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Mr. Bean, also known as Mr. Bean: The Animated Series, is an animated television series. It was produced by Tiger Aspect Productions and only for it's first season, Richard Purdum Productions and Varga Holdings. It is based on the British live-action series of the same name. The characters included are Mr. Bean, Irma Gobb, Teddy, and the Reliant Supervan III's mysterious driver, with the return from Mr. Bean's Diary Mrs. Wicket, who is Bean's landlady with the new addition of her evil cat Scrapper. In February 2001, the series was officially announced, with it premiering a year later on Saturday the 5th January, 2002 to 4 million viewers.

Much like the live-action series, the animated series featured little actual dialogue, with most being either little sound bites or mumbling, mild slapstick, with occasional sexually suggestive moments. Rowan Atkinson provided the voice for Mr. Bean, as well as providing himself as reference for the animators. Other characters' voices are provided by Matilda Ziegler, Sally Grace, Jon Glover, Gary Martin, Rupert Degas, Lorelei King and Sophie-Louise Dann.

Despite the series' actual title being simply Mr. Bean, some broadcasters referred to this series as Mr. Bean: plus a subtitle for differentiating from the original live-action series. Disney Channel refers to this series as "Mr. Bean - The Animated Series" and the original live-action series is listed as "Mr. Bean - Live Action Series" in their schedule.[1] The German version, aired on Super RTL, is titled "Mr. Bean - Die Cartoon-Serie".[2]

In January 2014, ITV announced the first revival of the animated series in which Rowan Atkinson returned as Mr. Bean while other cast members reprised their roles. The revival featured 78 new episodes in which they aired from 16 February 2015 to 8 October 2019 on CITV.[3]In the series' revival, many of the recurring characters, including Mr. Bean, were given more dialogue, in which they can now speak in clear sentences.

In January 2024, a second revival for the series was announced, and is set to be released on ITVX in the United Kingdom and Cartoonito in Europe in 2025.

