The Barbapapas are small, pear-shaped fantasy creatures. A playful family of characters in pop colours that can change shape at will. The transformation slogan of each Barbapapa is "Hup Hup Hup, Barbatruc" in the original (English " Clickety Click − Barba Trick").

The cult world of Barbapapa was born in Paris, from the combined talents of French architecture student Annette Tison and young American biology teacher Talus Taylor. When Talus took Annette for a walk in the Jardin du Luxembourg on 19 May 1970, he was fascinated by a child who demanded something from his parents called "Baa baa baa"? Not understanding French very well, he asked his girlfriend what the child wanted. She explained to him that it was the children's sweet: "Barbe à papa", the French word for candyfloss.

Later, in the famous Parisian brasserie Le Zeyer, the couple drew a figure on the paper tablecloth that was inspired by the famous candy: a funny little man who is as pink as he is round, and that they naturally named "Barbapapa". The male was given a wife (Barbamama), seven children and a dog. The family lives in the garden of human children Lotte and Stefan and always has new adventures. The socially and time-critical stories with their sympathetic and ecological view of the world have hardly lost their appeal to this day.

Due to the bankruptcy of the publisher, the rights were blocked for almost 25 years. Since 2007, all the old stories are available again and are constantly being expanded. New TV episodes were also produced for the 50th anniversary, so that the world of the Barbapapas continues to exist, nostalgic and up-to-date.