Barney’s story starts in late 1987 in Allen, Texas. At the time, a former teacher named Sheryl Leach had a two-year old son, Patrick. She struggled to find videos that held his attention.

Kids like Leora were Barney's target audience. To make sure he was really onto something, Larry showed the video to some of Leora's friends, kind of like a makeshift focus group for preschoolers.