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Paddington: The Complete Series
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Fabulous Films Review written by and copyright: Nick Wilson (31st October 2024). |
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The Film
 "Paddington" (1976-1986) Just as every generation of British kids had "their" incarnation of The Doctor, or "their" Blue Peter presenters (Groom, Ellis & Duncan for this scribe), they all have an iteration of Paddington which represents their unshakable vision of everyone's favourite Peruvian immigrant. For me, hearing the Paddington will always conjure the image of a black-hatted, duffel-coated bear with a wonderfully resonant voice. Under direction of the legendary Ivor Wood, the chronicles of the beloved bear enchanted kids of the 70s and beyond, leaving a soft-spot in the souls of all exposed to his charms. Wood had scored a string of stop-motion animated hits with The Magic Roundabout, The Herbs and was fresh from his hugely popular take on The Wombles when he took on author Michael Bond's popular book, springing him from the flat, black and white pages of his books and transporting him into... a flat, monochromatic world - but with a very much three-dimensional bear! For those living under rocks or lacking good taste, Paddington concerns the adventures of a Peruvian bear, left at the eponymous station with a note reading: "Please look after this bear". Taken in by the middle-class Brown family, Paddington fits right in, making friends with antiques dealer Mr Gruber and enemies with the irascible Mr Curry. Accident-prone and used to the forests of his native land, Paddington finds a life of adventure in the modern world, getting into all sorts of scrapes with the most basic things everyone else takes for granted: escalators, hammocks - you name it, and you can guarantee Paddington has fought a losing battle with it! The production design is pure genius, with the human characters presented as two-dimensional cut-outs, respecting the illustrations in Michael Bond's beloved books, while Paddington is gloriously three-dimensional, brought to life with utterly charming stop-motion animation, making him immediately loveable and setting him apart from the concrete-steel world he inhabits. Aside from Aardman Animation, anything which sports the look of stop-motion these days is done via CGI in a vain attempt to capture the charm and warmth the medium possesses - naturally, they all fall flat on their faces in the process. Many more embrace the work of Ray Harryhausen than those championing the latest CGI offerings, and for most it's because you can see the effort it's taken to produce them, knowing that a human hand has moulded and shaped everything they're seeing. With computers currently taking over huge parts of the industry, appreciation for hand-made projects can only increase. 
And then we come to the great Michael Hordern. Long before it became fashionable for respected actors to lend their vocal talents to animation, the choice of the Old Vic legend was both bold and curious, but it proved to the be the most momentous pairing since bread met butter. An actor so legendary that he circumvented the RSC brought a mellifluous voice befitting a bear, one of dignity and purpose, and not a plaintive squeak as endured in the current iteration. Paddington is clearly intelligent, but accident-prone, as his new world offers him challenges and mysteries he usually solves by bumbling into them and falling on his face, but picking himself up again a wiser bear with his dignity intact. Through the combination of enchanting model design and casting, Paddington is utterly endearing without feeling as though it was cynically designed to be so. The current CGI one might have photo-realistic eyes, with reactive irises, but there's more character and feeling to Hordern's Paddington with just two little black dots. When he gives one of his trademark Hard Stares, he really is looking right into your soul! Hordern manages to inhabit the human characters with equal aplomb, irrespective of age or gender. You completely buy him as Mrs Bird, even though it's plainly evident who's doing the voice. Most around the age of 50 at one point in there life have snapped the word: "BEAR", mimicking Mr Curry, testament to the effectiveness of the character under Hordern's mastery. Best of all the supporting players is Mr Gruber, as the warmth brought to what could have been a Eastern Block stereotype makes the friendship between Paddington and the antiques dealer really special. Theirs is an intellectual relationship, with Paddington's inquisitive nature dovetailing with Mr Gruber's intelligence - there's a respect and understanding between them which is remarkable, and I can't think of any other animated show which has managed to capture the same magic. If the charm and appeal of the show could be summed up in but a single episode, it would have to be "In and Out of Trouble", when everyone's favourite bear gets to grips with a hammock, with his repeated attempts to lay in it the stuff of comedy gold. The animation allows for an immediacy and rate of speed which wouldn't work in any other medium, and Paddington retains his dignity throughout in spite of all the piece of garden furniture can throw at him. If I was pushed for another, then it would be Keeping Fit, where a set of chest-expanders present a challenge where only Paddington could come up with a solution which involves nailing one half of them to the garden fence! How about Paddington on Mastermind? Yep, it's here! On a personal note, an episode which stands out from my childhood is Paddington Turns Detective, when a mysterious torch seen in the Bird's greenhouse sees the charming bear going to investigate! Anyone who's seen it will remember the words: "Dip...da...dip". 