Characters

  • Mr. Bean (voiced by Rowan Atkinson) - the title character who serves as the main protagonist of the series. He uses his unusual wit to fulfil everyday tasks. More often than not, partly due to his oblivious nature, he ends up creating trouble for himself and those around him. There are often times he helps out others in their daily chores.
  • Teddy - Mr. Bean's lifelong best friend. As a stuffed companion, Mr. Bean assumes Teddy is alive, speaking to him.
  • Mrs. Julia Wicket (voiced by Sally Grace) - Mr. Bean's demeaning landlady, an old woman who occasionally serves as the main antagonist. She is the owner of the evil one eyed cat named Scrapper. She is rarely nice to Bean, but she often shows this in different episodes. Her favourite TV show is wrestling.
  • Irma Gobb (voiced by Matilda Ziegler) - Mr. Bean's girlfriend. She is in love sometimes with other guys but Mr. Bean tries to stop her. She has a teddy name Lottie. She is often seen helping out at the library.
  • Lottie - Irma's teddy bear. She looks almost identical to Mr. Bean's Teddy, except she has eyelashes, a red bow and skirt. She's been seen as Teddy's girlfriend, but Bean does not accept them for a relationship.
  • Mr Bean's Mini - Mr. Bean's loved green Mini. It is green as seen throughout the whole series, including the live action episodes (except for the first episode in the live action version, which was orange, and destroyed after a stunt). The plate number of his car is "STE 952R".
  • Reliant Supervan III - the three-wheeler blue car known as a Reliant Regal usually happens to be a victim of a collision when Mr. Bean speeds up his Mini, similar to the live action episodes. It's plate number is "DUW 742", but for the first couple of episodes was "A631 LDE". The driver of Reliant is only seen once in "Young Bean" where he appears as a small kid driving a little Reliant pedal car.
  • The Burglars - a duo of unnamed crooks who frequently commit crimes while in various disguises. One is large and beefy, and the other is pint-sized. As supporting antagonists, they always fail in their plots after Mr. Bean comes up to them in his plans. They appeared on the episode: "Missing Teddy", "Homeless", "Wanted", "In the Pink", "Bean's Bounty", and "Valuable Lessons". In "Young Bean" the Burglars are revealed to have been childhood bullies of Mr. Bean himself.
  • The Bruisers - In the first segment of the 18th episode of Season 2 entitled "Halloween", the initially unnamed neighbors of Mr. Bean was revealed as the Bruisers when they are asked by Mrs. Wicket to sign a ceasefire agreement with Mr. Bean. The Bruisers are portrayed as a working-class family depicted as stereotype, obese, boring and unintelligent people. The father, Bruiser Sr., is portrayed as the most stupid in the whole family and is shown as a very aggressive and cruel person towards Mr. Bean. His wife, much like her husband, is also a lazy person. The couple have three rambunctious and naughty children, and the family is shown to be in a constant disagreement with each other. Family appearances: "Neighbourly Bean" as main antagonists, "Scaredy Bean" as cameos, "Super Spy" as "crooks". Father and son appearances: "SuperMarrow", "Chocks Away", "The Ball", " Halloween".
  • Fang - the black diabolical dog owned by Mr. Bean's next-door neighbors. He is depicted as a very aggressive dog and will hurt Bean for no apparent reason. His hobbies are usually biting and scratching. Whenever a retaliation is made, his aggression worsens.
  • Queen Elizabeth II - The ruling monarch of England, whom Mr. Bean is a fan of. She only appears in three episodes; "A Royal Makeover" on television in the film The Queen Indoors, in "Royal Bean" where she herself knights Mr. Bean after he saves one of her Welsh Corgis, and in "In the Garden", in which she judges the Royal Blooming Garden Show.
  • The Mime - a French immigrant Mime. In his first appearance in "Mime Games" he snuck into Mr. Bean's home. Then in "Art Thief", he was in Paris near The Eiffel Tower showing some people and a couple of Mimes; he was nearly knocked over by Mr. Bean's Mini. He was last seen in the whole series as a main character drowning in a pond at Hyde Park but lived.
  • Harry - He only appears in "The Visitor". It is rumoured that his character is based upon another, "Hubert", appearing in an episode of the live action Mr. Bean show called Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean, aired on 10 January 1994. It is revealed that he and Mr. Bean were once childhood friends, even possessing a catch-phrase of sorts. However, Harry later turns out not to be very nice, as he eats all of Mr Bean's food and steals Teddy. Bean then gets his revenge by taking him to a restaurant, where he orders everything on the menu, and then leaves him with the bill. Harry cannot pay the bill, so he has to wash the dishes.
  • Maitre D' - A snooty, French-American head waiter who owns a fancy French restaurant. He is a stereotypical French person with the important distinction of being snooty and greedy. He despises Mr. Bean in some episodes due to his clumsiness. Every episode he appears, he gives the customer a bill in which they cannot pay. His dialogue is very audible and his crew-workers include an overweight chef, a blond-haired waiter and two suave violinists (one of them loves Irma). His voice changed in the revival.
  • Roxy - (voiced by Sophie-Louise Dann) - A popular singer whom Mr. Bean has a crush on and tries to get autographs from her. She gives Mr. Bean one in a handkerchief with a lipstick mark after her strict security guard prevents him.
  • Traffic Warden - A female officer who issues tickets to the parking violations and also giving fees for car parking. However, every time Mr. Bean sees her, he parks his car elsewhere so that the traffic warden will not ticketed or give a fee on him. A traffic warden is first and only appeared on the live episode, "The Trouble with Mr. Bean".
  • Mr. Pod - (Voiced by Rowan Atkinson) - A clone of Mr. Bean from outer space. He only appears in "Double Trouble".
  • Dr. Fangpuller - A dentist and he only appears in "Toothache".
  • Country man - An unnamed man usually wearing cowboy hat and sunglasses. His role played as a man documenting the decorated flat of Bean in "A Royal Makeover" and beachgoer in "Ray of Sunshine".
  • Mary Wince - A close friend of Mrs. Wickets who she has known since she was a young adult. She comes over occasionally to stay in touch with Mrs. Wicket but the two do not get along all the time much like Wicket to Bean.
  • Goddawin - A rival runner who only appears in "A Running Battle". He and Bean may be friends.
  • Wanted person - He is a Mr. Bean look-alike escaped convict who makes his only appearance in "Wanted". The case of the escaped convict is unclear.
  • Japanese kid - He only appears in Gadget Kid. While visiting the science museum, he befriends Bean in which he shows modern technological gadgets. He also has a stuffed companion which is a panda.
  • Inventor - He only appears in "Inventor", and had a crush on Mrs. Wicket but Mr. Bean foils this.
  • The Librarian - He appears in "Valentine's Bean", and "Viral Bean", and also to co-worker of Irma Gobb at the library. In "Valentine's Bean", he falls in love with Irma Gobb.
  • Smartphone man - He only appears in "Bean Phone". A man who has a smartphone.
  • Lord Bean - (Voiced by Rowan Atkinson) - An ancient ruler of a castle in Scotland who looks just like Mr. Bean. He got lost for years, but Mr. Bean helped him out. He only appears in his self titled episode, "Lord Bean".
  • Girl Neighbor - She is a blonde woman that appears in "Spring Clean". Bean use her shower cabin for wash himself, but when the woman use her green shampoo it makes Bean all green.
  • Declan – A friend of Irma Gobb, seen from Series 3 onwards. He is also a rival of Mr. Bean when it comes to winning her heart.
  • Puss - He only appears in "Dead Cat".

