Known to generations of children as the "King of Elephants," Babar first stepped onto the children's literary scene in 1931, when Jean de Brunhoff wrote and illustrated "The Story of Babar." The work -- based on a bedtime tale his wife told their two children, Laurent and Mathieu -- introduced Babar and his wife Celeste to the world.

In 1946, Laurent continued what his father started, and has since created and published 30 Babar books of his own. The stories of Babar, Celeste, Zephir, Arthur and all the characters of Celesteville, have delighted and educated young minds for almost a century.

With more than seven million books in circulation in 17 languages, the King of the Elephants has earned his place as one of the most recognized and adored children's characters ever created, standing shoulder to shoulder with mice and men. Today, Babar's kingdom extends beyond literature, to toys, television series, feature films, the Internet and classical music, among other areas.

Many Babar items, such as porcelain figurines, have become highly collectable family heirlooms -- prized possessions that demonstrate the popularity of Babar throughout the world.

In celebration of his 70th birthday, a new Web site -- http://www.Babar.com -- gives fans the opportunity to send a greeting to friends and Babar, play games and read up on Babar and his family and friends. The celebration also includes the reissue, by Abrams, of two of Laurent's popular books, "Babar and the Wully-Wully" and "Babar and the Ghost," originally published in 1975 and 1981, respectively.

Plus Fans of Babar in the U.S. continue to watch their favorite pachyderm on the animated Babar television series, which airs on HBO Family daily at 6 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. As testament to Babar's global appeal, the series airs in more than 100 countries.

Also tied to the 70th birthday celebration is the critically acclaimed digital video opera "The Travels of Babar, An Adventure in Scales," which will be performed at New York City's Florence Gould Hall, beginning December 27. Likened to Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" by The New York Times, the hour-long musical voyage pairs a lively and imaginative classical music score composed by Raphael Mostel, with the visual tale recounted in Jean de Brunhoff's second Babar book, "The Travels of Babar." The story tells of the honeymoon adventures of King Babar and Queen Celeste.

Renowned as nice, curious, patient and heroic, Babar and his adventures have captured the imaginations of generations of children worldwide. Each story is filled with a rich array of illustrations, characters and tales that have engaged children and made learning fun.

Fans of Babar range from toddlers to grandparents to teachers to celebrities, including Mike Meyers, Jodi Foster and Meryl Streep. The upbeat and charismatic Babar is universally admired for both, his ability to overcome tragedy and hardships and his flair for celebrating life's everyday joys and adventures.

All proprietary rights to Babar are managed by Nelvana and The Clifford Ross Company.

The Clifford Ross Company, Ltd., which is based in New York, is joint licensor of the Babar merchandising program and the Babar publishing program. The company also provides creative consultation on all Babar television and film productions.

ABOUT NELVANA

Nelvana, one of the world's leading animation production and distribution companies, is a division of Corus Entertainment Inc. Corus is one of Canada's leading entertainment companies with additional interests in radio, television, music production and publishing, digital music distribution and advertising sales. Through Nelvana Limited, Corus also specializes in children's publishing and consumer products. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto (CJR.B) and New York (CJR) Exchanges. The company's web site is at http://www.corusent.com.