Barney's World
Barney's World is an animated television series that debuted on HBO Max on October 14, 2024. Produced by Mattel Television and Corus Entertainment's Nelvana, it serves as a relaunch to the Barney franchise, which spawned its first television series Barney & Friends which was based on its predecessor Barney & the Backyard Gang. Unlike its predecessor, which was live-action, Barney's World is animated. The series is aimed at children from ages two to six.
Plot
Set in a local playground, the show is centered around dinos Barney, Billy, and Baby Bop, and their three kid best friends. Throughout silly and imaginative adventures together, Barney helps kids explore big preschool emotions and shows them how to love themselves and others. The series highlights themes of love, community, and encouragement.Characters
Dinosaurs
- Barney a purple dinosaur who can do magic and he can glow.
- Baby Bop a green triceratops who is smart, funny, and she can glow.
- Billy a yellow protoceratops.
Humans
Children
- David is an African-American boy.
- Mel is a competitive Korean-Mexican-American girl.
- Vivie is a cheerful, creative, and artistic Caucasian blonde girl.
- Liam is David's older brother.
- Lulu is David's baby sister.
Adults
- Ms. Lewis is David's mom.
- Grady
- Nonna is Vivie's grandmother.
- Luis is Mel's dad.
- Grace is Mel's mom.
Other
- Bartholomew Bookworm is a library bookworm.
- Butterfly is a talking butterfly.
- Aster is a talking flower.
- Susan is a talking flower.
- Squirrel #1 is a talking squirrel.
- Pigeon is a talking pigeon.
- Squirrel #3 is a talking squirrel.
- Hermie is a hermit crab.
Production
Development
Originally in October 2015, a revival of Barney & Friends was announced to premiere in 2017, but it did not come to fruition. However, during Mattel's 2021 Virtual Analyst Day Presentation, Barney was included to be a "new series in development" by Mattel Television. On February 13, 2023, Mattel announced that it would relaunch the Barney franchise with an animated series set to debut in 2024. Announced to be a collaboration between Mattel Television and Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, Fred Soulie and Christopher Keenan for Mattel Television and Colin Bohm, Doug Murphy and Pam Westman for Nelvana were revealed to be the show's executive producers. The relaunch is set to introduce audiences to the world of Barney through music-filled adventures centered on love, community, and encouragement.The title of the series, Barney's World, was officially revealed on May 9, 2023. On September 4, 2024, it was announced that Michelle Mendelovitz and Josh Silverman would executive produce the series on behalf of Mattel and while Doug Murphy and Pam Westman remained as executive producers on behalf of Nelvana, Athena Georgaklis and Mellany Welsh were also added on behalf of the latter company. Ten more episodes are set to be ordered in mid-2025 to complete the first season.
Animation for the series is done by Kickstart Animation in Vancouver and Digital Dimension Entertainment Group in Quebec, while pre-production and storyboarding is done at Nelvana.
Release
Upon the initial announcement, Mattel confirmed that the relaunch will be available for streaming, and broadcast partners were to be announced later in 2023. On May 9, 2023, it was officially revealed that the series would air on Cartoonito and stream on Max. Executive Producer Pam Westman confirmed that the series would air on the Treehouse TV network in Canada, with it later being announced by Corus Entertainment, parent of Nelvana, on June 5, 2024 that the series was set to debut on the network. During Mattel's 2024 Virtual Analyst Day Presentation, Chief Brand Officer Lisa McKnight mentioned that the series is set to debut in late-Fall 2024.In August 2024, footage of the series was leaked online before an exact release date was announced and before footage was officially unveiled. Victoria Ramirez, a director of global marketing and music distribution for Mattel Television, publicly confirmed on August 28, 2024 that the series is set to launch in October 2024. On September 4, 2024 it was officially announced that the series was set to premiere on October 14, 2024 on Max followed by a linear premiere on Cartoon Network’s Cartoonito block starting October 18, 2024. "Select" episodes of Barney's World are also available on YouTube, where the series premiere streamed early on October 11, 2024 in specific countries. Barney's World also launched on Cartoonito in EMEA and APAC regions, and Discovery Kids in LATAM. In Canada, Barney's World also premiered on October 14, 2024 on Treehouse and is available to stream on STACKTV. Footage of the series was officially unveiled on September 4, 2024 via a trailer and character introductions of Barney, Baby Bop and Billy.
A 23-minute special titled Barney's World: I Love Me Too premiered first on YouTube on January 31, 2025.
A short series titled Barney's World: Dino Dance Party premiered first on YouTube on September 6, 2025.
This series was temporarily released in TVNZ+ from October 26, 2025 to January 31, 2026, during the Mattel 80th anniversary event.