|
 Paddington
Bear - Talking honeybear who travels to England from Darkest Peru on the Sunday
morning cartoon series PADDINGTON BEAR (aired in 1989 as part of THE FUNTASTIC
WORLD Of HANNA BARBERA). Paddington (voice of Charlie Adler) lives with the
Brown family at 32 Windsor Gardens in London. The Brown's found him lost at the
Paddington Railway station (hence his nickname) and took him home to raise as
their child. Paddington's favorite food is marmalade. Paddington celebrates two
birthdays: Christmas Day and June 25th.
The Brown family consists
of Mr. Henry Brown, Mrs. Mary Brown and their children, Jonathan and Judy. They
also have a housekeeper, Mrs. Bird.
A few years earlier in 1981 PBS aired PADDINGTON
BEAR, a half-hour puppet stop-animation series created by FilmFair Animation/and
Paddington & Co. Production produced by George Clutterback. Narrated by Sir
Michael Hordern, the segments were introduced by Oscar-winning actor Joel Grey.
Film Fair had also produced 30 five-minute episodes in 1975 for the BBC1.
Additional half-hour Paddington specials aired on the Disney Channel between
1985 and 1986. They included Paddington's Birthday Bonanza, Paddington Goes to
the Movies and Paddington Goes to School.
The Paddington character debuted in
the book "A Bear Called Paddington" (Published October 13th, 1958) written by
popular English children's author Michael Bond.
As the story goes, on December
24, 1956, Michael Bond purchased a real teddy bear at Selfridge's Store in
London for his wife, Brenda. He named the bear Paddington because he was living
near Paddingtion Station at the time. Inspired by the sweet teddy bear, Bond
wrote a series of stories that were eventually published in hardback by William
Collins Publisher. And the rest is history.
TRIVIA NOTE: In 1969, a rock group in New Zealand
named themselves "The Paddington Bears." In 1971 a Paddington bear designed by
Shirley Clarkson debuted with Paddington wearing his trademark duffle coat, felt
hat and Wellington Boots.
In 1988, Paddington's official biography "The Life and
Times of Paddington Bear" by Russel Ash (with Michael Bond) was published by
Pavilion Books.
In 1990, a 29-foot tall Paddington balloon flew in the Macy
Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. In 1996, Harper Collins published
Michael Bond's autobiography "Bears & Forebears - A Life So Far." In 1997 a new
13-episode series of Paddington programs were produced by Cinar Films and
transmitted by ITV in the UK and Teletoon in Canada.
In 2000, a life-sized bronze
statue of Paddington Bear was unveiled by Michael Bond at Paddington train
station in London.
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Paddington arrives in London |
Paddington Teddy Bear Doll |
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