My Favourite Babar Characters
It comes to four characters who are my absolute favourites (I canât decide between them): Basil, Pompadour, Cornelius and Troubadour.
Basil... who wouldnât love Basil? That little rhino is both admirable and humble, and he always treats just about everybody with respect, regardless of their species or alliance. To quote King Babar, âthat Basil is quite a guy!â. It was so sad yet so beautiful that Basil was willing to throw away a chance at fame just because of how glad he was to see his boss respected by his people and loved by his family in âUnsung Heroâ (if only more human beings in this day and age could be a bit more like Basil, am I right?). Heâs also not portrayed as a bumbling servant, but instead as a resourceful and dedicated friend to Rataxes who helps keep everything in-check while still watching from the sidelines. I just wish he had appeared in more episodes! His origin and backstory, much like Pompadourâs, is rather ambiguous, but Basil was even less developed as a character and we never really got much in that regard (I was always hoping they would do an episode on how Rataxes came to meet and hire Basil, since Rataxes always seemed like the last guy who would admit to wanting an assistant).
Pompadour was always a favourite of mine; heâs adorably conservative and high-strung, but Iâve always loved how well-developed he is. He completely shatters the overused trope of the pompous, snooty bureaucrat who only cares about himself (yes, Iâm looking at you, Chi-Fu from Disneyâs Mulan!). Pompadour can be very snooty, but he isnât mean-spirited, and throughout the show he shows a great deal of compassion for others. Wanting to build shelters for the homeless was just one example, but itâs most evident when he expresses how much he actually values his friends in spite of his general attitude. Rushing in to save Cornelius during a kitchen fire, being very patient with Isabelle when he was babysitting the children even though he definitely wasnât a fan of the job, trying to stay behind under the guise of âproper protocolâ in the episode âRemember When...â so Babar could board a plane with his family and get to safety first, turning on all the lights in the palace to try and lead Arthur and the children back home after they get lost, being so understanding when Babar doesnât want the Celesteville Express to destroy Pleasant Valley, the list goes on. Itâs a wonderful change from similarly aristocratic fictional characters, e.g. Squilliam from Spongebob or Gilbert from King of the Hill, to have a character who behaves similarly but is a genuinely good soul at the end of the day. When he does go out of line, he usually offers a genuine apology as well and acknowledges his wrongdoing, something similar characters simply never do.
Cornelius is a character who I not only saw on TV, but who appeared in the original books decades earlier. I do wish he and Pompadour had more adventures on-screen together; they are such wonderful friends and the depth of that is something which has always been endearing. Cornelius is always very caring towards Pompadour, and their relationship was never portrayed in a preachy or bizarre way. Cornelius is probably the wisest character on the show too; playing Hide & Seek with the children in âConga the Terribleâ and then tricking them into thinking heâd fallen asleep, his heartfelt talks with Babar and his role as almost a surrogate father, itâs all so simple and yet so powerful simultaneously. One of the episodes which really made him memorable and a favourite of mine was âA Child in the Snowâ - heâs like that wise old grandfather who understands the motives behind everything and who appreciates the mysteries of life, yet heâs rational enough to also know when to leave the past behind. In the more recent âBabar and the Adventures of Badouâ, heâs still present but portrayed as sillier than in the 1990â˛s show, a change which Iâve never appreciated. Iâm still glad though that he has managed to hold on as a character and keep reappearing in adaptations instead of being forgotten like some of the others.
Troubadour, finally, is a character who never speaks (except in the tie-in picture book series) and heâs shrouded in mystery (how old is he? Where did he come from?) but somehow heâs still hands-down one of the most endearing characters in the whole series. He idolizes Cornelius and Pompadour in a sense, always there to assist them, but at the same time heâs got his own opinion on everything, expressed only in his own mannerisms. Itâs wonderful how he becomes such a beloved friend to Queen Celeste and the children, too. He even seemed to share a rapport with Celeste, something which otherwise is mostly limited to Babar himself. This was especially evident in âThe Celesteville Enquirerâ when she knows he was just teasing about Floraâs newspaper photos - and Troubadour hugging the children really shows how he, like Cornelius and Pompadour, is a member of the family in his own right. He was always an adorable little elephant too, scurrying instead of walking, playing along with Pompadourâs antics in âDouble the Guardsâ and âThe Missing Crown Affairâ (speaking of âDouble the Guardsâ, the way he just ate several carrots at once so nonchalantly was hilarious), but I think what truly made him stand out was his personality. He never spoke yet he was such a defining character in the series, giving him an enigmatic role so he wasnât just reduced to a background prop.
Runners up: Rataxes, Lady Rataxes, Jacques, Victor, Chef Truffles, Isabelle, Ursula, King Babar, Madame, Babarâs mother, Queen Celeste and Conga the (not so) Terrible.
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