From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colargol is a fictional bear created by French writer Olga Pouchine in the 1950s. Colargol first became famous through a series of children's recordings by Philips in the 1960s. It is the story of a little bear who wanted to sing and travel the world.

Following the success of the Colargol albums Albert Barillé's animation company Procidis started production on Les Aventures de Colargol, a stop motion animated series starring Colargol. Barillé enlisted the Polish animator Tadeusz Wilkosz and Se-ma-for in Łódź to create the animation.

Music for the series was performed by Mireille, orchestration was by Jean-Michel Defaye, and the lyrics were by Victor Villien.

The series was produced from 1967-1974, comprising of 53 thirteen minute episodes which were broadcast in many European countries. Les Aventures de Colargol was renamed Barnaby when it was dubbed into English and broadcast in the UK by the BBC. The series underwent another name change when a second dubbed version of the series was shown in Canada, this time as Jeremy the Bear.

The series was also turned into three motion picture films in Poland; Colargol na Dzikim Zachodzie (Colargol in the Wild West) in 1976, Colargol zdobywcą kosmosu (Colargol, the Conqueror of Space) in 1978, and Colargol i cudowna walizka (Colargol and the Magic Suitcase) in 1979.

Barnaby is the British version of the Colargol animated series. Barnaby was the name of the narrator Colin Jeavons' son. Barnaby was first aired on the programme 'Watch with Mother' in April 1973 on the BBC. The programme also featured the voice talents of Charles Collingwood, Gwenllian Owen and Percy Edwards. The English version was produced by Michael Grafton-Robinson. Thirteen episodes were produced; an episode usually had at least two "Colargol" episodes spliced together.

• In the Forest
• The Bear Visits The King of the Birds and Learns to Sing
• The Concert
• The Circus
• The Rescue
• Barnaby Learns to Swim
• Ship's Boy
• Escape To Nordine
• Return To The Forest
• The Holiday
• Welcome to Nordine
• Crow's Wedding
• Farewell Nordine.

Jeremy the Bear is the Canadian version of Colargol, a TVOntario program which aired in the 1970s and 1980s. Unlike the British version, Jeremy the Bear kept all of the episodes intact and properly in order. This was one of the many 15 minute shows that TVOntario had during that era.

• The mascots of the 2008 Olympic Games, the Fuwa, share some resemblance with Colargol.
• In both the original Colargol, and Jeremy the Bear, the opening sequence was different for each episode, and the opening theme would vary according to the story arc that the show was in. There were two main tunes for this. However, the ending song tended to be the same for each episode.
• At the beginning of one of the later episodes, where a train is seen leaving, the camera zooms in on a semaphore signal, a play on the name of the Polish company involved, Se-Ma-For.

• Les Aventures de Colargol at the Internet Movie Database
• La Tour du monde de Colargol at the Internet Movie Database
• Barnaby fansite
• Jeremy fansite
• Colargol fansite
• Museum Dobranocek Colargol Poland fansite