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Paddington Bear's manners and marmalade continue to charm, Julian Shea reports in London.
In October 1958, when his first book about a polite but accident-prone stowaway bear from Peru with a taste for marmalade sandwiches was published, British author Michael Bond could have had no idea what he was giving the world.
Over the subsequent decades, the adventures of Bond's creation, Paddington Bear, who was found by the Brown family at London's Paddington Station wearing a luggage tag saying "Please look after this bear", have enchanted readers and, more recently, viewers of all ages around the world.
The books are estimated to have sold around 35 million copies and been translated into more than 40 languages, including Chinese.
The intellectual property value of the Paddington brand is valued alongside Harry Potter and James Bond, and a succession of animated television series and three hit movies have taken the story of Paddington to a global audience.
The tidy, music-filled London that Paddington lives in, which is fueled by goodwill and the kindness of strangers, may clearly be grounded more in escapist fantasy than in reality, but the lovable character has become a mainstay of the British tourist and souvenir industry, and, since May last year, fans have had a chance to step into his world at the Paddington Bear Experience on London's South Bank, close to the London Eye.
Nathan Brine is the director of the immersive experience and came to it from a background in live theater entertainment production, including taking an adaptation of the animated film Madagascar on an extensive tour of China.
Like many Britons, his relationship with Paddington goes back to childhood.
"Paddington as a brand has touched me at various points in my life," he said.
"I'm old enough to remember the stop (motion) animation cartoon that I watched on the television, and my parents read me the original books.
"Then I had a period of probably 10 to 15 years of not really thinking about Paddington, but then there were key moments, like his wonderful interaction with the late Queen Elizabeth during her Diamond Jubilee in 2022, which suddenly put him front and center of everybody, and also the marvelous movies made by StudioCanal. Now, as the father of a 2-year-old, it's wonderful to begin that journey of sharing Paddington with him."
