49 Fun Facts About Paddington Bear

In Paddington 2, which stray item in Paddington's prison wash turns every inmate's uniform pink?

A red sock slips into the load on his laundry duty, and the furious inmates only warm to Paddington once he introduces them to marmalade.

Which Queen hit did Paddington and Elizabeth II tap their teacups to at her Platinum Jubilee concert?

"We Will Rock You" was then played live outside the palace by Queen + Adam Lambert, and in the sketch the Queen revealed she keeps a marmalade sandwich in her bag for emergencies.

Which Top Gear presenter's mother made the first Paddington toy, adding Wellington boots so it stood up?

Jeremy Clarkson's parents Shirley and Eddie ran Gabrielle Designs, whose prototype bear was a Christmas present for Jeremy and his sister Joanna before Michael Bond granted them the toy rights.

Which actor voiced the Browns' grumpy neighbour in the 1989 Paddington cartoon, a character who shares his surname?

Tim Curry voiced Mr Curry, the mean neighbour who barks "Bear!" at Paddington and is forever trying to get something for nothing out of him.

In 2018 Paddington 2 became the most-reviewed film to hold a perfect 100% score on which review site?

Rotten Tomatoes had 164 positive reviews and none negative, one more than Toy Story 2's record; the perfect run ended in 2021, when a single late pan cut it to 99%.

Like the Queen, Paddington celebrates two birthdays a year; which date pairs with 25 December?

25 June is the summer one: Paddington was not sure how old he was when the Browns found him, so they started him again at one and gave him two birthdays a year.

Who plays Phoenix Buchanan, the faded West End star reduced to dog-food adverts, in Paddington 2?

Hugh Grant earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor as the master of disguise, and he sings Sondheim's "Rain on the Roof" over the end credits.

Which Oscar winner plays Millicent Clyde, the taxidermist who hunts Paddington in the 2014 film?

Nicole Kidman's villain wants Paddington stuffed for her collection, and ends the film sentenced to community service in her own father's petting zoo.

Which actor voiced Paddington in each of the first three live-action films?

Ben Whishaw took the role late: another actor had already recorded Paddington before withdrawing months before release, so Whishaw joined in post-production.

Which British retailer's 2017 Christmas advert had Paddington mistake a burglar for Father Christmas?

Marks & Spencer's advert had Paddington help the thief, whom he takes for Santa, return every stolen gift to its rightful owner.

Which Paddington habit, taught by Aunt Lucy, leaves rude people flushed and embarrassed?

A hard stare is Paddington's only weapon: he is unfailingly polite, calling people Mr, Mrs and Miss, so the stare is what he saves for anyone who forgets their manners.

At which fictional London address near Notting Hill do the Browns give Paddington a home?

32 Windsor Gardens is invented: a real Windsor Gardens exists between Notting Hill and Maida Vale, but it looks nothing like the Browns' street.

At which London street market is Paddington respected by shopkeepers for driving a shrewd bargain?

Portobello Road was Bond's own patch: he typed the first book in a tiny flat just off it, and decades later the films shot their market chase on the real street.

Which antique dealer shares elevenses with Paddington every day in Michael Bond's books?

Mr Gruber came to London from Hungary, and over cocoa and buns each morning he treats the bear as a fellow newcomer, taking him and the children on outings.

Aunt Lucy raised him, but which other relative handed down Paddington's battered old hat?

Uncle Pastuzo handed down the old bush hat and, back in Peru, his own name too; the famous duffle coat came later, bought by the Browns after they took the bear home.

Aunt Lucy sends Paddington to London after moving into the Home for Retired Bears in which city?

Lima is where Aunt Lucy went once she could no longer look after him, so she taught him English and arranged for him to stow away in a ship's lifeboat.

What are the names of the two Brown children who share a house with Paddington in the books?

Judy and Jonathan Brown swap ages between adaptations: Judy is the elder in the films and the 1976 series, Jonathan in the 1989 and 1997 cartoons.

Michael Bond, then a BBC cameraman, wrote the whole first Paddington book in how long?

Ten days in the spring of 1957 was all it took: the story began with a lonely toy bear he had bought out of pity for his wife's Christmas stocking.

Michael Bond's other children's series starred Olga da Polga, named after the family's pet what?

A guinea pig: the real Olga was a Bond family pet, and unlike Paddington her fictional namesake is a teller of tall tales in the style of Baron Munchausen.

In which canal-side London district did Michael Bond live, close to the station that named his bear?

Little Venice kept Bond a short walk from Paddington station, where he used to turn out from home to stand the toy bears in its display cases back on their feet.

Paddington station's bronze bear under the clock copies which original illustrator's artwork?

Peggy Fortnum drew him in pen and ink from the first book in 1958, kitting him out in a duffle coat like the one Bond had been wearing the night he found the toy bear.

Michael Bond first wrote that Paddington came from "darkest" where, until his agent pointed out it had no bears?

Africa was the plan until his agent noted that it has no native bears, so Bond moved his stowaway to Peru, home of the spectacled bear.

Which actor narrated the 1976 BBC stop-motion Paddington and voiced every character himself?

Michael Hordern, a noted Lear on stage and screen, later said the three most challenging roles of his career had been God, Lear and Paddington Bear.

The label round Paddington's neck was inspired by Michael Bond's wartime memory of whom?

Child evacuees travelled with a label round the neck and their belongings in one small case; Bond said that made Paddington, in a sense, a refugee.

In the 1976 BBC series, how were the Browns and the other characters shown alongside the Paddington puppet?

As flat 2D drawings: the Browns and everyone else were paper cut-outs, which left the puppet bear the only three-dimensional character and always the centre of attention.

