'Le Roi Babar' (1933).
Jean de Brunhoff was a French writer and illustrator for children, most famous as the co-creator of the 'Babar' book series (1931- ), about a humanized elephant king. The character and his universe were thought up by the artist's wife, Cécile, while he adapted the concept into a series of children's books. The pachyderm monarch rose to become one of the all-time classics of French children's literature. The franchise inspired countless novels, was translated all over the globe and adapted into films, TV series, musical audio plays and video games. Even after Jean De Brunhoff's early death in 1937, 'Babar' novels and additional merchandise have continued to appear all over the planet.
Early life
Jean de Brunhoff was born in 1899 in Paris, as the son of Maurice de Brunhoff (1861-1937), publisher of the Comœdia Illustré and art director of the Parisian Folies Bergères theater. Jean's older brothers Jacques de Brunhoff (1888-1973) and Michel de Brunhoff (1892-1958) later became the editors of, respectively, the magazines La Décor Aujourd’Hui and the French edition of Vogue magazine. Their sister Cosette de Brunhoff (1886-1964) was a journalist, photographer and fashion editor, who later married publisher Lucien Vogel. After fighting in the trenches near the end of the First World War, Jean de Brunhoff studied painting at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. In 1924, he married Cécile Sabouraud (1903-2003), a pianist and music teacher, with whom he had three sons: Laurent (1925-2024), Mathieu (1926) and Thierry (1934). They settled in one of the Parisian suburbs.
Babar
In 1929-1930, De Brunhoff's wife Cécile told her children Laurent and Mathieu a bedtime story about the elephant Babar, whose mother is shot by a hunter. Babar escapes from the wild and discovers a city, where he is adopted by a rich old human lady, referred to as "Christelle, la Vieille Dame" ("Christelle, the Old Lady"). She dresses and tutors him like a human. By the time his cousins Celeste and Arthur have located him, Babar has become a civilized animal. The three elephants return to the jungle, where they learn that the elephant king has recently passed away from eating a poisonous mushroom. Because of his knowledge and modernity, Babar is crowned as the new king, making Celeste his queen and molding the jungle according to human civilization and ethics.
De Brunhoff's children liked the story so much that they asked their father to write it down and illustrate it. The work was published as 'Histoire de Babar' ('The Story of Babar', 1931) and became an instant bestseller. The publisher was Lucien Vogel, the husband of Jean's sister Cosette, and the publisher of the magazine Le Jardin des Modes. While Cécile de Brunhoff is generally credited with thinking up the story and characters, the visual style of 'Babar' was completely Jean's work. Having no experience in book illustration, Jean worked on instinct, using a simple style with a naïve, but nevertheless charming look. Before 'Babar', most children's books had a small format, with images as little vignettes. De Brunhoff printed his book on a big format, so that his large illustrations could be spread over full pages. Another innovation was his use of Chinese ink and bright watercolor paint.
During his lifetime, Jean de Brunhoff released five sequels: 'Le Voyage de Babar' (1932), 'Le Roi Babar' (1933), 'L'ABC de Babar' (1934), 'Les Vacances de Zéphir' (1936) and 'Babar en Famille' (1938), which were followed by the posthumous releases 'Babar en famille' (1938) and 'Babar et le père Noël' (1941). With his wife Celeste, the little elephant king received four children: Pom, Flora, Alexander and Isabelle. His royal household was complemented with Cornelius the counsellor, Poutifour the gardener and Babar's close friend Zéphir the monkey. Christelle, the old lady who took care of Babar, also moves into his palace. The elephants additionally received an antagonist, the rhinoceros king Rataxes. By 1933, the original 'Babar' book was translated in English by none other than A.A. Milne, the author of 'Winnie the Pooh'.
'Le Voyage de Babar' and 'Le Roi Babar'.
Death and legacy
Unfortunately, Jean de Brunhoff didn't live long to enjoy Babar's global success. In 1937, the writer-artist died of tuberculosis in a sanatorium in Montana, Switzerland. His final completed story mirrored his own illness, as Babar visits an old, sick and tired elephant. While still in his early teens, Jean de Brunhoff's son Laurent assumed the further colorization his father drawings for two unfinished 'Babar' stories, released posthumoustly as 'Babar en famille' (1938) and 'Babar et le père Noël' (1941). After World War II, Laurent de Brunhoff continued the franchise by writing and illustrating new books every year.
Despite at times being accused of advocating sexism, colonialism, capitalism and racism, the 'Babar' series has become an international phenomenon. The books have been translated in Dutch, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Arab, Turkish, Chinese and Japanese. In 1968, it was adapted for television as a puppet series by Antégor. Two animated features, 'Babar, le Petit Eléphant' (1968) and 'Babar en Amérique' (1971), followed. In 1986, a Christmas TV special was made, 'Babar and Father Christmas'. Michel Breton was one of the animators.
Between 1989 and 1991, the Canadian animation studio Nelvana Limited transformed 'Babar' into an animated TV series. In this version, Babar was remodelled with a shorter trunk and simpler colors for merchandising purposes. The Old Lady became tall and slender, rather than chubby like in the original novel. Another character, Pompadour the servant, was created specifically for the series. One of the animators on the TV show was Jeff Baud. The show lasted five seasons, with two film adaptations, 'Babar: The Movie' (1989) and 'Babar: King of the Elephants' (1999), followed by one extra TV season in 2000. Two 'Babar' novels inspired classical compositions by François Poulenc ('L' Histoire de Babar', 1940) and Raphael Mostel ('Le Voyage de Babar', 1994).
Jean de Brunhoff's artwork was a major inspiration to Maurice Sendak, Dick Bruna and Piet Worm. In 1981, when the story collection 'De Mémoire de Babar' was released by Hachette de Jeunesse, Sendak wrote the foreword.
'L'Histoire de Babar' (English-language version).