SHIT CARTOON of Scandinavian origin concerning a sort of extended family of colourful, shapeshifting balloony blobs. The main two were Barbapapa and Barbamama, with various “character” parts (sporty Barba, sexy Barba) making up the numbers.
Barbapapa
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Lee James Turnock
April 30, 2010 at 5:16 pm
“Shit”? Maybe. Scary? Definitely. For some reason, this series scared the crap out of me. This and the opening titles for Doctor Who (Tom Baker era) had me scuttling behind the settee.
THX Kling Klang
October 9, 2011 at 10:21 pm
There was a storyline in this which had the Barbapapa home under threat from a collection of unmanned construction (or destruction, perhaps) vehicles which was pretty scary. I well recall their snapping as they advanced on the family.
Droogie
April 29, 2021 at 2:01 am
THX – I had that same book bought for me as a kid where the Barbapapa family have psychotic bulldozers and cranes randomly destructing their home. Suddenly being homeless as a kid terrified me, so this really left an impression.
THX 1139
April 29, 2021 at 2:34 pm
I’m glad my memory’s accurate, on that at least! I actually quite enjoyed this show, though the original cartoons are impossible to find online, it’s all the slicker remake on YouTube (or it was last time I looked).
Damon
September 19, 2015 at 5:32 am
The pink blob character Babapapa himself would say “all change” when it was time to ‘morph into a new thing. In my head I recall Babapapa looked a bit like Mr Greedy but pinker. And in my head it was French and was on BBC, not ITV … but I was so terribly little. Around 1975 I got a book of Babapapa at my primary school’s book club and imagine that the series must’ve been repeated later than 1973 … else I’ve got the best memory ever. Could be the latter.
Joanne
April 6, 2020 at 3:42 am
Damon, I was also under the impression it was shown on the Beeb too. I’m certain it was part of the pre Broom Cupboard teatime fare.
Tom Ronson
April 27, 2021 at 12:09 am
Barbapapa was French, rather than Scandinavian, and its name derives from the French term for candy floss, barbe á papa (literally father’s beard).
Richardpd
April 27, 2021 at 11:31 am
That’s what I heard, one of the creators was an American living in France.
Richardpd
April 29, 2021 at 10:42 pm
This is one of many shows I’ve been surprised weren’t repeated more, considering some seemed to be brought back every few years for decades.