Which American studio made the 1989 Paddington cartoon that added an American cousin named David?

Hanna-Barbera co-produced it with Britain's Central Television, and its new character David lands in London on the very day Paddington does.

Which US kids' network co-made the 2019 cartoon The Adventures of Paddington with StudioCanal?

Nickelodeon's series kept the films' voice of Paddington and frames each episode as a letter the young bear writes home to Aunt Lucy; Gary Barlow wrote its theme song.

On which BBC children's programme was Paddington first adapted for television, in 1966?

Jackanory had Thora Hird read five Paddington stories on consecutive afternoons in March 1966, and every one of those episodes is now missing from the archive.

Which QI host won a 2008 Audie Award in the US for reading the Paddington audiobook More About Paddington?

Stephen Fry's reading of Bond's 1959 sequel took the Audio Publishers Association's Young Listeners' Title, one of several Paddington books he has recorded.

Who wrote and directed the first two Paddington films before handing the third to a new director?

Paul King finished shooting Paddington 2 on 27 June 2017, the very day Michael Bond died, and the film he wrote with Simon Farnaby is dedicated to the author.

Which actor recorded Paddington's voice for the 2014 film, then stepped aside months before its release?

Colin Firth called it "bittersweet" to step away after seeing the bear take shape on screen, and the role was recast the following month.

In the 2014 Paddington film, taxidermist Millicent Clyde works at which real London institution?

Natural History Museum galleries in South Kensington were used for filming, and Millicent wants to stuff Paddington for the collection because her explorer father refused to bring a bear home.

Paddington's creator Michael Bond makes a cameo in the 2014 film doing what as the bear passes in a taxi?

Raising a glass to him from his seat in a restaurant: Bond, credited as the Kindly Gentleman, shot it at night and said he caught the bear's eye as the taxi went by.

Which Downton Abbey star plays cautious dad Henry Brown in the Paddington films?

Hugh Bonneville was, fittingly, born in Paddington, London, and he also designed one of the fifty statues on the 2014 Paddington Trail.

Who plays Mrs Bird, the Browns' no-nonsense housekeeper, in all three Paddington films?

Julie Walters gets an action turn in the third film: suspicious of the nun who runs the bears' home, Mrs Bird trails her to a secret room and ends up flying into the jungle.

Which Doctor Who lead plays the Browns' nosy, bad-tempered neighbour in the Paddington films?

Peter Capaldi, the twelfth Doctor, plays the penny-pinching neighbour who schemes with the villain in the first film, then warns the Browns so they can rescue Paddington.

In Paddington 2, what present is Paddington saving up to buy for Aunt Lucy's 100th birthday?

A pop-up book of London is the prize: the thief uses clues hidden in its pages to hunt a fortune, and Framestore built the elaborate pop-up sequence.

How does Paddington earn the money for Aunt Lucy's present in Paddington 2 before he is framed?

As a window cleaner Paddington saves his wages, only to be jailed for ten years after a burglar he chases makes off with the gift.

Which Irish actor plays Knuckles McGinty, the prison cook Paddington wins over in Paddington 2?

Brendan Gleeson's gruff cook tastes one of Paddington's sandwiches and puts him to work in the kitchen, then helps him break out at midnight.

Which Strictly Come Dancing judge choreographed the prison dance number in Paddington 2?

Craig Revel Horwood staged the routine that runs under the end credits, when the jailed villain finally gets his big musical number with a chorus of inmates.

Which Oscar winner plays the Reverend Mother, secretly Clarissa Cabot, in Paddington in Peru?

Olivia Colman's nun runs the Home for Retired Bears but faked her own death years earlier, and she stages Aunt Lucy's disappearance to lure Paddington to Peru.

Which Spanish star plays gold-obsessed riverboat captain Hunter Cabot in Paddington in Peru?

Antonio Banderas plays a captain driven by the ghosts of his ancestors to find El Dorado, and the part earned him a Best Actor nomination at the 2025 Imagen Awards.

Who took over as Mary Brown in Paddington in Peru after Sally Hawkins left the role?

Emily Mortimer's Mrs Brown finds her family drifting apart, with one child applying to university and the other shut in his room, until a letter about Aunt Lucy sends them all to Peru.

In Paddington in Peru, the fabled El Dorado turns out to be what kind of place, Paddington's own birthplace?

An orangery full of bears is what the Browns find, and several of those bears later visit London, where they are named after other railway stations.

David Heyman, who produced the first Paddington film, was already famous for producing which blockbuster series?

Harry Potter's producer announced the film in 2007 and needed seven years to deliver it; he called Paddington's story that of an immigrant arriving in London to find a home and a family.

The Paddington-and-the-Queen Jubilee sketch won which prize at the 2023 BAFTA Television Awards?

Memorable Moment went to a film that became one of Elizabeth II's last public appearances, and mourners later left Paddington toys and sandwiches at her memorials.

Which children's charity, once under the Queen's patronage, received the 1,000-plus Paddington toys left when she died?

Barnardo's had been the Queen's charity until she handed its patronage to Camilla in 2016, and the Queen Consort delivered the cleaned bears herself, at a teddy bears' picnic in one of its nurseries.

Which UK government department issued Paddington an official passport in 2024 that lists "Bear" under observations?

The Home Office answered the film-makers' request for a prop replica with an official document, though as a specimen passport it cannot actually be used to travel.

Paddington, sitting at his station, appeared on which UK coin in 2018 to mark 60 years of the books?

50p coins showed him at his station and, on a second 2018 design, outside Buckingham Palace, four years before he went inside for tea; only Beatrix Potter's animals had got there first.