Laurent de Brunhoff, the creator of the beloved children’s character “Babar” and a key figure in the development of a worldwide media empire, has passed away at the age of 98.
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The individual who oversaw its growth into an internationally recognized, diverse business and media empire has passed away at the age of 98.
Renowned Parisian artist De Brunhoff, who relocated to the United States in the 1980s, passed away on Friday at his residence in Key West, Florida. His wife, Phyllis Rose, confirmed that he had been under hospice care for two weeks prior to his passing.
Laurent was only 12 years old when his father, Jean de Brunhoff, passed away from tuberculosis. As an adult, Laurent utilized his talents as a painter and storyteller to create numerous books about the famous elephant ruler of Celesteville, including titles such as “Babar at the Circus” and “Babar’s Yoga for Elephants.” Despite preferring a more concise writing style than his father, Laurent’s illustrations still captured the same gentle and subtle approach.
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In 1981, author Ann S. Haskell described how the father and son collaborated to create a fictive world that was so flawlessly interconnected that it was difficult to distinguish between their contributions.
According to Ariel Dorfman, the books can be seen as reflecting the underlying reasons and justification for the unequal global distribution of resources, where some countries have an abundance and others have barely anything.
Dorfman argued that Babar’s story is essentially the realization of colonial ambitions held by powerful nations.
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In 2008, Adam Gopnik, who works as a correspondent in Paris for The New Yorker, supported “Babar” by stating that it is not a subconscious portrayal of the French colonial mindset, but rather a deliberate satire on it and its connection to French domestic mindset.
Brunhoff himself admitted being uncomfortable with the portrayal of Babar engaging in conflict with African individuals. He particularly expressed remorse for the 1949 book “Babar’s Picnic,” which contained offensive depictions of Black and Native American people. He requested that the publication be removed by his publisher.
Brunhoff was the first-born of three sons to Jean and Cecile Brunhoff. Cecile, who was also an artist, came up with the idea for Babar while telling her children a story about their namesake, Babar’s wife, and the kingdom of elephants.
In 2014, de Brunhoff shared with National Geographic the origin of the story of Babar. According to de Brunhoff, his mother began telling the story to him and his siblings as a way to keep them occupied. They enjoyed it so much that the next day, they eagerly told their father, who was working in his study in the garden. Their father found the story amusing and began to illustrate it. This marked the birth of the story of Babar. At first, de Brunhoff’s mother called the elephant in the story “Bebe” (French for baby), but it was his father who changed the name to Babar. The initial pages of the first book, which featured the elephant’s tragic death at the hands of a hunter, and his subsequent escape to the city, were based on his mother’s storytelling.
In 1931, the first installment of the popular series was published by the family-owned publishing company, Le Jardin Des Modes. The release of Babar was met with great enthusiasm and author Jean de Brunhoff went on to write four more books in the series before passing away at the young age of 37. Two more Babar books were later published with the help of Laurent’s uncle, Michael, but the series was not added to until after World War II. During this time, Laurent, who had become a painter, made the decision to revive the series.
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“Over time, I developed a strong belief that there was a longstanding tradition surrounding Babar and that it should be preserved,” he expressed in a 1952 article for The New York Times.
De Brunhoff was married twice. His most recent marriage was to Phyllis Rose, a critic and biographer who wrote the text for numerous “Babar” books, including the 2017 final installment, “Babar’s Guide to Paris.” He had two children named Anne and Antoine. Although he did not intentionally write for a young audience, de Brunhoff’s books appealed to children.
“I don’t typically have children in mind when writing my books,” he stated in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2017. “Babar was my companion and I crafted stories involving him, but not specifically for children. I write for my own enjoyment.”
Source: cbsnews.com