Buildings

  • Havlotts Department Store: A ten-story building where Mr. Bean buys whatever he wants. An example of that is buying a sofa in the episode "The Sofa" (which is similar to the live episode Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean), buying the lamps for his watermelons in the episode "SuperMarrow", and finally buying a tent for camping in the episode "Camping". The name of the store is a possible reference to Harrods.
  • S.O.S: An animal shelter that stores some different breeds of cats. The building is only seen in "Dead Cat", where Mr. Bean finds a replacement for Mrs. Wicket's cat named Scrapper after he presumed that Scrapper is crushed to death by garbage truck. The owner of that building is seen also in SuperMarrow.
  • Goodall's Music: A store of different kinds of musical instruments. A place where Bean buys a grand piano after the record of Beethoven is broken in the episode "Keyboard Capers", and where Bean buys a violin after realizing that the tickets to Eduardo's Concert are expensive in "Bean Encore". The name of the store is a reference to Howard Goodall, who composed the music for the live action Mr. Bean series.
  • Purrrrdums: An establishment of pets for sale like dogs, cats, parrots, and a chameleon. Bean buys a dog, a parrot, then a chameleon for his pet in the episode "No Pets". During the episode "In the Pink", the owner is once a victim of the burglar duo, when he is threatened by selling the 'rare' pink badgers from the burglar duo.
  • Restaurant Haute Cuisine des Toffs: A place for Bean's eating establishment. The restaurant consists of the French American owner and head waiter Maitre D', his crew including a waiter, two violinists, and an overweight chef. It is seen in the episodes "The Visitor" (where Bean invites Harry to eat), "Restaurant" (where Bean celebrates his birthday, plus unaware that he is to be dined together with the two celebrities), and "Hot Date" (where Bean invites his girlfriend, Irma to eat).
  • Morsels Superstore: A building of grocery. It is seen in the episode "Super Trolley" where Bean buys the groceries for Mrs. Wicket plus the three corn cereal for himself (POP). However, when the trolley he used is already damaged, the store manager stalks him until he makes his own homemade mechanical trolley.
  • W.E. Starchit: An establishment for laundry shop. It is seen only in the episode "Goldfish" where Bean brought his stinky-smelled Teddy after he had accidentally thrown him into a bucket of fishes. The scene where Bean washed himself inside the washing machine is similar to the live episode Tee Off, Mr. Bean (act 1).
  • Harry's Barber Shop: A place where Bean is about to have his hair trim but he walks out impatiently when the barber is too slow to cut, seen in the episode "Haircut". The scene is similar to the live episode Hair by Mr. Bean of London, only the owner is Derrick.
  • Antiques: An establishment of selling vintage and antique objects. Example of that is that Bean abandons his damaged sofa in the episode "The Sofa" and Bean buys an air balloon after he sells the damaged car in the junk yard in the episode Car Trouble.
  • Toots Toys: An establishment of selling different kinds of toys and dolls. It is seen in the episode "Birthday Bear" (where Bean buys the toy for birthday celebrant, Teddy), and Chocks Away (where Bean buys a toy remote plane).
  • Toots Sweets: A confectionery shop, only seen on In The Pink.
  • Library: A library. Seen on "Valentine's Bean", and "Viral Bean".
  • Charity Shop: A shop, where sell characters clothing. Only seen on "Super Spy".
  • Smart's phone: A smartphone shop. Only seen on "Bean Phone".
  • Irma Gobb's House: Often seen in many episodes.

