As Paddington Bear continues to charm people all over the world, the Paddington Bear Experience on London’s Southbank has celebrated its first birthday.
00:00Every day, for thousands of passengers, London's Paddington Station is where their journeys begin
00:06to destinations all across the south and west of England and Wales.
00:10But for millions of book lovers, movie goers and fans all across the world,
00:15Paddington Station is where something else begins.
00:18The story of Paddington Bear.
00:21In October 1958, the first of author Michael Bond's Paddington books was published.
00:27It told the story of a bear from darkest Peru, as Bond called it,
00:32who was found here alone on platform one at London's Paddington Station,
00:37wearing a luggage tag saying, please look after this bear.
00:41The Brown family took him in, named him after where he was found, and the legend was born.
00:47Since then, the antics of the impeccably mannered, marmalade-loving, accident-prone bear
00:54have won legions of fans across the world.
00:57Bond's books have sold more than 35 million copies and been translated into more than 40 languages, including Chinese.
01:05There have been three hit movies, with more to come, animated series, and soon a West End stage musical.
01:13For those who want to go one step further and enter the world of Paddington,
01:17there is now the Paddington Bear experience on London's South Bank,
01:21which has just celebrated its first birthday.
01:24There, enthusiasts can get their paws on a one-hour immersive experience,
01:29in the world of their hat-wearing hero.
01:32What it is we're creating here, a continuation of the story of Paddington.
01:37We weren't here remaking a film, but in a live area.
01:40We weren't retelling one of the stories that exists in any of the books in a live immersive attraction.
01:45We wanted to create our own story.
01:47So our story being that you, as a guest, have been invited to a Marmalade Day street festival
01:52that the Brown family are putting on for Paddington in honour of his most favourite food stuff.
01:57And the energy that you experience from guests who are coming through the attraction is incredible.
02:02I think they do come with a level of expectation that they are going to somehow see Paddington
02:07or see part of Paddington's world, but they don't realise to what extent.
02:12They don't understand that they are going to go on a train and go to Windsor Gardens
02:16and enter the Brown's house and meet Mrs. Brown and meet Mrs. Bird and meet the bear himself.
02:21I mean, that is one of our really big, wonderful moments.
02:27Despite Bond's original books now being nearly 70 years old, the world of Paddington is timeless.
02:37The London he lives in, at least on film, is clearly a caricature rather than grounded in reality.
02:43A city of big houses, housekeepers, clean streets and, for the most part, friendly neighbours.
02:50Anyone coming to London genuinely expecting to see these is in for a disappointment.
02:54But it is precisely this glorious unreality, as made three-dimensional at the London Paddington Bear experience,
03:01that makes the world of Paddington so appealing to generations of fans all over the world.
03:07I have stood here and I've spoke to a four-generation family where they've had a great-granddaughter, a granddaughter, a daughter and a mother, in that order.
03:16And then I've spoken to two young adults who have come without any children at all.
03:23Slightly, admittedly, nervously before they bought tickets thinking,
03:26is this going to be for us? We love Paddington, we grew up with him.
03:28And they've come through and everybody's overarching feeling is,
03:31much like I believe the true values of the bear himself are, everybody is welcome.
03:37The narrative point here about why there are so many people coming to Marmalade Day is because Mrs. Brown said to Paddington,
03:44why don't you invite all of your friends?
03:46She thought that would be Mr. Gruber, a couple of people that live on Windsor Gardens,
03:50maybe some people from Portobello Road.
03:52Paddington is friends with everyone he ever meets because he goes in so wide-eyed, so open.
03:57So therefore, we had to make an experience that genuinely was for everybody.
04:01And therefore, whether you're four or 104, you can enjoy the Paddington Bear experience.
04:07In 2022, the Peruvian immigrant achieved a whole new status in his adopted homeland
04:13when he starred in a short film with Queen Elizabeth II,
04:16made to mark her 70th anniversary on the throne.
04:19The wave of warmth that greeted Paddington the Palace
04:22showed why Paddington is more than just a merchandising opportunity.
04:26Because of his origins, found here, lost, alone and looking for help at Paddington Station.
04:33Bond says he was inspired to create Paddington
04:36by the sight of child refugees at railway stations during World War II,
04:40wearing luggage tags, just like Paddington Bear.
04:44In dangerous times, they relied on optimism, goodwill and the kindness of strangers,
04:49all characteristics that are embodied by Paddington Bear.
04:53In an increasingly dark modern era, those simple virtues are more important than ever
04:58and can all be found in Paddington Bear.
05:00And that is why he continues to make friends and win admirers all over the world.
