Paddington Bear

Paddington Bear (though his name is just Paddington; the "Bear" simply serves to confirm his species) is a fictional character in British children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children's book A Bear Called Paddington by British author Michael Bond. He has featured in 29 books written by Bond, the last of which, Paddington at St. Paul's, was published posthumously in 2018. The books have been illustrated by Peggy Fortnum, David McKee, R. W. Alley, and other artists.
The friendly, anthropomorphised spectacled bear from "darkest Peru"—with his old hat, battered suitcase, duffel coat and love of marmalade sandwiches—has become a classic character in British children's literature. 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. He has an endless capacity for innocently getting into trouble, but is known to "try so hard to get things right". After being discovered in London Paddington station by the Brown family, he was adopted and named "Paddington Brown", as his original name in bear language was too hard for the (human) Browns 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, and the Bear appeared with Queen Elizabeth II in a pre-recorded comedy segment for the Platinum Party at the Palace in 2022—and the Paddington books have been translated into 30 languages across 70 titles, with a total of more than 30 million copies sold worldwide. As of June 2016, the Paddington Bear franchise was owned by Canal+'s StudioCanal, though Bond continued to own the publishing rights to his series, which was licensed to HarperCollins in April 2017.
Since its first appearance on the BBC in 1976, Paddington Bear has been adapted for television, films, and commercials. 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, was released in cinemas in the United Kingdom on 8 November 2024.
Michael Bond based Paddington Bear on a lone teddy bear that he noticed on a shelf in a London shop—with Bond saying "it looked rather forlorn"—on Christmas Eve 1956, which he bought as a present for his wife. On the bear's refugee status, Bond was inspired by the sight, during World War II, of Jewish refugee children from Europe arriving in Britain and of London children who were being evacuated to the countryside, the evacuees bearing luggage labels perhaps similar to that attached to the bear Paddington "Please look after this bear". Bond reflects, "They all had a label round their neck with their name and address on and a little case or package containing all their treasured possessions. So Paddington, in a sense, was a refugee, and I do think that there's no sadder sight than refugees".
The bear inspired Bond to write a story and in ten days, he had written the first book. He named the bear Paddington as he lived near the station at the time and thought it would be a good name for the character. Bond's daughter Karen states, "Had he lived in another part of the country or not travelled by train, he might never have come up with the idea for a bear being found on Paddington station." The book was given to his agent, Harvey Unna. A Bear Called Paddington was first published on 13 October 1958 by William Collins & Sons.
The first Paddington Bear stuffed toy to be manufactured was created in 1972 by Gabrielle Designs, a small family business run by Shirley and Eddie Clarkson, with the prototype made as a Christmas present for their children Joanna and Jeremy Clarkson, a now well-known British TV presenter, writer and farmer. Michael Bond had awarded the Clarksons the licensing of the toy rights throughout the world.
Shirley Clarkson dressed the stuffed bear in Wellington boots to help it stand upright. (Paddington received Wellingtons for Christmas in Paddington Marches On, 1964.) The earliest bears wore small children's boots manufactured by Dunlop Rubber until production could not meet demand. Gabrielle Designs then produced their boots with paw prints moulded into the soles. Shirley Clarkson's book describes the evolution of the toy Paddington from a Christmas gift to the subject of litigation and ultimately commercial success. The family eventually sold the rights to Britain's (and the world's) oldest toy store, Hamleys.
In the first story, the middle-class Brown family found Paddington at Paddington railway station in London. Paddington was sitting on his suitcase with a note attached to his coat that read "Please look after this bear. Thank you." Bond has said that his memories of newsreels showing trainloads of child evacuees leaving London during World War II, with labels around their necks and their possessions in small suitcases, prompted him to do the same for Paddington.
Paddington arrives as a stowaway coming from "Darkest Peru", sent by his Aunt Lucy, one of only a few known relatives aside from Uncle Pastuzo who gave Paddington his hat, who has gone to live in the Home for Retired Bears in Lima. He claims, "I came 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 from darkest Africa," but his agent advised him that there were no bears in Africa, and thus it was amended to Peru, home of the spectacled bear.
The Browns take Paddington home to 32 Windsor Gardens near Notting Hill. While there is a real Windsor Gardens off Harrow Road between Notting Hill and Maida Vale, close to the location as described in the books, the Windsor Gardens in the book is fictitious and does not resemble the real road. The fictitious house was based on a real-life equivalent in Notting Hill, but Bond kept the location secret to avoid inconvenience for the real inhabitants of the house. Paddington frequents the nearby Portobello Road market, where he is respected by the shopkeepers for driving a hard bargain.