History

The programme originally lasted for one season, which contained a total of 26 episodes and 52 segments altogether. The first and second block in 2002-2003 were broadcast in a prime-time Saturday night slot on ITV, and featured two segments in a half-hour episode. However, the third block in 2004 got rid of the half-hour episode format and aired segments separately, this including it being booted from the prime-time Saturday night slot. But in 2005, when the series wasn't meeting expectations with ITV staff and the audience, it was shifted onto CITV and broadcast daily there. The final episode of the first season was titled "Double Trouble", but the last broadcast was "Homeless", airing on Monday the 1st November 2004.

In July 2013, Studio-43 were brought to the light of Tiger-Aspect for the idea of a new animated series so that they could animate the series for it's revived 2 season run, but it wasn't until January 2014 that CITV publicly announced that a new animated series would be made, with Rowan Atkinson once again providing his voice for the role. 52 new episodes, (originally 26 evident to the "End of Part one" card being reanimated but it got cut) each lasting 11 minutes were recorded during 2013 and 2014, and began airing on 16 February 2015 on CITV.

In January 5, 2021, Rowan Atkinson announced that the animated feature film would be made.

Another 4 years after the Trophy Bean episode. In January 2024, another revival was announced, set to release in 2025 on the new ITVX channel in the United Kingdom and Cartoonito in Europe.

Episodes

The programme originally lasted for one season, which contained a total of 26 episodes and 52 segments altogether. The first and second block in 2002-2003 were broadcast in a prime-time Saturday night slot on ITV, and featured two segments in a half-hour episode. However, the third block in 2004 got rid of the half-hour episode format and aired segments separately, this including it being booted from the prime-time Saturday night slot. But in 2005, when the series wasn't meeting expectations with ITV staff and the audience, it was shifted onto CITV and broadcast daily there. The final episode of the first season was titled "Double Trouble", but the last broadcast was "Homeless", airing on Monday the 1st November 2004.

In July 2013, Studio-43 were brought to the light of Tiger-Aspect for the idea of a new animated series so that they could animate the series for it's revived 2 season run, but it wasn't until January 2014 that CITV publicly announced that a new animated series would be made, with Rowan Atkinson once again providing his voice for the role. 52 new episodes, (originally 26 evident to the "End of Part one" card being reanimated but it got cut) each lasting 12 minutes were recorded during 2013 and 2014, and began airing on 16 February 2015 on CITV.

