LOVABLE, LOATHSOME BARNEY

The unfortunate tale of how the big, purple people-pleaser became an object of scorn, derision and hatred

AT THE height of his fame he was everywhere – on the Billboard charts, on merchandise that flew off shelves, on the TV screen of almost every home that had a little kid in it. Forbes magazine ranked the oversized purple dinosaur third behind Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey on the world’s list of top earners in 1993, after he amassed an $84-million (then R294m) fortune for the team that created him.

To three-year-olds, Barney was the bomb – but for every adoring toddler belting out I Love You, You Love Me there was an adult whose skin was crawling.

Barney hatred swept the world and the character with the dopey demeanour, silly giggling and inane exclamations such as “super-dee-duper!” was, to some, evil incarnate.

Barney’s rise from pet to pariah is now the subject of a new two-part documentary, I Love You, You Hate Me, airing on US streaming platform Peacock.

In the show Bob West, one of the Barney performers, recalls the death threats he received during his time inside the dinosaur costume.

“They were violent and explicit – death and dismemberment of my family,” he says. “They were gonna come and find me and they were going to kill me.”

Joel Chiodi, one of the doccie’s producers, says the film “unpacks how a kids’ character who stood for understanding and kindness birthed a movement of anger and criticism that threatened the show, its creators and their futures.

“It traces the creation of the character and how it took a toll on the people closest to it, examining the surprising and lingering impact the big, purple dinosaur left on American society.”

A line in the trailer says Barney stood for inclusion and acceptance. “You should love everyone, and we have [creator] Sheryl Leach to thank for that. Why does the world love to hate?”