When he gets annoyed with someone, he often gives them one of his special "hard stares", taught to him by Aunt Lucy, which causes them to become flushed and embarrassed. Paddington's adventures usually arise from him misunderstanding something and trying to right (what he perceives to be) unfair or unjust situations. This typically ends with him messing things up in some way. But in all his adventures, he ends up on top and everyone involved can laugh about it. A notable exception is the Browns' next-door neighbour Mr Curry who in every adventure ends up in trouble.
The stories follow Paddington's adventures and mishaps in England, along with some snippets of information about his past. For instance, one story reveals that Paddington was orphaned in an earthquake before being taken in and raised by his Aunt Lucy.
There is a recurring cast of characters, all of whom are in some way entangled in Paddington's misadventures. These include:
The first of Bond's twenty nine original books, A Bear Called Paddington, was published in 1958. Although the books are divided into chapters and each book has a time frame, the stories all work as stand-alone stories, and many of them were used like this in the TV series. In order of publication, the titles are:
The fourteenth collection of the main series includes these stories:
Set in St Paul's Cathedral, this picture book is the finale of the original twenty nine stories in the Paddington series. It was finished shortly before Michael Bond's death. The final book in the "Paddington" series to be written by the creator himself was released on 27 June 2018 to mark the anniversary of the day that Bond died and the 60th anniversary of A Bear Called Paddington (1958).
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 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 was titled Paddington on Screen.
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.
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.
Christmas Eve 1970 saw a reading of Paddington's Christmas by John Bird. The episode no longer exists in the BBC archives.
One of the best-known adaptations of Paddington Bear is the stop-motion animated BBC television series Paddington. The series was written by Michael Bond and directed and animated by Ivor Wood at London-based animation company FilmFair (now WildBrain). It was first broadcast on 5 January 1976. The storylines were based on comedic incidents from the books, chosen to appeal to the TV audience which included much younger children than those the books were written for.
This series had an extremely distinctive appearance: Paddington was a stop-motion puppet moving in a three-dimensional space in front of gloomy two-dimensional backgrounds, which were frequently sparse black-and-white line drawings, while all other characters were 2D drawings. In one scene, Mr Brown is seen to hand Paddington a jar of marmalade that becomes 3D when Paddington touches it. Animator Ivor Wood also worked on The Magic Roundabout, The Wombles and Postman Pat. The series was narrated by Michael Hordern, who also voiced all of the characters.
In the U.S., episodes aired on PBS, on the syndicated series Romper Room, on Nickelodeon as a segment on the programme Pinwheel and on USA Network as a segment on the Calliope (TV series) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as well as in between preschool programming on The Disney Channel as a segment on the program Lunch Box from the late 1980s into the 1990s. The series also aired on HBO in between features, usually when they were airing children's programmes. The series won a silver medal at the New York Film and Television Festival in 1979, the first British animated series to do so.
Buena Vista Home Video released 6 volumes of episodes for NTSC/Region 1 Format:
In 2011, Mill Creek Entertainment under the licence of Cookie Jar Entertainment released the complete original 1975 Paddington Bear series on DVD. The 3-disc set also featured three half-hour television specials, "Paddington Birthday Bonanza", "Paddington Goes To School" and "Paddington Goes to the Movies" along with 15 bonus episodes of The Wombles and Huxley Pig. It also had special features for children on DVD-ROM.
Paddington Bear's 1989 television series was the first by a North American company, Hanna-Barbera, a co-production with Central Independent Television. This series was traditional two-dimensional animation and featured veteran voice actor Charlie Adler as Paddington and Tim Curry, fittingly enough, as Mr Curry. The character of an American boy named David, Jonathan and Judy Brown's cousin who arrived in London on the same day as Paddington, was added to the stories in the 1989 cartoon.
Canadian Cinar Films produced the third series, which was first broadcast in 1997 and consisted of traditional two-dimensional colour animation. The show was called The Adventures of Paddington Bear.
Paddington appeared along with other British children's literature characters in the televised broadcast of Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday party event held in the Garden at Buckingham Palace on 25 June 2006. He has a part in The Queen's Handbag pantomime where he and Rupert Bear are recruited by Percy the Park Keeper to find the handbag alongside Winnie-the-Pooh, Kipper the Dog, Spot the Dog, Mowgli from The Jungle Book and The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.
Paddington Bear appeared in "The Official BBC Children in Need Medley" with Peter Kay along with several other animated characters, which included popular British children's TV characters Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, Teletubbies, Peppa Pig and Thunderbirds. The single's cover art is a parody of the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. In the music video (which features the Animated All Star Band meeting and recording the song in a studio, spoofing other charity songs in the style of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?") Paddington makes a grand appearance by winking at the cameramen when they take photos of him; Kay's character Big Chris tries to put a cloak on Paddington, but it keeps sliding off. He also joins the rest of the group for the final act. The song reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.
