Babar the Elephant

Babar the Elephant
Cover of the first Babar story, Histoire de Babar (Story of Babar), published 1931
First appearance	Histoire de Babar, 1931
Created by	Jean de Brunhoff
Voiced by	Gordon Pinsent Dan Lett Gavin McGrath (young) Kristin Fairlie (young)
Information
Species	Elephant
Gender	Male
Occupation	King
Spouse(s)	Celeste
Children	Pom, Flora, Alexander, Isabelle
Relatives	Arthur (cousin), Badou (grandson), Periwinkle (daughter-in-law), Cory (son-in-law)

Babar the Elephant is a fictional character who first appeared in 1931 in the French children's book Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff.

The book is based on a tale that Brunhoff's wife, Cecile, had invented for their children. It tells of a young elephant Babar whose mother is killed by a hunter. Babar escapes, and in the process leaves the jungle, visits a big city, and returns to bring the benefits of civilization to his fellow elephants. Just as he returns to his community of elephants, their king dies from eating a bad mushroom. Because of his travels and civilization, Babar is appointed king of the elephant kingdom. He marries his cousin, and they subsequently have children and teach them valuable lessons. The book series show the successful civilization of someone by the Western World.

After Babar's mother is shot by a hunter, he flees the jungle and finds his way to an unspecified big city with no particular characteristics. He is befriended by The Old Lady, who buys him clothes and hires him a tutor. Babar's cousins Celeste and Arthur find him in the big city and help him return to the Elephant realm. Following the death of the King of the Elephants, who had eaten a poisonous mushroom (fly agaric?), a council of elephants approach Babar, saying that as he has "lived among men and learned much", he would be suitable to become the new King. Babar is crowned King of the Elephants and marries his cousin Celeste.

In Jean de Brunhoff's second Babar book, The Travels of Babar, when the married couple leave by balloon on their honeymoon:

"...stormy winds down the balloon on an island, and yet again will the royal couple escape by whale, be marooned on an even smaller island and be rescued by a passing ocean liner only to be turned over to an animal trainer and put to work in a circus. And when they escape and return home, what awaits them but war with the rhinoceroses."

Babar wins the war by having the elephants paint monster faces on their backsides, which cause the frightened rhinoceroses to run away. After the victory celebrations, the book ends with Babar, Celeste and The Old Lady sitting together and discussing how Babar can rule wisely and make all the elephants happy.