Barney is a children's educational media franchise that originated with the 1988 direct-to-video series Barney & the Backyard Gang by Sheryl Stamps-Leach and Kathy O'Rourke-Parker. Barney consists of three series—Barney & the Backyard Gang (1988–1991), which consists of only eight videos, Barney & Friends (1992–2010), a television series that ran on PBS Kids, and Barney's World (2024–2025), a fully animated series set to air on Cartoon Network's Cartoonito, and which is currently streaming on Max and is currently distributed by 9 Story Media Group, under license from Mattel Television.

The Barney franchise follows the titular character Barney, an anthropomorphic purple Tyrannosaurus rex who conveys educational messages through songs and small dance routines with a friendly, huggable and optimistic attitude.

Overview Characters Main television series Animated television series Film Barney & the Backyard Gang Barney & Friends Barney's World Barney's Great Adventure Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Barney David Voss David Joyner David Joyner David JoynerJosh Martin Maurice Scott David Joyner Carey StinsonMaurice Scott Carey Stinson Carey StinsonMaurice Scott Carey Stinson David Joyner Barney Bob West Dean Wendt Jonathan Langdon Bob West Baby Bop Dao Knight Jenny Dempsey Jeff Ayers Jeff AyersJennifer Romano Jeff Brooks Jeff AyersJennifer Romano Jeff Ayers Jennifer BarleanJeff Ayers Lauren Mayeux Lauren Mayeux Jeff Ayers Jeff Ayers Baby Bop Julie Johnson Bryn McAuley Julie Johnson BJ colspan="2" Jenny Dempsey Jeff Brooks Jeff BrooksAdam Brown Jeff Brooks Kyle Nelson Jeff Brooks BJ / Billy colspan="2" Patty Wirtz Jonathan Tan Patty Wirtz Riff colspan="10" Adam Brown Jerad HarrisJeff Ayers Jerad Harris Jerad Harris Adam Brown colspan="2" Riff colspan="10" Michaela Dietz colspan="2" Booker T. Bookworm / Bartholomew Bookworm colspan="5" Earl Fisher colspan="9" Anthony Sardinha Tina Jessica Zucha colspan="16" Luci Leah Gloria colspan="16" Amy Becky Swonke colspan="16" Jason Salim Grant colspan="16" Michael Brian Eppes colspan="14" Kim colspan="4" Danielle Vega colspan="10" Angela colspan="7" Demi Lovato colspan="8" Gianna colspan="7" Selena Gomez colspan="8" Jamal colspan="7" Peyton Alex Smith colspan="2" Peyton Alex Smith colspan="6" Debby colspan="10" Debby Ryan colspan="6" Bridget colspan="10" Madison Pettis colspan="6" Joshua colspan="12" Jaren Lewison colspan="3" Jill colspan="12" Mikayla Abdalla colspan="4"

Main Dinosaurs Barney

Barney is the main character of the Barney franchise. He is an anthropomoprhic purple Tyrannosaurus rex with a green stomach in stuffed animal likeness, who comes to life through the children's imaginations. His theme song is "Barney is a Dinosaur", whose tune is based on "Yankee Doodle". Barney often quotes things as being "Super dee-duper". Episodes frequently end with the song "I Love You", sung to the tune of "This Old Man". Despite being a carnivorous type dinosaur, Barney does not have a carnivore's fearsome teeth. He likes many different foods such as fruits and vegetables, but his main favorite is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk.

Baby Bop

Baby Bop is an anthropomorphic green Triceratops wearing a pink bow and pink ballet slippers and always carrying a yellow security blanket along with her, which is referred to as her "blankey". First appearing in the Barney & the Backyard Gang video Barney in Concert, she was originally two years old; however, in the Barney & Friends episode "Look at Me, I'm 3!", she turned three years old. She sings the song "My Yellow Blankey" to show how much her security blanket means to her. She likes to eat macaroni and cheese and pizza. She is the younger sister of BJ.

