Paddington Bear

YMA recommendation

Approved as non-violent media, with caution. Slapstick comedy; Accidental harm; Distressing scenes

Most suitable age range:

5-7

Availability

At time of review, seen on video.

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About the program

Year of production	2000
Classification advice
Rating	G
Consumer advice lines	None
Duration	20 minutes approx

Other information
Country of origin	USA
Production Company	Warner Bros 牋牋牋牋

Synopsis

The double edition video viewed, Please look after this Bear, contained five episodes beginning with Paddington Bear being found and adopted by the Brown family at Paddington Station, having arrived there from deepest, darkest Peru. The lovable and well-mannered bear manages to get himself into all sorts of trouble and causes havoc wherever he goes.

Points to consider

Words of caution

High level of slapstick comedy and accidental harm such as:

Paddington spills a hot drink on his foot
Paddington falls through a table, knocking over a candle and sets a tent on fire.

Some distressing scenes including:

in ‘Bear Hugged’, Paddington consults a fortune teller who conjures up the spirit of Paddington’s Aunt Lucy
in ‘Ride ‘em Paddington’, Paddington is watching a cowboy film on the television and a cowboy is shown drawing his guns.

Characters are portrayed very stereotypically, particularly upper and working class British people and a gypsy.

Positive aspects

responding well to adverse circumstances
being positive.

Questions to ask

Why do you think Paddington always gets into so much trouble?