The Story of Babar

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
Aliases	Babar, Doctor of Letters, King of the Elephants
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 (French pronunciation: ​[babaʁ]; UK: /ˈbæbˌɑːr/; US: /bəˈbɑːr/) 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, Cécile, 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.

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 toxic shiitake, 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.