BJ (Billy)

BJ is a 7-year-old anthropomorphic yellow Protoceratops who wears a red baseball cap and red sneakers. First appearing in the Barney & Friends episode "Look at Me, I'm 3!", he is the older brother of Baby Bop, whom he frequently calls "sissy" and occasionally calls by her name. He sings "BJ's Song", a song about himself. He lost his hat in the Barney & Friends episode "Hats Off to BJ!" Pickles are his favorite food, and he has tried them in various ways, such as on pizza. For Barney's World, for unknown reasons, the character was renamed to "Billy."

Riff

Riff is a character who has only appeared in Barney & Friends from seasons 10 through 14 and in some Barney home videos. First appearing in "Welcome, Cousin Riff", he is a 6-year-old anthropomorphic orange Hadrosaur who wears green sneakers, and he is Baby Bop and BJ's cousin. His theme music is "I Hear Music Everywhere". Riff loves music and it is in almost everything he does. In the video Barney: Let's Go to the Firehouse, it was revealed that Riff also likes to invent different kinds of things; he created a four-sound smoke detector (the first three were different alarm sounds and the final one his voice). He is shown to have an interest in marching bands and parades. His most recent appearance is in A-Counting We Will Go, a Barney home video.

Children

Tina

Tina is a character from the Barney franchise. First appearing in the Barney & the Backyard Gang video The Backyard Show, she also appeared in Barney & Friends, with her first appearance being "The Queen of Make-Believe". Tina lives with her big sister Luci, her mother, her cat Whiskers, and her frog Bouncer. She loves animals, bugs, sing songs in the car, square dance to country music, and climb trees. Her favorite food is macaroni and cheese.

Luci

Luci is a character from the Barney franchise. First appearing in the Barney & the Backyard Gang video The Backyard Show, she also appeared in Barney & Friends, with her first appearance being "My Family's Just Right For Me". Luci lives with her little sister Tina, and her cat Whiskers. She loves winter, playing the guitar, cartwheels and tap dancing. Her favorite food is salad.

Adam

Adam is a character who appeared in seven of the eight videos of Barney & the Backyard Gang. In Campfire Sing-Along, he was replaced with Jeffrey because Alexander Jhin wasn't available at the time that video was filmed. Like Amy, Adam did not appear in Barney & Friends because Alexander Jhin was also unavailable in that series along with Becky Swonke.

Amy

Amy is a character who appeared in all eight videos of Barney & the Backyard Gang.

Jason

Jason is a character who only appeared in the first three videos of Barney & the Backyard Gang. He is able to tap dance and likes animals. However, he can also make waves with his arms, which he likes to do as well.

Michael

Michael is a character from the Barney franchise. First appearing in the Barney & the Backyard Gang video The Backyard Show, he also appeared in Barney & Friends, with his first appearance being "The Queen of Make-Believe". Michael lives with his little sister named Amy, his parents, and their dogs, Buster and Sparky. He likes to search for rocks when camping, meaning that he has a rock collection at home in a box. Michael is also a school crossing guard. In addition to his favorite food being cold watermelons, Michael is able to play the cello because he likes music; he is also known for playing soccer, however.

Kim

Kim is a character who appeared in various Barney episodes like with Barney & Friends episodes from Seasons 4 through 6. She lives with her parents, an older sister, and an adopted baby brother, and she has a friend named Kristen. Kim prefers to dance and sing. However, she also knows how to play the flute. Her favorite bear is the giant panda. In "A Picture of Health" it was revealed that Kim once accidentally damaged her foot and needed to head to the hospital for an X-ray.

Recurring Mother Goose

Mother Goose is a character from Barney & Friends. Based on the fictional storyteller of the same name, she is an imaginary author who lives in the "Land of Mother Goose" (a land featuring her house, her garden, other characters from nursery rhymes, etc.) and prefers to speak in "rhyme". Mother Goose has been around for a large number of years for a quite long time and has a pet goose named Clarence (who appeared in "Honk! Honk! A Goose on the Loose!" and Barney's Big Surprise). Frequently, she already knows Barney's friends, as she knows the name of everyone who has ever read her rhymes.

References