Paddington Bear

Fictional character in children's literature by Michael Bond

7 min read

Paddington Bear, also known as Paddington Brown, or even "Puddington", is a fictional character in British children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958 in A Bear Called Paddington by British author Michael Bond. He has been 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 2017.

Since his first appearance on the BBC in 1976, Paddington Bear has been adapted for television, films, the stage 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 2024. A stage adaptation, Paddington: The Musical, premiered at the Savoy Theatre in the West End in 2025.

History

Origin

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.

Paddington Bear

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.

Storyline

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 after an earthquake destroyed their home. He claims, "I came in a lifeboat and ate marmalade. Did you know bears like marmalade?" Afterwards, he and the Browns go to a restaurant inside the station while they decide what to do. Here he tells Mr. Brown his bear name; however, it is difficult for him to pronounce. After deciding they would take him in for the night, the Browns decided to give him an English name and named 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 his 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.