“And if we do see that, they’re penalized.”Ĭhiodi and others identify an element of homophobia behind the visceral anger Barney inspired on such a wide scale. “We’re just not used to – in our culture – seeing men that are kind, vulnerable and sweet,” she comments in the documentary. Yalda Uhls, a child psychologist and former movie industry executive, detects a reason for the negative reaction to Barney’s warm and supportive nature. The series meticulously unpacks what caused the Barney backlash. “There’s obviously a jealousy issue there, as silly as that may sound, but that’s a real feeling.” “He came home from work one day expecting her to say, ‘Hey, dad!’ But she’s glued to the television,” Avallone explains. The filmmakers interviewed Robert Curran, who founded the I Hate Barney Secret Society in 1993, after his two-year-old daughter became obsessed with Barney. They want to hear the same song, they want to hear the same story.”īut that very repetition, along with Barney’s relentlessly upbeat attitude, is part of what drove parents – and others beyond the target audience - crazy. As West observes in the film, “With a preschool kid, repetition represents safety. With a great big hug/And a kiss from me to you/Won’t you say you love me too?”īarney fans loved to sing and dance along. West came up with the character’s giggly, goofy voice, and sang his cheery song (to the melody of “This Old Man”): “I love you, you love me/We’re a happy family. And once that character landed, it just exploded.” Sheryl Leach and the Barney crew really found a market. “When Barney came out in ‘92, Nick Junior was just starting, Disney Channel wasn’t like the way it became. “The show came back on in 1993, their second season… 1993 is what they call their ‘Elvis’ year. Within a few years, an executive with Connecticut Public Television worked with Leach to turn her creation into a PBS series, Barney & Friends, which launched in 1992. The first Barney home videos came out in 1988. Because if you knew what the odds against making this thing were, you would never even try.” “You see this sweet person who against all odds, almost because of her naivete, she succeeded. “Sheryl’s amazing journey… along with that teacher’s heart and why she created it - I even get the chills a little bit ,” says executive producer Joel Chiodi, head of documentaries and SVP of strategic development at Scout Productions, which produced the series. The people who helped bring Barney to life, including voice actor Bob West, and David Joyner – the actor-dancer inside the Barney suit for many years – all describe Leach in the fondest terms. She designed Barney to be upbeat and cuddly, with a plush, huggable body, a perma-smile and a strip of white teeth like a parson’s collar instead of the jagged incisors of an actual T-Rex. He was the brainchild of Sheryl Leach, a Texas schoolteacher and new mom who found little in the way of engaging videos to keep her preschooler Patrick entertained. “Several years later, creating this docu-series, it feels good to be on the other side and no longer a Barney hater.”Įpisode 1 excavates the dinosaur’s origins in the late 1980s. “As a teenager, for one of my birthdays I asked my aunt to make me a Barney costume, so my friends and I could beat him up on camera,” he says. I Love You, You Hate Me, the two-part documentary series premiering on Peacock on Wednesday, explores the way Barney became a runaway hit with tots, and how the tubby T-Rex ignited one of the most devastating backlashes in pop culture history.ĭirector Tommy Avallone admits that as a kid, he too partook in Barney bashing. He came to spread a message of love, and got the stuffing knocked out of him. The Plight Of A Purple Dinosaur: ‘I Love You, You Hate Me’ Unpacks Barney’s Rise And The Vicious Backlash:
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