DISC ONE Series 1 Episodes (with Play All) (139:46) - Please Look After This Bear - A Bear in Hot Water - Paddington Goes Underground - A Shopping Expedition - Paddington and the Old Master - A Spot of Decorating - A Family Group - Paddington Makes a Bid - Do-It-Yourself - A Disappearing Trick - Something Nasty in the Kitchen - Trouble at the Launderette - Too Much of the Top - A Visit to the Dentist - Paddington Cleans Up - Trouble at Number Thirty Two - Paddington and the Christmas Shopping - Paddington's Christmas - Mr Curry Takes a Bath - Paddington Turns Detective - Paddington and the Cold Snap - Trouble at the Wax Works - Paddington Makes a Clean Sweep - A Sticky Time - Paddington Hits the Jackpot - Paddington Hits Out - A Visit to the Hospital - Paddington Recommended - Fortune Telling - An Unexpected Party DISC TWO Series 2 Episodes (with Play All) (119:51) - Paddington in Court - Paddington Bakes a Cake - A Picnic on the River - Paddington's Patch - In and Out of Trouble - Paddington at the Tower - A Visit to the Bank - Paddington Clears the Coach - Picture Trouble - Trouble at the Beach - Keeping Fit - Paddington in the Hot Seat - Paddington and the Mystery Box - Paddington's Puzzle - Paddington Weighs In - Padding Takes a Snip - A Visit to the Theatre - Paddington Buys a Share - Paddington in a Hole - Paddington and the Finishing Touch - Trouble in the Bargain Basement - An Outing in the Park - Paddington Dines Out - Paddington Takes the Stage - Paddington In Touch - Comings and Goings at Number Thirty Two The Specials - Paddington Goes to the Movies (20:05) - Paddington Goes to School (25:29) - Paddington's Birthday Bonanza (23:26) All 56 episodes (including all of the antics listed above, and much more) are presented here in brand-new remastered editions, with the extensive restoration work carried out exclusively by Fabulous Films themselves. Also included are the three longer "specials" from the 80s, which pushed out the boat in some areas, and overstepped the mark a little in others. As most are least familiar with them, let's take a quick look... 
"Paddington Goes to the Movies". Even if you haven't seen the special itself, then there's a good chance that you've seen the clip of Paddington recreating the legendary dance routine from Singing In The Rain, a slice of genius which was played during every retrospective on the show. It's the Gene Kelly's greatest pairing with since working with Olivia Newton-John! OK, bad example, but you get the point. Do you honestly think that a projection booth stands any chance of being in full working order once Paddington pays it a visit? No, of course not! Interestingly (and almost a portent, as you'll find below) the world of the cinema is presented in full colour, contrasting against the monochromatic world around Paddington. Which leads us to... "Paddington Goes to School". Even bears grow up, and The Man decides it's high time that Paddington gets an education. What's weird here is that this is a full-colour episode of Paddington, with all the backgrounds now ablaze with various hues and tones. Not sure if this was done to appeal to changing tastes, or to try and shake things up a bit, but it's really jarring, particularly when the original production design was so ingenious. Speaking of which, for his entrance into the academic world, Paddington dons his traditional red hat from the books, in a break from the black chapeau he usually sports on the show. In spite of all these changes, we still get to see our favourite bear do a strongman routine, a quick-change act AND play Flight of the Bumblebee on the violin! "Paddington's Birthday Bonanza". The final curtain for our favourite bear, this comes saddled with the same disorientating technicolor production design, but piles on the weirdness by having the supporting character's mouths lip-synching to the dialogue, where the stylistic choice of before had it play against the partially-animated image, as though reading reading it to yourself from a book and imagining the illustrations moving. With all that going on, Paddington now sports a yellow hat, and his face just doesn't quite look right. It's a shame that this was the final bow for this iteration, as it feels very alien, even though the saintly tones of Michael Hordern are as assured as ever. With all of this rambling out of the way, let's get to your reason for scrolling down here: how they look. OK, here we go...
