Paddington Station-Bronze of Paddington Bear

Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He first appeared in 1958^[1] and was subsequently featured in several books written by Michael Bond and first illustrated by Peggy Fortnum. The polite immigrant bear from Darkest Peru, with his old bush hat, battered suitcase and marmalade sandwiches has become a classic English children's literature icon. Paddington books have been translated into thirty languages across seventy titles and sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. Over 265 licensees, making thousands of different products across the UK, Europe, USA, Southeast Asia, Japan, Australia and South Africa all benefit from the universal recognition of Paddington Bear. ^[2] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (519x640, 78 KB)Photo taken by Lonpicman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (519x640, 78 KB)Photo taken by Lonpicman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Alice, a fictional character based on a real character from the work of Lewis Carroll. ... Childrens books redirects here. ... Michael Bond, OBE, (born January 13, 1926 in Newbury, Berkshire) is an English childrens author. ... Peggy Fortnum as an art teacher, painter, and textile designer before becoming a full-time book illustrator. ...

Paddington is an anthropomorphised bear. He is always polite (always addressing people as "Mr.", "Mrs." and "Miss" and very rarely by first names) and well-meaning (though he inflicts hard stares on those who incur his disapproval), likes marmalade sandwiches and cocoa, and has an endless capacity for getting into trouble. However, he is known to "try so hard to get things right". 7th millennium BC anthropomorphized rocks, with slits for eyes, found in modern-day Israel. ... For other uses, see Bear (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Marmalade (disambiguation). ... This article is about the food item. ... For other uses, see Cocoa (disambiguation). ...

History

Origin

Bond based Paddington Bear on a lone teddy bear he noticed on a shelf in a London store near Paddington Station on Christmas Eve 1956, which he bought as a present for his wife. The bear inspired Bond to write a story, and in ten days, he had written the first book. The book was given to his agent, Harvey Unna. A Bear Called Paddington was first published on October 13, 1958, by William Collins & Sons (now Harper Collins). For other uses, see Teddy bear (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Paddington Station, March 2005 during rush hour Paddington station or London Paddington station is a major National Rail and London Underground station complex in the Paddington area of London. ... The Christmas Eve (1904-05), watercolor painting by the Swedish painter Carl Larsson (1853-1919) Christmas Eve, the evening of December 24th, the preceding day or vigil before Christmas Day, is treated to a greater or a lesser extent in most Christian societies as part of the Christmas season. ... is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... Collins was a Scottish printing company founded by a schoolmaster, William Collins, in Glasgow in 1819. ...

The Toy Paddington Bear

The first Paddington Bear was created by Gabrielle Designs in 1972, a small business run by Shirley and Eddie Clarkson, with the prototype made as a Christmas present for her children Joanna and Jeremy Clarkson (English broadcaster and writer). Shirley Clarkson dressed Paddington in Wellington boots to help the bear stand upright. This is the origin of the addition of Wellington boots to Paddington's attire. The earliest bears wore small children's boots manufactured by Dunlop until they could not keep up with production. Gabrielle Designs then produced their own boots with paw prints moulded into the soles. Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster and writer who specialises in motoring. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A pair of Wellington boots The Wellington boot, also known as a welly, a wellie, or a gumboot, is a type of boot based upon Hessian boots worn and popularised by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington and fashionable among the British aristocracy in the early 19th century. ...

Storyline

This gentle bear was found at Paddington railway station in London. In the first story, he is found there by the Brown family sitting on his suitcase (bearing the label "WANTED ON VOYAGE"), with a note attached to his coat which reads, "Please look after this bear. Thank you." Bond has said that his memories of newsreels showing trainloads of child evacuees leaving London during the war, with labels around their necks and their possessions in small suitcases, that prompted him to do the same for Paddington. [1] Paddington Station, March 2005 during rush hour Paddington station is a major National Rail station in the Paddington area of London, England. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

He has arrived as a stowaway coming from "Darkest Peru", sent by his Aunt Lucy (his only known relative, aside from an unnamed uncle who gave Paddington his hat), who has gone to live in the Home for Retired Bears in Lima. He claims, "I came all the way in a lifeboat, and ate marmalade. Bears like marmalade." He tells them that no one can understand his Peruvian name, so the Browns decide to call him Paddington after the railway station in which he was found. Bond originally wanted Paddington to have "travelled all the way from darkest Africa", but his agent advised him that there were no bears in darkest Africa, and thus it was amended to darkest Peru, home of the spectacled bear. ^[3] For other uses, see Lima (disambiguation). ... Binomial name (Cuvier, 1825) Synonyms Ursus ornatus Cuvier, 1825 The Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus), also known as the Andean Bear and locally as ukuko, jukumari or ucumari, is the last of the lineage of short-faced bears of the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene age. ...

