Peacock’s Barney The Dinosaur Documentary Is An Intensely Heartfelt Look Into The Rise And Fall Of Everyone’s Most Cherished And Yet Hated Childhood Friend

It’s been 12 years since Barney and Friends ended. In Peacock’s new documentary people are opening up about their hostility and flat-out hatred towards this beloved childhood friend that came to us in the form of a giant foam anthropomorphic dinosaur and wow do I feel like sh*t.

My child, along with millions and millions around the globe in the 90’s and beyond, loved Barney and we parents loved hating on Barney which was fine in small doses of non-threatening snark but in Peacock’s new documentary we see just how far people took their misplaced insecurities and wow there is no level of apology any of us could ever offer that would heal the genuine pain and suffering Barney’s creator,  Sheryl Leach, endured just because she wanted her young son to have a friend that would both engage and encourage in ways he could understand and embrace. However, the documentary doesn’t just focus on the Leach family tragedies (and there were more than a few) but on the opportunities and relationships that were created between the cast, crew, and audiences around the world. It’s honest, raw, and yet unapologetically positive, just like the character itself.

Speaking of unapologetically positive, meet Andrew. Andrew is the president of the Barney History fans who, along with Bill Nye, Al Roker, Rob Curran (If you’re 35 and older with a child who loved Barney you’ll remember Rob), Steve Burns (who knows a thing or two about people hoping to see your death in the headlines) walk us through what Barney meant to both adults and children, the unexpected popularity of the non-lethal T-Rex and how it made them feel as both parents and adults with kids who were obsessed with Barney. It’s a love/hate relationship that turned violent on a wide variety of levels.

The Leach family struggled with several family tragedies over the course of Barney’s rise to hated fame that included Sheryl’s son Patrick’s shooting of a neighbor and Jim’s (her ex-husband) suicide. Were both incidents connected to the Barney lifestyle? We don’t fully know and really don’t need to, we just know this family went through hell and back because of a children’s icon adults couldn’t compete with and that should tell us something.

I know some reviewers think this documentary could have been a bit spicier and that’s a shame because humanity isn’t always packaged into dating drama, island romps, and true crime podcasts, nor should it be. The response to Barney’s rise should be studied because none of our other children’s shows prompted this much hate and anger towards something so beloved and we should really find out why besides it was just too wholesome.

That says far more about us and the culture of hate and insecurity that we as parents and or attention-seeking adults fueled than about what kids were learning or just enjoying from Barney and Friends.

I Love You You Hate Me is currently streaming on Peacock right here