Babar the Elephant is a fictional character who first appeared in 1931 in the French children’s book Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff. The book is based on a tale that Brunhoff’s wife, Cecile, had invented for their children. It tells of a young elephant Babar whose mother is killed by a hunter. Babar escapes, and in the process leaves the jungle, visits a big city, and returns to bring the benefits of civilization to his fellow elephants. Just as he returns to his community of elephants, their king dies from eating a bad mushroom. Because of his travels and civilization, Babar is appointed king of the elephant kingdom. He marries his cousin, and they subsequently have children and teach them valuable lessons. (More from Wikipedia)
My interest in Wikipedia was piqued by several stunts fomented by Stephen Colbert on his show The Colbert Report. In one famous incident, “The Wørd” on July 31, 2006 was “Wikiality”. Colbert explained that on Wikipedia, “any user can change any entry, and if enough users agree with them, it becomes true.” He then encouraged his viewers to modify the Wikipedia entry on “elephants” to state: “Elephant population in Africa has tripled over the past six months”. The changes mounted by the “Colbert nation” spread to other pachyderm-related articles: African forest elephant, African bush elephant, Babar the elephant, white elephant, Dumbo, etc.
I remember another time when Stephen Colbert changed a Wikipedia entry on camera during The Colbert Report so as to fit his worldview – that is to say, the worldview of his buffoonish character “Stephen Colbert” who hosts the show; he is a different person from the actual human being.
