From now until New Year’s Eve, Londoners are going to have 50 chances to look after a very special bear.
With the Paddington movie headed to theaters soon, London officials teamed with the film’s producers to set up 50 be-jacketed bear statues across London from Heathrow to the O2 Arena. The myriad of ursine figures will remain in place until December 30th. After that, they’ll each go up for auction with all of the proceeds going to National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).
While Paddington is the domain of children and might not seem like the most masculine travel topic, it’s the origins and locations of these 50 statues that makes the Paddington Trail interesting. From Benedict Cumberbatch and Kate Moss to Stephen Fry and Peter Capaldi, athletes, celebrities, political figures, countries and corporations designed bears for the far flung trail. Once the designs were finalized, the bears were cast and painted — prepped for deployment around London.
The bears now stand up everywhere from an airport terminal to a train station to a shop window at Selfridge’s (above). The most clever placement must be the location of a Doctor Who themed bear (below) that sits in London’s Greenwich neighborhood — a time machine bear standing where Greenwich Mean Time originates.
During a kickoff press event, the media gathered near London’s City Hall on the Thames’ South Bank, within sight of Tower Bridge. With 15 hat-tipping bears on guard Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey leading man and Mr. Brown in the Paddington movie) joined the party to show off his personally designed marmalade-themed bear.
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“I don’t recall having a Paddington when I was a child,” Bonneville said. “But, I know his adventures were one of the first books I can remember. So, it’s an honor to be in his new film and to take part in the Paddington Trail for charity.”
As for the bear in question, Bonneville admitted with regret that he was somewhat difficult on set and mainly stuck to his trailer where he ensconced himself in marmalade sandwiches.
Besides checking out the artsy statues, there’s another reason to follow the Paddington Trail – and it has nothing to do with whether you like British children’s books. Just as Paddington himself had a healthy sense of adventure and travel (coming all the way as a stowaway from Darkest Peru), the trail gives visitors an excuse to check out neighborhoods they might now see otherwise. While they’re usually traipsing about Parliament Square, The London Eye or The Tower of London, following The Paddington Trail will take tourists to new parts of London such as South Bank, Kensington and the Paddington Station neighborhood where the titular character was originally discovered.
