Paddington Bear Film
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| Paddington Bear Film |
It all started in October 1958 when Collins first published a story by
Michael Bond about an appealing bear from Peru, who had been left at Paddington
Station in his duffel coat, rain hat and red Wellington boots, with a label
saying "Please look after
Inspiration for the story had come two years earlier when
Bond, a BBC cameraman, bought a small bear.
He named him Paddington after the
station near his home and gave him to his wife for Christmas.
In The Beginning
In the stories, Bond modelled Mr and Mrs Brown on his own
However, the publishers pointed out that there were no bears in
Africa, so Paddington came from Peru instead. The first book 'A bear called
Paddington' with illustrations by Peggy Fortnum, won the 'Best Children's Book
of the Year' award and Paddington was set to achieve worldwide fame.
Until 1966, Bond wrote a book each year and after that
there followed six collections of stories between 1968 and 1981. Since then
there have been hardback and paperback versions of the novels, 14 in all,
numerous short stories, books for younger readers and pop up books. Paddington
has been published in
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| Paddington Bear Film |
He has appeared on a Japanese credit
card, was a crew member when Richard Branson attempted to break the Atlantic
Blue Riband speed record and joined an expedition to the Amazon to raise money
for charity.
First edition Paddington
books are now worth between £17 and £25 each.
In
1969, the BBC commissioned Harry Hargreaves to redesign Paddington to
illustrate stories which were to feature in the Blue Peter annuals. So the bear lost his Wellingtons and sometimes
even his coat and hat, and sported a feather in his big floppy hat.
The
illustrations appeared until 1980 and many of the original drawings were sold
at Christie's in December, along with the Blue Peter annuals, as well as one
especially drawn for the sale
k Most of them 'i exceeded sale estimates by several hundred pounds, a few of them trebling
in price. The most _ expensive, at £1,150, was a set of ten drawings published
in the ninth Blue Peter book in 1972 with a copy of that book and sheets of
rough drawings.
It was the television
The other was
expected to be sold at auction at Sotheby's London, last year at an estimated
£6,000- £10,000 but at the last minute the seller couldn't bear to part with it and withdrew it from the sale.
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| Paddington Bear Film |
There is a huge and affordable choice of Paddington
memorabilia for the collector. These include curtains, bedding, jigsaws, stitch
kits, posters, nursery furniture, Wellingtons and toys.
A 1970s lampshade is likely to cost around £25, a wind up
toy £10.
There is all manner of replica bears. A set of three made
by Gabrielle in the seventies were recently sold at auction in a lot of three,
for £90.
However, since the company went into liquidation in
February 1998, that price is likely to rise. A current model produced by Teddy
Bears of Witney in a limited edition, complete with leather
Anyone who prefers ceramics, will appreciate the Coal port
range of nursery ware and figures first introduced in 1976.
Thirteen new models
were produced in 1981 and 1983 and to celebrate Paddington's 25th birthday that
year there was a Happy Birthday plate and mug, thimbles and the bear's cottage.
By 1987 the range included bathroom
Collector's should note that the design of the nursery ware
changed in 1985. The new style featured illustrations and text from the story
books.
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| Paddington Bear Film |
In 1996 Doulton introduced a series of figures, some of
which are already retired so therefore highly collectable.
These are
Camtrak's Wade birthday Paddington figure 'Paddington in
the snow' is a limited edition of 2,000. Their previous Paddington figure,
which retailed at around £33, is worth more than double that on the secondary
market.
With the new Paddington Bear Film coming to the big screen in 2014 , the future looks rosy for
Paddington and his collectibles.
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