Paddington Bear at 50

When we lived in London we didn’t have too many opportunities to go through Paddington Station—we lived in the northeast and it’s a little west of our regular haunts in the West End—but there was one particular occasion when I caught the express train to Heathrow there and I paused to envision a quiet little brown fellow with a rain hat and galoshes, sitting on his suitcase and possibly munching a marmalade sandwich. The calm and even polite demeanor of Paddington Bear formed a nice mental contrast to the bustle of the station; it was, perhaps ironically, the perfect place for such a character to be born. Like Pooh—who was similarly discovered at the uber-busy Harrods not far away in Knightsbridge—and Peter Rabbit and other British storybook animals, Paddington signifies something of a quieter, more self-reflexive way of life. I particularly like Paddington in that he doesn’t hail from the Victorian or Edwardian eras or the Lake District or any such picturesque milieus; he comes from the post-war, post-Clement Attlee world that would quickly lead to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, swinging London, and, well, modern times. Moral: peace of mind is not dependent on nostalgia; it’s attainable to each of us, even today.

Paddington was born fifty years ago this past Monday, October 13. On that day in 1958 Michael Bond published the first Paddington book, A Bear Called Paddington, with William Collins & Sons, which is now Harper Collins. Since then there have been 30 million books in 30 languages, three television series over three decades, a mountain of merchandise, and now a feature film slated for a 2010 release (see here also).

Wikipedia has a fairly good history and compendium of information, as does Paddington’s official site. On Monday, the anniversary itself, Paddington evidently took a ride around London in a black cab as part of a contest for those who could snap a picture of him; unfortunately there are no official events this weekend, but in December Paddington will have his first concert, in Southgate (…Amy Winehouse, anyone…?). There has, of course, been a whole range of marketing activities going on all year, including a new line of plush toys, a PlayStation 2 game released last fall, a UK-wide television campaign for Marmite (if Popeye can back spinach…), and of course a series of anniversary publications as well as the release of a brand new book, Paddington Here and Now, in June.

While Michael Bond wrote the stories, the original illustrations were in black and white and were created by Peggy Fortnum. The image above is from the original 1958 book and is from this Flickr page that has a bit more information on Fortnum. Her pictures have since been colored (or coloured) and Paddington has gone through a number of different incarnations, on page and screen, but he is perhaps equally known as a toy as he is as a literary character.

I thought it interesting to learn, again from Wikipedia, that the characteristic wellies were added on the toy before they ever made it into print; they were placed on Paddington’s feet by Shirley Clarkson in order to make him stand upright when she created the first bear at Gabrielle Designs in 1972 (the version above is from circa 1980); it is hard now, of course, to think of Paddington without them. This June Shirley published an autobiography entitled Bearly Believable: My Part in the Paddington Bear Story, which is available from the publisher (Harriman House; more info available here as well) or amazon. I haven't looked at it but it appears to be a rare thing in that it's an autobiography about book/toy marketing and merchandizing, an integral part of this industry that often gets short shrift. 

Now, given that we’re celebrating Paddington’s fiftieth, it is delightful to be able to say that Michael Bond is still at the helm of the enterprise. Turning eighty-two himself this year, Bond has written dozens upon dozens of books, including Paddington and his two other series, Olga da Polga (launched 1971) and Monsieur Pamplemousse (launched 1983). It appears that other authors have worked on Paddington in the 80s and 90s—which is perfectly acceptable, after all—but I’m pleased to note that the aforementioned Paddington Here and Now as well as an earlier 2008 title, Paddington Rules the Waves, were both once again the work of Mr. Bond. This short review of the former title asserts Bond (below, earlier this year) is still at the top of his game; if you loved Paddington as a child but feel you know all the stories, there are now many more chapters in these two new books to both engage yourself and introduce Paddington to your child.

There is more I could add. I haven’t said anything about how incredibly funny Paddington is, for instance, but I somewhat hope that goes without saying. If anyone knows more about the 2001 documentary Paddington Bear: The Early Years, I’d love to hear your comments.

Finally, I’d like to share the premiere episode from the original Paddington series (in other words, his screen debut), produced by FilmFair in London in 1975 and narrated by Michael Hordern. There are plenty more clips, including of the later Hannah-Barbera series and the most recent incarnation by Cinar Films (that’s Cookie Jar now-a-days), where that one came from.