StudioCanal made an animated TV series based on the live-action Paddington films. The studio teamed with David Heyman and US Nickelodeon to make the series with animation studio Blue-Zoo, with the working title of Paddington and Ben Whishaw reprising the role from the two live-action films. The series officially made its debut on 20 December 2019.
In September 2007, StudioCanal and producer David Heyman announced a film adaptation of Paddington Bear. Hamish McColl, who penned Mr. Bean's Holiday, would write the script with Paul King serving as co-writer and director. The film would not be an adaptation of an existing story, but "draw inspiration from the whole series" and features an animated Paddington Bear interacting with a live-action environment. It would be the first film the British visual-effects company Framestore had worked on with an animated animal as the lead character. Colin Firth had been announced to voice Paddington, however he announced his withdrawal on 17 June 2014, saying: "It's been bittersweet to see this delightful creature take shape and come to the sad realization that he simply doesn't have my voice". In July 2014, it was announced that Ben Whishaw had replaced Firth.
On 25 June 2012, an official teaser poster was released for Paddington, stating that it would be released during 2014. A trailer was subsequently released confirming the release to be 28 November 2014. On 17 November 2014, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) gave the film a PG certificate and advised parents that the film contained "dangerous behaviour, mild threat, mild sex references, [and] mild bad language". King told BBC reporter Tim Muffett: "I'm not surprised about that [the PG certificate] but I don't think it's a PG for sexiness. That I would find very odd". Paddington's creator, Michael Bond, said he was "totally amazed" at the BBFC's advice. After the film's distributor challenged the certification, the BBFC revised the wording of its parental guidance, replacing "mild sex references" with "innuendo". It also further qualified the "mild bad language" as "infrequent", saying it referred to "a single mumbled use of 'bloody'". Widely acclaimed by critics for its humour, screenplay, visual effects and appeal to children and adults, Paddington was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film at the 68th British Academy Film Awards in 2015.
To celebrate the release of the film, the Paddington Trail was launched. From 4 November until 30 December 2014, 50 Paddington statues were placed around London close to museums, parks, shops and key landmarks. The 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) statues have been created by artists, designers and celebrities, including supermodel Kate Moss, actresses Nicole Kidman and Emma Watson, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, footballer David Beckham, and actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville who also played Henry Brown. As the lead charity partner of The Paddington Trail, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) held an online auction in November and a live auction in December for the statues, with all proceeds from the sale going to the charity.
Following the success of Paddington, the studio announced it was in talks with the producer about a sequel. The sequel, Paddington 2, was released on 10 November 2017 in the UK to universal acclaim. The mantra from the film, "If we're kind and polite, the world will be right", was taught to Paddington by his beloved Aunt Lucy in times of both duress and joy. New cast members included Hugh Grant as Phoenix Buchanan, a narcissistic actor and former West End theatre star, reduced to making adverts for dog food, and Brendan Gleeson as Knuckles McGinty, the short-tempered prison cook. On 18 January 2018, Paddington 2 became the most-reviewed film ever to remain at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, with 164 positive reviews, beating Toy Story 2, which had 163 positive reviews at the time.
Comedian and later President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky voiced Paddington in the Ukrainian dubbing of the films Paddington (2014) and Paddington 2 (2017). Upon hearing of this, Bonneville tweeted "Thank you, President Zelensky" at the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A third film in the series, Paddington in Peru, began filming in July 2023. As well as recurring cast members it also stars Emily Mortimer, Antonio Banderas and Olivia Colman. The film debuted in London on 3 November 2024 and was released in cinemas on 8 November 2024 in the United Kingdom. Critic reviews were generally positive, although lacking much enthusiasm.
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. 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".
Paddington Bear is among the most popular characters in children's literature. The actor Stephen Fry, who narrated Paddington audiobooks, stated "Michael Bond's bear is a Great British icon with his charm, humour, spirit of adventure and generosity". Devan Coggan writing for Entertainment Weekly saw a similarity between Paddington and Winnie-the-Pooh, referring to them as two "extremely polite British bears without pants", adding that "both bears share a philosophy of kindness and integrity".
The New York Times praised the original book A Bear Called Paddington (1958). Similarly, The Horn Book Guide, a bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature, praised the short story Paddington Helps Out (1960). Both articles emphasise the welcoming Brown family and how the book captures Paddington's adventurous, charming, and funny attitude. Further, The New York Times' article highlights the resemblance of Paddington to a child, indicating that 6 to 9 year olds could enjoy both the colourful illustrations and the book's content.
