine Pully, the reason why Devante Warren (Darnell) and Sullivan McCormick (Kevin) were let go after this video and that they weren't able to appear on Barney & Friends was probably due to school duties or that they only auditioned to just appear in this video.[8]
Characters[]
- This video marked:
- The only appearances of Darnell, Kevin, and Beth's grandparents.
- The first appearances of Beth and Kami in production order, despite Kami making her first appearance in "All Aboard!", and Beth making her first appearance in "Tea-riffic Manners".
- This video is revealed that Beth's last name is Phillips.
- Despite appearing in the story of The Night Before Christmas alongside the other children, Darnell is nowhere to be seen, both at the beginning and the end of Barney's reading of the story.
Goofs[]
- When Barney throws the Christmas star to the top of the Christmas tree, the ladder next to the Christmas tree disappears.
- On the front cover of the 2009 re-release of this, it says "Holiday Movie Includes 10 Festive Songs", in actuality, seventeen songs are included in this video.
- When Barney says, "Well, I'm sure we'll find the right one soon.", his mouth is out of sync with the audio.
Occurrences[]
- This video marked:
- The first home video to feature the season seven version of the "Barney Theme Song".
- At the end of the "Barney Theme Song", the rainbow swirly effect where it usually translates to the title card was not shown. However, when this video aired on PBS, the rainbow swirly effect was shown.
- Another time something happens to the Barney doll before coming to life. It is when Kami wrapped the Christmas tinsel around his arms. It also happened when Darnell put a Santa hat on Barney.
- The first Christmas special (not counting any Barney stage shows) to have Joe Phillips as a musical director.
- The first home video to take place and be filmed at the park and the caboose.
- The first and only time where Carey Stinson and Tim Dever perform together as Barney in a video as well as the final video to have Dever voice the character before being replaced by Dean Wendt on the television series.
- The first time the other half of the park is shown.
- The final video to have the end credits that feature faded clips from a video in sequence.
- The only appearance of the prototype season seven BJ costume.
- The first home video to feature the season seven version of the "Barney Theme Song".
Songs[]
- The arrangement of "I Love You" from this video would be later used in the episode "A Visit to Santa".
- The instrumental of the song, "I Love the Holidays", in the end credits is the same arrangement from the Barney Holiday Videos Preview.
Videos[]
Trailer[]
See also[]
- Barney's Christmas Star (Stage Show) - a show that was performed in the United Square in 2006, featuring songs from the video Barney's Christmas Star.
References[]
- ↑ Purple Roads Ninety Six | Makayla Martin | Kami "Barney & Friends"
- ↑ Billboard TOP KID VIDEO November 16, 2002 Retrieved May 13, 2023
- ↑ Billboard TOP KID VIDEO January 18, 2003 Retrieved May 13, 2023
- ↑ BARNEY - CHRISTMAS STAR - | Official Charts Retrieved October 12, 2023
- ↑ ‘Tis the Season to Be Jolly With Barney & Friends™ in this Holiday Movie Classic featuring 10 festive songs! Retrieved October 12, 2023
- ↑ PBS Stations To Premiere Barney's Christmas Star! Retrieved October 20, 2023
- ↑ Sprout® Celebrates the Holidays with Sesame Street®'s Elmo, Special Holiday-themed Movies and the Annual Snooze-a-Thon December 5, 2011 Retrieved October 3, 2022
- ↑ Purple Roads Episode Twenty Four | Katherine Pully ("Beth" Barney & Friends)