Babar - Intelligent talking grey elephant who walks on his hind legs, dresses in suits and who starred in the motion picture Babar: The Movie (1989) and  in the animated TV series BABAR/HBO/1989 (52-half-hour episodes). Babar the elephant was born in the Great Forest but escaped to the safety of the city after his mother is killed by hunters. In the city, Babar is adopted by a wealthy old woman who attires him in clothing and teaches him the sophisticated lifestyles of a city dweller. Some time later, Babar is visited by his cousin Celeste and her younger brother, Arthur. When the call of the wild becomes to great to resist, Babar  returns to the Great Forest with Celeste where they marry and  have a little son named Alexander. Now King and Queen of the Elephants, Babar and his mate wisely rule over their subjects. Babar first appeared in the 1931 children's book L'Histoire de Babar, le petit elephant (The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant) written and drawn by artist Jean de Brunhoff. The author continued the tales of Babar in a series of successful and beautifully illustrated books including the 1933 book Le Roi Babar  (Babar the King);  the 1934 letter book ABC de Babar (Babar's ABC's); the 1936 Les Vacances de Zéphir (Babar's Friend Zephir); the 1938 Babar en famille (Babar at Home); the 1939 Le Voyage de Babar (Babar's Travels); and the 1941 Babar et le Père Noël (Babar and Father Christmas). Upon the death of Babar's creator in 1937, the Babar franchise was continued by the author's son, Laurent de Brunhoff beginning with the 1946 book Babar et ce coquin d'Arthur (Babar and that Rascal Arthur).