In THE ECLECTIC and CULTURE

By Dave Jones
Paddington, the small bear with the big heart, is coming to cinema screens for his third adventure soon and this time his travels will take him back to his homeland in Peru. However, as with any trip the journey matters far more than the destination, and boy, has Paddington had his fair share of those.
If you ask Paddington himself he will tell you that he comes from Darkest Peru, but his stories are now known far and wide. In fact, they’ve been translated into thirty different languages, but they can all be traced back to the UK to a late author called Michael Bond.
One Christmas Eve in 1956, Bond spotted a lonely-looking toy bear sitting on the shelf in a shop in London. He described it as looking “rather forlorn,” and it must have stirred up some emotions – much like the icon it would later inspire – so he presented it as a gift for his wife. Its story already has parallels to Paddington’s own, but Bond drew from another source, too.
During World War II, Bond witnessed groups of children seeking shelter from the fighting. Some were British, travelling to safer parts of the countryside. Others were Jewish refugees, arriving in the country from their war-torn homelands. These children had something in common.
“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,” Bond said. “So Paddington, in a sense, was a refugee, and I do think that there’s no sadder sight than refugees.”
Paddington’s name doesn’t just come from the train station in the book, but in real life, too. Bond lived nearby and liked the name so much he used it for his new character. His daughter Karen said, “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.”

Bond began writing his first children’s book, A Bear Called Paddington, in 1958 and it only took ten days to finish. The title introduced the world to the Browns, a family who discover the now-famous little marmalade-loving bear at Paddington station with nothing but a hat, a label around his neck reading “Please look after this bear,” and a wish to find a home.
Some of Paddington’s features grew organically around him as his character developed. For example, his birthplace was originally supposed to be Darkest Africa until Bond’s agent informed him Africa had no bears. Peru, on the other hand, was mysterious enough and was also home to the spectacled bear, so Paddington’s home country was changed.

Paddington’s books have sold
in excess of 70 million
copies in 30 different languages
Photography: Pfuderi
“A wise bear always keeps a marmalade sandwich in his hat in case of emergency”.
Mr. L’Bear
You might be familiar with the little wellington boots Paddington wears as well? That also happened as a solution to a problem. They started making stuffed Paddington bears in 1972, and manufacturer Shirley Clarkson put them in wellington boots to help the toys stand upright. She did draw from the source material though – in 1964’s Paddington Marches On, Paddington gets those boots as a Christmas gift. These days, Paddington’s books have sold an excess of 70 million copies in 30 different languages, so he’s loved across the world. However, he’s most associated not for Darkest Peru but as an icon of British culture. This was further cemented when he became good friends with the late Queen Elizabeth II before her passing.
Paddington most recently appeared alongside the Queen for her 2022 Jubilee, where he joined her for Marmalade sandwiches and tea, and bears were a common sight among mourners following her death later that year. The first two Paddington movies were shown on her funeral weekend too, further cementing the little bear’s connection to the UK.
It’s not just his standing in the country that makes Paddington so popular, though. It’s his unwavering determination to make life better for himself against all odds when he made the trip to London via lifeboat to look for a home. It’s his impeccable manners at all times, and his ability to defuse volatile situations with his “hard stare” taught to him by Aunt Lucy. And it’s his tendency to try and do the right thing in every situation, even if it doesn’t quite go the way he initially plans.
It’s no wonder that he remains such a lovable bear and why his film career is still going strong! Paddington’s next journey will be to find his beloved Aunt Lucy in Darkest Peru – accompanied by the Browns, of course – and his voice actor Ben Whishaw has promised they’ll be an answer to the mystery.
“No, I absolutely cannot tell you,” he informed BBC News when pushed for an answer. “You will find out,” he elaborated, before hinting that Lucy was “on some sort of quest.” Whishaw concluded, “I think it’s a really beautiful film and I’m really excited for people to see it. It’s gorgeous.”
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