Billy Joe,[2] who's only and always referred to as BJ, is a main recurring character on the television series, Barney & Friends.
A seven-year-old yellow Protoceratops, BJ made his first appearance on September 27, 1993 at the "Barney & Friends New Season Celebration", which was held at the Game Day Sports Cafe in Plano, Texas where Barney and Baby Bop introduced him. Another event occurred that same day at Shea Stadium in New York to introduce BJ. He would then make a subsequent introduction in season two of Barney & Friends[3] with the episode, "Look At Me, I'm 3!", in 1993.[4] He debuted as a six-year-old, but eventually turned seven in the national stage show tour of Barney's Big Surprise (1996-1998).
BJ is a good friend of Barney's and the older brother of Baby Bop, whom he frequently calls "Sissy", though on rare occasions, he does call her by name. He is also Riff's cousin and his best friend. Like the other dinosaurs, BJ comes from the imagination of children. At the end of most episodes of Barney & Friends, he (alongside Baby Bop and Riff) disappear into a burst of magical sparkles.
BJ is described as an impulsive dinosaur[5] but is always eager to help his friends. As an active seven-year-old, BJ also likes to run, jump, and ride around on his red scooter. Although he loves baseball, basketball, and soccer, it's safe to say that he has never met a sport he didn't like. He also likes to play the drums and the guitar. It was established in Come On Over to Barney's House that he also played drums in his rock band, 'BJ and the Rockets'. BJ enjoys pretending to be Captain Pickles, his superhero alter-ego, with the name being a nod to his favorite snack, pickles.[6]
BJ's theme song is the titular "BJ's Song", which was largely retired by 1998, though it continued to be used as underscore in BJ-related scenes until 2009.
History
Creation
The writers of Barney & Friends added BJ because they wanted a sibling relationship to work with (as characters Barney and Baby Bop are just friends) in order to have more relatable stories that children watching could understand and relate to. [7] One of BJ's inspirations was the character of Huckleberry Finn, an equally adventurous and precocious character. [8] The addition of BJ also allowed for the portrayal of sibling dynamics, particularly more negative interactions that couldn't be shown between the cast of children on Barney & Friends.[9]
Naming
BJ was named after Sheryl Leach's father, Billy Joe "B.J." Stamps[10] as an honor and memorial to her father who passed away near the end of the first season of Barney & Friends. Originally spelled B.J., the name was reduced to simply BJ starting in Barney's Fun & Games, to avoid questions as to what the name stood for.
Costume
History
BJ's head in the soft sculpture stage of development.
Irene Corey in her workshop with BJ costumes.
The initial design of BJ was created by an individual in the marketing department for The Lyons Group, owners of Barney & Friends. Irene Corey, who built the original costumes for Barney and Baby Bop rejected and refused to build the design that was conceived. Jess Nelson, a production designer for the show, was tasked by Leach to use some elements from the initial sketch and Irene Corey's feedback when reworking BJ's design. The suit was then built by Irene Corey and her niece Suzanne Lockridge.
When the costume builders were developing the dye formula for the costume, BJ's color initially came out far too bright. This created issues for the video engineers in the control room, as the intensity of the color was spiking the camera equipment and causing the rest of the image to dim. Jess Nelson resolved the issue by adding a small amount of black to the dye formula to tone down the brightness. In early on-camera tests (unseen in final videos), BJ's costume appeared white instead of yellow—similar to an earlier issue with Barney, whose costume sometimes looked blue rather than purple on camera. BJ's overly bright color caused the video signal to spike and triggered the equipment to automatically dim the feed during early stages of production.[11]
Design
In BJ's early appearances seen on the show, he was slightly taller than Barney. BJ was redesigned in season three of Barney & Friends; his height was shrunken to better suit his age of six-years-old (and later seven).
BJ always wears his red baseball cap with his red and white sneakers. He has three hairs on his frill that goes in front of his baseball cap.
See Also: BJ Through the Years
Portrayal
Barney and BJ with Patty Wirtz, the original voice actress of BJ
Body actor Dave Kendall alongside BJ.
Body Portrayal History
One mannerism for BJ is that whenever he's stationary, he would keep his arms moving.[12]
Voice Portrayal History
BJ's voice was originally a much deeper voice when he debuted in "Look At Me, I'm 3!". The voice became higher pitched as time passed throughout the years, to fit his young age and as he shrunk down to scale.
Actors
Costume Actors
- Jenny Dempsey (1993)
- Jeff Brooks (1994-2002)
- Mike Hagan (1996, Barney's Big Surprise)
- Pat O'Connell (1996-1998)
- Kyle Nelson (1997-2009)
- Adam Brown (1997, some shots of "E-I-E-I-O")
- Charles L. Shaw (1999-2001)
- Jerad Harris (2003-2006, 2010)
- Dave Kendall (2003-2006)
Voice Actors
- Patty Wirtz (1993-2010)
Trivia
- Originally, BJ had a trademark whistle that would let the audience know of his arrival.[13] Although it was not heard in Barney Safety or Barney's Fun & Games, it was officially discontinued in Barney's Musical Scrapbook.
- In November 1998, it was announced that BJ was going to have his own animated spin-off series titled BJ and the Radical Rumblebutts which would've been produced by Lyrick Studios and Toronto’s Portfolio Films.[14] The project didn't come to fruition however, scripts were written.
- According to some accounts, BJ’s personality was limited in his season debut because writer Stephen White was instructed not to expand the character too much at that early stage.
In-universe facts
- Whenever BJ grows a new spot on his tail, it's a sign that he's growing (as stated in the video I Can Do It!).
- While "Billy Joe" is BJ's full name, he prefers to be called "BJ" given that it sounds like the name of a famous sports star (as mentioned in the "Barney Character Portfolio").[2]
- While it's never explicitly stated in the franchise as to where the little dinos come from, the original script of Barney's Great Adventure alludes that they come from the imagination of children.
- While the idea of how BJ (alongside Baby Bop and Riff) vanishes into magical sparkles went unexplored on video, it was explored within a penned treatment titled "Barney's Magic of Music" by Stephen White in 2005. The treatment explains that the little dinos think of the fun they had throughout the day, alongside the fun they'll have tomorrow, while using their imaginations to scurry off.
Voices
- Carol Farabee was BJ's understudy in Barney Live! In New York City.
- Like the voices of Barney and Baby Bop, BJ was voiced by an unknown stand-in for the live show of Barney Live! World Tour - A Celebration!.
Appearances
See Also
- Images of BJ - categorized images featured on Barney Wiki of the character BJ.
- Alternate BJ Costumes - officially produced costumes that weren't explicitly used on camera for BJ's appearances on Barney & Friends.
References
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