Paddington Bear
- Not to be confused with the title character's actual name, Paddington Brown.
| Paddington Bear | |
|---|---|
 On-screen title card. | |
| Network | Syndication |
| Production company | Hanna-Barbera Central Independent Television |
| Distributor | Worldvision Enterprises |
| Original release | December 2, 1989—January 21, 1990 |
| Run time | 21 minutes |
| Starring | Charlie Adler John Standing B.J. Ward Cody Everett Katie Johnson R.J. Williams Georgia Brown |
| Executive producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera Bruce David Johnson |
| Producer(s) | Kay Wright |
| Music composed by | Tom Worrall |
| Writer(s) | Gordon Kent |
| Director(s) | Don Lusk Paul Sommer Oscar Dufau Art Davis Gordon Hunt (voices) |
Paddington Bear is an American-British animated comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera, in association with Central Independent Television, for syndication on stations that took part in The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera programming block.[1] It ran from 1989 to 1990, airing 13 episodes that spanned one season.
It is an adaptation of British author Michael Bond's books starring the little brown bear called Paddington, first published in 1958, appropriately called A Bear Called Paddington. This series is the second Paddington series after the solely British-produced Paddington, which aired from 1976 to 1980, also written by Bond. Bond served as a creative consultant on the Hanna-Barbera version.
In the series, Paddington's aunt sends him from Peru to London, in the hope of Paddington miraculously being adopted by a nice British family who will spot him and take care of him, which turns out to be the Browns, who quickly do just that, taking him in as one of their own. What sets this incarnation apart from the books, is the addition of the Browns' American relative, David Russell, who adds absolutely nothing extra to the series, and may have been added simply so American children wouldn't feel completely ostracized anymore from already watching a talking bear living in modern-day England.
The entire series has been released on DVD.
Production
Development
The series was designed with thirteen episodes from the onset of its development.[1]
Music
The score was composed by Tom Worrall. The director of music supervision was Joanne Miller.
Episodes
| Episode | Original air date |
|---|---|
| 1x01 | December 2, 1989 |
| 1x02 | December 3, 1989 |
| 1x03 | December 9, 1989 |
| 1x04 | December 10, 1989 |
| 1x05 | December 16, 1989 |
| 1x06 | December 24, 1989 |
| 1x07 | December 25, 1989 |
| 1x08 | January 6, 1990 |
| 1x09 | January 7, 1990 |
| 1x10 | January 13, 1990 |
| 1x11 | January 14, 1990 |
| 1x12 | January 20, 1990 |
| 1x13 | January 21, 1990 |
Cast
- Charlie Adler as Paddington Brown
- John Standing as Henry Brown
- B.J. Ward as Mary Brown
- Cody Everett as Jonathan Brown
- Katie Johnson as Judy Brown
- Georgia Brown as Mrs. Bird
- R.J. Williams as David Russell
Merchandise
Home media
In 1989, Castle Vision released a couple of VHS tapes with two episodes each.
On August 4, 2020, the Warner Archive Collection printed the entire series on a 2-disc DVD set called Paddington Bear: The Complete Series.
References
- ^ a b MacMinn, Arleene (July 11, 1989). "TV & Video". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