They take him home to 32 Windsor Gardens, off Harrow Road between Notting Hill and Maida Vale. The stories follow Paddington's adventures and mishaps in England. Harrow Road is a main road in London which heads out from the capital in a northwesterly direction towards Harrow. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... Maida Vale is a road in north-west London, and a district surrounding it. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

This is somewhat akin to the manner in which Jack Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest was found at Victoria railway station. The Importance of Being Earnest is a play by Oscar Wilde, a comedy of manners on the seriousness of society in either three or four acts (depending on edition) inspired by W. S. Gilberts Engaged. ... Victoria station in London is a London Underground and National Rail station in the City of Westminster. ...

When he gets annoyed with someone, he often gives them one of his special "hard stares" (taught to him by Aunt Lucy), which causes the person to become flushed and embarrassed.

Characters

There is a recurring cast of characters, all of whom are in some way implicated by Paddington's misadventures. These include:

• Mr. Brown: A friendly and often ineffective city worker.
• Mrs. Brown: Mr. Brown's equally friendly wife.
• Jonathan and Judy: The energetic and friendly Brown children.
• Mrs. Bird: The Browns' stern, but ultimately friendly, housekeeper.
• Mr. Gruber: Owner of an antique shop on the Portobello Road, with whom Paddington has his elevenses every day.
• Mr. Curry: The Browns' mean and bad-tempered next-door neighbour, who addresses Paddington simply as "Bear!"

In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, elevenses is a snack that is similar to afternoon tea, but eaten in the morning. ...

Books

A Bear Called Paddington was first published in 1958 and was followed by ten more books. In order of publication, the titles are:^[4]

• A Bear Called Paddington (1958)
• More About Paddington (1959)
• Paddington Helps Out (1960)
• Paddington Abroad (1961)
• Paddington at Large (1962)
• Paddington Marches On (1964)
• Paddington at Work (1966)
• Paddington Goes to Town (1968)
• Paddington Takes the Air (1970)
• Paddington on Top (1974)
• Paddington Takes the Test (1979)

Author Michael Bond was also a BBC TV cameraman who worked on the popular children's television programme Blue Peter. After this was revealed in 1965, a special Paddington story – in which he got mixed up in the programme itself – appeared annually in the Blue Peter Annuals for many years. They were collected in the novel-length Paddington's Blue Peter Story Book in 1973. A second book based around Blue Peter is Paddington on Screen. For other uses, see Blue Peter (disambiguation). ...

Many other picture books and other publications have since featured Paddington.

Television

The BBC television series Paddington, produced by Michael Bond and London-based animation company FilmFair, was first broadcast in 1975. This series had an extremely distinctive appearance: Paddington was a stop-motion puppet moving in a three dimensional space in front of two-dimensional backgrounds (which were frequently sparse black-and-white line drawings), while all other characters were 2D drawings—in one scene, a character hands Paddington a jar of marmalade that becomes 3D when Paddington touches it. Animator Ivor Wood also worked on The Magic Roundabout and Postman Pat. The series was narrated by Michael Hordern. In the United States, episodes aired on PBS, on Nickelodeon as a segment on the program Pinwheel and on USA Network as a segment on the program Calliope in the 1980s, as well as in between preschool programming on the Disney Channel throughout the 1990s. The series also aired on HBO in between features, usually when they were airing children's programs. The series won a silver medal at the New York Film and Television Festival in 1979 — the first British animated series to do so. For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Ivor Wood (May 4, 1932 — October 13, 2004) was a British stop-motion animator who is best known for his work on childrens television series. ... The Magic Roundabout (Known in the original French as Le Manège enchanté) was a childrens television programme created in France in 1963 by Serge Danot. ... Postman Pat is a British stop-motion animated childrens television series produced by Woodland Animations. ... Sir Michael Hordern (October 3, 1911-May 2, 1995) was a British actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre. ... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... This article is about the TV channel. ... The Pinwheel Logo. ... USA Network is a popular American cable television network with about 89 million household subscribers as of 2005. ... This article is about the muse. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... For Disney Channel in other countries, see Disney Channel around the world. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... For other uses, see HBO (disambiguation). ...

