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Paddington Bear

Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children's book A Bear Called Paddington and has been featured in more than twenty books written by British author Michael Bond, and illustrated by Peggy Fortnum, David McKee, R. W. Alley and other artists.[1]

Paddington Bear

  • A Bear Called Paddington
  • 13 October 1958

Michael Bond

Paddington

Spectacled bear

Male

  • Aunt Lucy
  • Uncle Pastuzo
  • Mary Brown
  • Henry Brown
  • Jonathan Brown
  • Judy Brown
  • Mrs Bird

Peru

Peruvian

The friendly spectacled bear from "darkest Peru" – with his old hat, battered suitcase, duffel coat and love of marmalade sandwiches – has become a classic character in children's literature.[2] An anthropomorphised bear, Paddington is always polite – addressing people as "Mr", "Mrs" and "Miss" but rarely by first names – and kindhearted, though he inflicts hard stares on those who incur his disapproval.[3] He has an endless capacity for innocently getting into trouble, but he is known to "try so hard to get things right". He was discovered in London Paddington station by the (human) Brown family who adopted him and named him "Paddington Brown," as his original name in bear language was too hard for them to pronounce.


Paddington has become one of the most beloved British fictional characters—a Paddington Bear stuffed toy was chosen by British tunnellers as the first item to pass through to their French counterparts when the two sides of the Channel Tunnel were linked in 1994.[4] Paddington books have been translated into 30 languages across 70 titles and have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. As of June 2016, the Paddington Bear franchise was owned by Vivendi's StudioCanal. Bond, however, continued to own the publishing rights to his series, which was licensed to HarperCollins in April 2017.[5]


Paddington Bear has been adapted for television, films and commercials since its first appearance on the BBC in 1966. Television adaptations include Paddington broadcast from 1976 to 1980. The critically acclaimed and commercially successful films Paddington (2014) and Paddington 2 (2017) were both nominated for the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film. A third film in the series, Paddington in Peru, began filming in July 2023.[6]

Paddington Bear: A friendly, charismatic and polite from Darkest Peru. Paddington was taken in by Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pastuzo after his parents died in an earthquake when he was very young. Paddington moves in with the Browns after Aunt Lucy moves into the Home for Retired Bears. Paddington is usually in some sort of trouble. Paddington's given name is hard to pronounce. The film establishes that it is a series of roars that Mr Brown attempts to imitate, producing something offensive. Paddington is always extremely polite but inflicts "hard stares" when people forget their manners. Mrs Brown names him after Paddington station when they're picking Judy, their daughter, up from boarding school.

bear

Mr Henry Brown: A hapless but well-meaning man who works in Insurance in the City of London. In the film, Henry initially refuses to let Paddington move in with his family, but despite some early mishaps (including Paddington getting earwax on his toothbrush and flooding the bathroom), he eventually warms to Paddington and builds him a bedroom in their attic.

Mrs Mary Brown: Henry's more serious-minded yet exceptionally friendly wife. In the 1989 animated series, Mary and her husband have a 12-year-old American nephew named David Russell. In the film adaptation, she works as an author and illustrator and is the first of the Browns to warm to Paddington.

Judy and Jonathan Brown: The energetic and friendly Brown children. It is never established if one is older than the other, leading to the possibility that they might be twins. In the 1975 series, , and the 2019 animated series, Judy is older. In the 1989 animated series, and the 1997 animated series Jonathan is older. They meet Paddington for the first time when meeting Judy off the train from boarding school. In the movie Judy and Jonathan are with their parents when they first meet him at Paddington Station, giving him his iconic name.

Paddington

Mrs Bird: The Browns' stern but kind and wise housekeeper. Although she is often annoyed by Paddington's antics and mishaps, she is protective of him and very caring. Her first name is never mentioned. In the film adaptation, she is portrayed instead as a Scottish relative of the Browns and the widow of a naval officer.

Mr Samuel Gruber: Paddington's best friend. The friendly owner of an antique shop on the , with whom Paddington has his elevenses every day. He regularly takes Paddington and the Brown children on outings. He is a Hungarian immigrant. He addresses Paddington as "Mr Brown." Bond based Gruber on his first agent, a German Jew, whom Bond states "was in line to be the youngest judge in Germany, when he was warned his name was on a list, so he got out and came to England with just a suitcase and £25 to his name."[8]

Portobello Road

Mr Reginald Curry: The Browns' mean, nosy, arrogant and bad-tempered next-door neighbour, who serves as a contrast to Mr Gruber. He addresses Paddington simply as "Bear!" Penny-pinching by nature, Mr Curry always wants something for nothing and often persuades Paddington to run errands for him. He tends to invite himself to many of the Browns' special occasions just to sample the snacks. In most of the stories, he gets his comeuppance as a frequent victim of Paddington's misadventures. However, Mr Curry does sometimes benefit from Paddington's mistakes and has even rewarded Paddington for them on occasion.

Lucy: Paddington's aunt from Darkest Peru. The film establishes that she and Uncle Pastuzo rescued Paddington rather than being biologically related to him. She was his legal guardian until she had to move into the Home for Retired Bears in . In the movie, after a deadly earthquake, she informs Paddington that she is too old to travel to London with him, although in Paddington 2, the residents of Windsor Gardens arrange for her to come to London and see it for herself. In the film adaptation, the explorer Montgomery Clyde names her "Lucy" after his mother.

Lima, Peru

Pastuzo: Paddington's wealthy globe-trotting uncle, revealed in the film adaptation to have been named by the explorer Montgomery Clyde—who gave him his hat—after a boxer he met in a bar. In the film adaptation, Uncle Pastuzo is killed by a falling tree during an earthquake, and Paddington retrieves his hat.

Television adaptations[edit]

Jackanory (1966)[edit]

The first TV adaptation of Paddington was a serialised reading of The Adventures of Paddington Bear by Thora Hird for Jackanory in 1966. The 15-minute episodes were broadcast over five afternoons from 14 March 1966. No episodes survive in the BBC archives.[43]

Once Upon a Time (1968–1970)[edit]

ITV's answer to Jackanory was Once Upon a Time, which featured three readings by Ian Carmichael in 1968 and a fourth in 1970. The episodes do not survive in the ITV archives.[43]

Jackanory (1970)[edit]

Christmas Eve 1970 saw a reading of Paddington's Christmas by John Bird. The episode no longer exists in the BBC archives.[43]

Musical[edit]

In December 2023, it was announced that Paddington: The Musical, adapted from the books and the film series, is being developed for the stage, with McFly's Tom Fletcher set to write the music and lyrics.[72] Set to open in the UK in 2025, its producers said it was a "privilege to be creating a new musical about this gorgeous and beloved little bear".[72]

Paddington Bear

at IMDb

Paddington TV series (1976–1993)

at IMDb

Paddington (2014)

at IMDb

Paddington (2017)