TOTAL LICENSING
A Bear Called
“Mr and Mrs Brown first met Pad- millions of children around the world thing that turned
dington on a railway platform. In began. “I had an idea and began to put out to be true!).
fact, that was how he came to have it down on paper”, he said. “It was The stories came
such an unusual name for a bear, never intended to form the basis of thick and fast and
for Paddington was the name of a book and certainly not a children’s he wrote one chapter
the station.” book. I called him Paddington because each day for eight days.
These few words were how, in 1958, I had always rather liked the name. It “At the time, I was work-
Michael Bond introduced Paddington seemed rather important-sounding!” ing a four day week at
Bear’s arrival from ‘Darkest Peru’ in He completed the first chapter of the BBC so I had the
his book A Bear Called Paddington. what was to become A Bear Called time to devote to the
The story actually began two years Paddington and realised that he thor- stories which I really en-
prior on Christmas Eve 1956. Michael oughly enjoyed writing the story, which joyed writing”.
Bond, then a BBC cameraman, missed seemed to incorporate so much of his Michael had previously written short
own life. “Paddington was really based stories which had been published
With The Copyrights
on my father”, he explained. “Like and, as a result, had acquired a liter-
Group preparing to
Paddington, my father always wore a ary agent called Harvey Unna. In May
celebrate
hat - even when he went in the sea! I 1957, he wrote to Unna, explaining the
Paddington Bear’s
gave Paddington a duffel coat as I had story and asking, before he spent too
50
th
birthday in
a similar army-surplus one and a bush much more time rewriting and typing
2008, over the next
hat as that was what I wore.” the stories, if Unna could market the
few issues, Total
The opening scene at Paddington Sta- book and find a publisher.
Licensing will chart
tion was also inspired by events in Unna replied positively and a month
the history of this
Michael Bondís life. “As a child, I grew later Michael sent the draft to Har-
extraordinary
up in Reading and during the war I vey Unna who replied that it was very
character and the
often saw sad and scared children ‘publishable’ but explained, ‘My spies
impact he has had
evacuated out of London and waiting tell me that you have slipped up in
on children the
at the station with labels around their that there are no bears in Africa, dark-
world over.
neck. Later on in the book, Padding- est or otherwise’.
ton’s adventures are based around a Michael did his research and made the
In the first part, we
market and I was inspired by Porto- change to Darkest Peru. Harvey Unna
go back in time to
bello which was just down the road began to offer it to different publish-
Paddington’s origins
his bus in Oxford Street and, to
from where I lived”. ing houses and it landed up with Col-
and early years,
stay out of the rain, wandered into
Michael soon came to love the char- lins who offered Michael a contract
from a missed
Selfridges department store. In the
acter he created. The well-meaning for the book.
London bus to his
toy department, he saw a small bear
but accident prone little bear, from
first Emmy.
- the last on the shelf - with a price tag
darkest Africa, with a passion for mar-
around his neck. Michael bought him
malade, had a label around his neck
as a present for his wife and the bear
that said ‘Please look after this bear.
took pride of place on the Bond’s
Thank you’ moved in with the Brown
mantelpiece in their flat near Notting
family who lived at 32 Windsor Gar-
Hill - not far from Paddington Station.
dens. (In fact, there is no 32 Windsor
Two years on and Michael Bond was
Gardens in London, but Michael based
doodling when he had an idea for a
the house on one near his flat. Many
story, inspired by seeing the bear on
years later, at a book signing, some-
the mantelpiece.
body approached him saying that they
In an exclusive interview with Total Li-
were sure that the basis for 32 Wind-
censing, Michael Bond explained how
sor Gardens was their house - some-
Illustrations
the bear that has become loved by © P&Co Ltd 2007
57
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