A second television series, produced by Hanna-Barbera, debuted in 1989 as part of The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. This series was traditional two-dimensional animation and featured veteran voice actor Charles Adler as Paddington and Tim Curry as Mr. Curry. The character of an American boy named David, Jonatahan and Judy Brown's cousin who arrived in London on the same day as Paddington was added to the stories in the 1989 cartoon. Cartoon Network Studios, formerly known as Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ... The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera is the name of a syndicated block of animated television programming and a former ride at Universal Studios Florida. ... Charles Adler (born February 20, American voice actor. ... Timothy James Curry (born April 19, 1946) is an English actor, singer and composer, perhaps best known for his role as mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). ...

The most recent series, produced by Cinar Films, was first broadcast in 1997 and consisted of traditional two-dimensional colour animation. The present logo of The Cookie Jar Company. The Cookie Jar Company (formerly CINAR) is a Canadian producer of childrens animated television programs. ...

Episode Listing

Special

• Paddington goes to the Movies (1983)

A 21-minute special in which Paddington goes to the movies. On leaving, in the street outside complete with umbrella, he performs Gene Kelly's famous dance routine from Singing in the Rain. For the similarly-named American actress, see Jean Kelly. ... Singin in the Rain is a song with lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown, published in 1929. ...

Film adaptation

In September 2007, Warner Bros. and producer David Heyman announced a live action film adaptation of Paddington Bear. Hamish McColl, who penned Mr Bean's Holiday, will write the script. The film will not be an adaptation of an existing story, but "will draw inspiration from the whole series" and will feature a computer generated Paddington Bear interacting with a live-action environment.^[5] Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... “WB” redirects here. ... David Heyman is a British film producer born in London, England in 1961. ... In film and video, live action refers to works that are acted out by flesh-and-blood actors, as opposed to animation. ... Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. ... Mr. ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ...

Advertising

Paddington Bear features in the Marmite UK TV advertisement (broadcast on 13 September 2007) ^[6], in which he tries a marmite and cheese sandwich instead of his traditional marmalade sandwich. The UK TV campaign includes the re-broadcast of the 1975 stop-motion animation television series.^[7] A jar of the British version of Marmite Marmite is a British and New Zealand savoury spread made from yeast extract, a by-product of beer brewing. ... is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Paddington Bear's Gold Record, an album of fifteen songs based on incidents in the Paddington books, was released in 1984.
• Street traders on the Peruvian shores of Lake Titicaca now offer tourists home-made finger puppets of Paddington.^{[citation needed]} There is also a stall at Paddington station selling Paddington Bear merchandise.
• Paddington was featured on the Royal Mail 1st class stamp in the Animal Tales series released on January 10, 2006.
• In 2000, David Goodman Olney was a winner on the American version of the TV program Who Wants to Be a Millionaire for correctly answering the million-dollar question that Paddington Bear came from Peru.
• In 1988, Australian politician Mick Young resigned from Parliament after being caught importing a Paddington Bear without paying duty. This became known locally as the Paddington Bear Affair.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Paddington Bears Gold Record Paddington Bears Gold Record is a musical recording released in 1984 by Audiotrax Records. ... Lake Titicaca sits 3,812 m (12,507 feet) above sea level making it the highest commercially navigable lake in the world. ... Paddington Station, March 2005 during rush hour Paddington station or London Paddington station is a major National Rail and London Underground station complex in the Paddington area of London. ... Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom. ... is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In the United States, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (also known simply as Millionaire) is a television game show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 (originally lump sum; now annuitized) for correctly answering 15 successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. ... Michael Jerome Young (9 October 1936 – 8 April 1996) was an Australian politician. ...

External links

• Paddington Bear - The Official Webite
• Paddington at the Internet Movie Database
• Michael Bond Biography
• wiseGEEK - Who Is Paddington Bear?

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.paddingtonbear.co.uk/en/1/fachismbohow.mxs
2. ^ http://www.copyrights.co.uk/portfolio/pre-school/paddington-bear.aspx
3. ^ http://www.harperchildrens.com/hch/author/author/bond/interview2.asp
4. ^ http://www.paddingtonbear.co.uk/en/1/cololdboo.mxs
5. ^ Adam Dawtrey. "'WB bears down on 'Paddington' film", Variety, 2007-09-13. Retrieved on 2007-09-14. 
6. ^ http://www.paddingtonbear.co.uk/en/1/facnewmar.mxs
7. ^ Sweney, Mark (2007-09-12). Paddington gets taste for Marmite. MediaGuardian.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-09-13.