Video
1.33:1, 1080i50 AVC MPEG-4 Anyone familiar with Paddington knows that it was always very grainy, with the film stock and the animation process not lending themselves to a pristine end product. Natural grain is fine, but the moving-carpet of grain found on the all-white backgrounds of Paddington was always going to be problematic for virgin audiences used to things being sparkly clean. That's not even mentioning how the image used to bounce/float around the screen, along with heavy colour-staining all over it. The new restoration presented here finds a VERY happy medium, wherein the solid grain found the expanses of white areas (and there are a LOT Of those, as per the production design) have been tamed, now much less distracting to the eye of new viewers. The increase in clarity is stunning, with a rock-solid stability which those of us who watched the original prints when they went out couldn't have even imagined. The Paddington puppet himself looks appropriately malleable in HD, given much more detail and resolution than previously afforded. I hate the use of the word "pop" when reviewing disc, so I'd much rather say that the Ursian Mr Brown now leaps off the screen against the pristine white environments, bringing colour into a monochromatic world, as intended by Ivor Wood. Thankfully, they haven't been re-framed to bring them up to date, and the 4:3 aspect ratio is fully respected. Fabulous Films really have put the work into these, literally scouring the world to find the best surviving 16mm materials, and they've gone above and beyond to look after this bear! 
Audio
English LPCM 2.0 mono Not much to report here, as this stays faithful to the original broadcast, where the wonderful tones of Michael Hordern (in all his guises) sound predictably authentic and the theme (Size Ten Shuffle) sounds warm and inviting. Clean, clear and A-1 fit for duty. 
Extras
All extras are located on DISC ONE. "Barry Leith: Filmfair Animator" featurette (22:44) The genius animation director of The Wombles and - of course - Paddington sits down for an overview of his time at the legendary animation studio, talking at length about both of aforementioned classic series. There's a lot to learn in this Fabulous Films exclusive, and his warm anecdotes are enough to put a big smile on the face of those who had the good fortune to grow up with his work. Possibly my favourite revelation was how, when given complete control of Paddington Goes To The Movies, he was enjoying himself so much that he accidentally overshot pieces by up to 15 seconds! That might not sound like much, but when you look at it from the amount of work needed, that's around 6 hours of unused work at a time! I don't want to spoil too much, but at the end, he reveals a wonderful parting gift from his time on The Wombles. Leith is warm, humble and accessible, and just when you think he couldn't be any more cool just remember that he also handled the animation side of the wonderful Children's Film Foundation classic The Glitterball! "Paddington Restored" featurette (2:04) The personable Mr Leith sits down and looks at split-screen comparisons between the original broadcast master of Paddington, which is sharply contrasted by the remastered edition. The results are pretty incredible, and the chuckle Leith lets out is infectious. He's clearly happy, and Paddington fans will echo his sentiments, especially when he says: "Fabulous Films have done a really nice job on these". "Behind the Scenes of Paddington" featurette (2:02) This vintage look at the animation of Paddington is found by pressing an appropriate image. I won't say what, but it's well worth watching for some wonderful footage! 
Overall
Paddington represents the positive side of human nature. He's inquisitive, welcoming, tenacious, but wonderfully fallible, which makes him both an ideal as well as completely relatable. He sees the world from a different perspective, and finds solutions which nobody else would even consider. He charmed a generation through the remarkable work of Ivor Wood, and continues to do so for all those either going back to it or watching it for the first time. If you look at the load of godawful CGI crap which currently passes for animated Paddington (which looks like any other cheaply produced cartoon show), settling down to BBC's classic series will restore your faith in both human and Ursid nature. My wife fell headlong for the BBC's Paddington, quite literally. At the age of about 4, she had a pair of Paddington Bear wellies, which she refused to take off - even when going down a flight of stairs. Long story short: she tripped up at the top of stairs and tumbled all the way down, in true Paddington style - I get anxious whenever she goes near a hammock! We've shared a magical time together going back the the bear with the stare, and they've lost none of their magic. Fabulous Films is to be commended for its good deed in a weary world. Available in 2 packages: - standard keep case - limited edition with pop-up slipcase
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