The new series takes place several years after the original and focuses on Badou, Babar's grandson and Pom's son as well as introducing new characters.

[5] The past Babar is a young elephant who, traumatized by a hunter slaughtering his mother, flees from his home forest in exile to the city, where a kind Old Lady adopts him and teaches him the ways of human life.

He returns to his home forest full of ideas for progress and, following the previous elephant king's death from eating poisonous mushrooms, hatches a plan to drive out the unnamed hunter and his men.

[10] David Knox at TV Tonight commented on the subject of death and the way it is depicted in Children's Television, citing the pilot of Babar as an example: "This week ABC replayed the pilot episode of the animated series in which the baby elephant loses his mother to a hunter after being shot by a rifle.

Produced by a Canadian company in 1989 it doesn't shy away from the separation of mother and child, as written in the original Babar the Elephant stories".

[11] Charles Solomon of Los Angeles Times gave a review of Babar's first few episodes: "The designs for the characters and the simple animation capture the essence of Jean de Brunhoff's understated watercolor illustrations.

As the voice of Babar, Gordon Pinsent gives the elephant king a reassuring presence and keeps the mildly didactic stories from bogging down in moralizing.

Child actors provide the voices for the young Babar and his friends, which makes the show sound a lot like a "Peanuts" special at times.

Created by the Canadian Nelvana studio - the producers of the entertaining My Pet Monster - "Babar" manages to be endearing without sliding into the saccharine cutesiness of Hello Kitty.

[12] In 1990, the TV series won a 7 d'Or award for Best Youth Program (Meilleure émission pour la jeunesse).

In 1990, the show won a Gemini for Best Animated Program or Series (Patrick Loubert, Michael Hirsh, and Clive A. Smith).