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Riff is a main recurring character on the television show Barney & Friends. He was the first dinosaur to be created in over thirteen years for the series.[4]

A six-year-old orange hadrosaur,[5] Riff made his first appearance in the home video, Let's Make Music (2006),[6] with a subsequent introduction in the episode, "Welcome, Cousin Riff". He was added to Barney Live! - The Let's Go Tour shortly thereafter. His name is a kind of music that can be played repeatedly. Because of his name, his words in his speech sometimes is repeated, most often adding "itty" to the end of a word, before repeating the word properly.

Riff is a good friend of Barney's and the cousin to both Baby Bop and BJ. Like the other dinosaurs, Riff comes from the imagination of children. At the end of most episodes of Barney & Friends, he (alongside Baby Bop and BJ) disappear into a burst of magical sparkles.

Riff is all about music. He hears music everywhere he goes, which ties directly into his theme song, "I Hear Music Everywhere." He is also able to mimic and make various sounds. He loves music so much that his crest blinks whenever he is creating music or is excited.[7] Like the other dinosaurs, he is an amicable character, though can also be rather shy and doubtful of himself, often needing encouragement from his friends. He also enjoys inventing things on the side.

NoLogo

Karen Barnes, an executive producer of Barney & Friends, with Riff. (Date taken: August 29, 2006)

History

Creation

According to HIT Entertainment and executive producer Karen Barnes, Riff was created to add musical diversity to the series.[4] Additionally, his creation was supposed to aid in bringing the show to a wider international audience.

Costume

History

Riff's costume was built in 2005, however the character wouldn't be officially introduced until the following year. Unlike the costumes of Barney, BJ and Baby Bop, Riff is the only dinosaur from Barney & Friends to not be designed, created and built by Irene Corey Design Associates. He was internally built by the costume team as production for the series setup their own costume shop and had craftspeople that could construct costumes to their standard. The internal construction of the character further emphasized that royalties, contracts and or design rights wouldn't be a worry as they were with Irene Corey Design Associates.

Originally, whenever Riff would sing, his lights were meant to pulse, however, due to them not working at times,[8] it was further toned down and used if he was ever surprised and or excited.

Design

Riff is orange with a yellow tummy, green spots, and green spikes. He is known for his crest spots lighting up with green lights, making music each time they do. He wears green sneakers with yellow socks and purple laces on them. Riff is the only little dinosaur in the franchise to not start out tall as Barney and even debuted shorter than both BJ and Baby Bop.[7] Riff would eventually become taller than Baby Bop when the character was portrayed by Jeff Ayers and Jerad Harris on Barney & Friends.

Portrayal

Riff Image Trademark

Image trademark illustration of Riff.

Body Portrayal History

To differentiate body movement from BJ, due to him being another male little dino, the taps on Riff's stomach was created when Adam Brown portrayed the character.[9]

Voice Portrayal History

During auditions for Riff, the character was described as edgy and urban.[10] Unlike the voices of Barney and BJ where they started out deep in their debut, Riff's voice started out higher pitched when he debuted in "Welcome, Cousin Riff". His voice would get deeper during his appearances on Barney & Friends.

Actors

Costume Actors

Voice Actors

Trivia

Rifffirstphotoshoot

A shot from Riff's first photoshoot with the other dinosaurs

  • While the idea of how Riff (alongside BJ and Baby Bop) vanishes into magical sparkles went unexplored on video, it was explored within a penned a treatment titled "Barney's Magic of Music" by Stephen White in 2005. The treatment explains that the little dinos think of the fun they had throughout the day, alongside the fun they'll have tomorrow, while using their imaginations to scurry off.
  • In the unproduced treatment titled "Barney's Magic of Music" by Stephen White, Riff was named "Zack" due to him not having a name yet.
  • Riff is the only dinosaur whose name does not start with the letter B.

Appearances

See Also

References

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