22 Facts About Paddington Bear

Paddington Bear first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children's book A Bear Called Paddington and has been featured in more than twenty books written by British author Michael Bond, and illustrated by Peggy Fortnum and other artists.

Paddington Bear has an endless capacity for innocently getting into trouble, but he is known to "try so hard to get things right".

Paddington Bear was discovered in London Paddington station by the Brown family who adopted him and gives his full name as "Paddington Brown, " as his original name in bear language was too hard for them to pronounce.

Paddington Bear books have been translated into 30 languages across 70 titles and have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.

Paddington Bear has been adapted for television, films and commercials since its first appearance on the BBC in 1966.

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Paddington Bear was inspired by the sight, during World War II, of Jewish refugee children from Europe arriving in Britain and of London children being evacuated to the countryside, the evacuees bearing labels perhaps similar to that attached to the bear Paddington "Please look after this bear".

Paddington Bear inspired Bond to write a story and in ten days, he had written the first book.

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.

For instance, one story reveals that Paddington Bear was orphaned in an earthquake, before being taken in and raised by his Aunt Lucy.

One of the most well-known adaptations of Paddington Bear is the stop-motion animated BBC television series Paddington.

Paddington Bear 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.

Paddington Bear 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 sequel, titled Paddington Bear 2, was released on 10 November 2017 in the UK to universal acclaim.

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".

Paddington Bear 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, 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 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.

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.