In 2021, the British Library hosted an exhibition on Paddington Bear. The Telegraph journalist Claire Allfree acknowledges Paddington's difficulty as an immigrant to integrate into British culture. For example, that "children should practise their own hard stares and to imagine what objects they might take with them on their long journey." Scholars Angela Smith, Kyle Grayson and Lisa Dussenberry additionally discuss the role of Otherness in the Paddington series. Smith writes that though children will be able to subtly learn the complex political and psychological issues of migration, Paddington nonetheless enforces assimilation to the dominant culture. Grayson posits that even with specific negotiations of differences, Paddington remains in a precarious position in society. On a positive tone about Paddington's immigration theme, Dussenberry appreciates how Mr. Gruber, a Hungarian immigrant and Paddington's friend, supports and guides Paddington with his adjustment into the new society.
On 2nd March 2025 two RAF engineers vandalised and stole a statue of Paddington in Newbury, Berkshire. At their sentencing, the judge noted that Paddington "represents kindness, tolarance and promotes integration and acceptance in our society" and that their actions were "the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for"
Cadbury launched a Paddington Bear branded chocolate bar in 1977. Paddington was featured on the Royal Mail 1st class stamp in the Animal Tales series released on 10 January 2006 and had previously been featured on one of the 1st class Greetings Messages stamps, released by Royal Mail on 1 February 1994.
Paddington Bear featured in the Marmite television advertisement (first broadcast in the UK on 13 September 2007), in which he tries a marmite and cheese sandwich instead of his traditional marmalade sandwich.
Paddington Bear audiobooks have been read by a number of celebrities. In 2007, Stephen Fry narrated the audiobook More About Paddington (1959), and in 2008 he received the Audie Award for Young Listeners' Title from the Audio Publishers Association in the U.S.
On 13 October 2008, Google celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first Paddington publication by placing an image of the travelling bear with a sign showing Peru and London incorporated into a Google Doodle.
In 2010, Paddington Bear was first used in marketing for Robertson's, appearing on the jars of their Golden Shred marmalade. In November 2014, a balloon with Paddington Bear was introduced in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. A song about Paddington Bear, "Shine" was released on 13 January 2015 by Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams, to coincide with the U.S. release of Paddington.
As part of the promotion of film and to celebrate cross-cultural links between the UK and Peru, the British Embassy and StudioCanal commissioned a statue of Paddington in Parque Salazar in the Miraflores district of the Peruvian capital, Lima, which was unveiled in July 2015.
The 2017 Marks & Spencer Christmas advertisement for television shows Paddington mistaking a petty criminal for Santa Claus and helping him right the wrong by returning the gifts to their rightful owners.
Marking the 60th anniversary of the publication of the first Paddington children's book, in 2018 an image of Paddington Bear (sitting at Paddington station) appeared on 50p coins in the UK. His creator Michael Bond was the second author to have their character feature on the coin after Beatrix Potter whose literary creation Peter Rabbit appeared two years earlier.
In the 2022 film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Paddington 2 was referenced when the characters Javi (Pedro Pascal) and Nicolas Cage (Nicolas Cage) were discussing their favourite movies. When asked why Paddington 2 was referred to, director Tom Gormican said "It's a perfect movie...we were big fans" and Cage described it as "wonderful".
In a pre-recorded comedy segment at the opening of the Platinum Party at the Palace on 4 June 2022, Paddington joined Queen Elizabeth II for tea and marmalade sandwiches at Buckingham Palace before they tapped their tea cups to the beat of "We Will Rock You", prior to Queen + Adam Lambert performing the song outside live. During their meeting, the Queen reveals to Paddington that she too always keeps a marmalade sandwich for emergencies, in her handbag. The video would turn out to be one of the last public appearances of Elizabeth II before her death on 8 September 2022, and as a result Paddington Bear became a symbol of mourning for the Queen. An image of Paddington and the Queen walking hand-in-hand was widely shared and re-printed, mourners left stuffed Paddington Bears and marmalade sandwiches at memorials, and the BBC announced that both Paddington films would air on the weekend of the funeral. The film featuring Paddington and the Queen won the Memorable Moment Award at the 2023 BAFTA Television Awards.
In 2024, to promote the release of Paddington in Peru, StudioCanal created a Letterboxd account for the character, making Paddington look like he seemingly joined the platform to share reviews of his favorite films, including Top Hat (1935), Modern Times (1936), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Mary Poppins (1964), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Home Alone (1990), March of the Penguins (2005), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) and Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015).