Series Overview

Season Episodes First Aired Last Aired
1,2,3 52 5 January 2002 2 June 2004
4 52 16 February 2015 10 March 2016
Special Episode (2018) - Diamonds Are a Bean's Best Friend
5 26 9 April 2019 8 October 2019

DVD/Blu-ray releases

The animated version has been re-released on DVD and VHS by A&E Home Video in Region 1 (actually are Region Free), and Universal Pictures in Regions 2 and 4 though the 6 VHS volumes were sold through telemarketing ads on PBS. In the US, all 52 split segments were released on six volumes. However, in the UK and Australia, the six volumes only contained 47 of the 52 segments, with the other five episodes appearing each as extras on the DVD releases of the live-action series. The reason for this is that when the episodes were classified by the BBFC in the UK, they were given a PG certificate rather than a U certificate. It was decided that the DVDs of the animated series should have a U certificate so the five PG episodes were not included.

Region 1

VHS name # of segments Release date
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 1 4 Somewhere 2003
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 2 4 Somewhere 2003
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 3 4 Somewhere 2003
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 4 4 Somewhere 2003
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 5 4 Somewhere 2003
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 6 6 Somewhere 2003
DVD name # of segments Release date
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 1: Bean There, Done That 10 30 September 2003
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 2: Whatever Will Bean, Will Bean 10 30 March 2004
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 3: It's All Bean to Me 8 30 March 2004
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 4: Grin and Bean It 8 28 September 2004
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 5: The Ends Justify the Beans 8 28 September 2004
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 6: It's Not Easy Being Bean 10 September 2004
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 1 and 2: It's Not Easy Being Bean & Bean There, Done That 18 September 2004
Mr. Bean The Animated Series Volume 3 and 4: Whatever Will Bean, Will Bean & It's All Bean to Me 16 September 2004
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Volume 5 and 6: Grin and Bean It & The Ends Justify the Beans 18 September 2004

Region 2

Blu-ray/DVD name # of episodes Release date
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 1: Eight Amazing Adventures 8 29 August 2005

Case Update Re-release: 6 September 2010

Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 2: Eight Exciting Escapades 8 27 March 2006

Case Update Re-release: 6 September 2010

Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 3: Eight Terrific Tales 8 31 July 2006

Case Update Re-release: 6 September 2010

Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 4: Seven Smashing Stories 7 13 November 2006

Case Update Re-release: 6 September 2010

Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 5: Eight Essential Escapades 8 19 March 2007

Case Update Re-release: 6 September 2010

Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 6: Eight Sticky Scrapes 8 22 November 2007

Case Update Re-release: 6 September 2010

Mr. Bean The Animated Series: The Bean Boxset! 47 18 March 2008
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 7: Nine Tremendous Tales 9 7 September 2015
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 8: Nine Splendid Stories 9 19 October 2015
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 9: Racing Adventures & MORE Exciting Escapades! 8 23 May 2016
Mr. Bean The Animated Series: Cat Sitting & MORE Paw-some Adventures! (Re-release of Episodes) 9 29 August 2016
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 10: HallowBean & MORE Awesome Stories! 9 3 October 2016
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 11: SuperBean & OTHER Splendid Stories! 8 6 February 2017

Region 4

Blu-ray/DVD name # of episodes Release date
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 1: Eight Amazing Adventures 8 18 August 2004
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 2: Eight Exciting Escapades 8 4 July 2007
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 3: Eight Terrific Tales 8 28 October 2009
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 4: Seven Smashing Stories 7 28 October 2009
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 5: Eight Eventful Episodes 8 28 October 2009
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Number 6: Eight Sticky Scrapes 8 28 October 2009
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Season 2 Vol. 1: Nine Tremendous Tales 9 24 September 2015
Mr. Bean The Animated Series - Season 2 Vol. 2: Nine Splendid Stories 9 24 September 2015

Music

The music in the series was composed by Howard Goodall, Rowan Atkinson's friend who also happens to be the same person who also composed music for the classic sitcom.

Merchandising

There is far too much to list of the animated series' merchandising to be listed here but the obvious will be listed below.

  • Very scarce information about this but a 2001 promotional brochure pitching the series was made so networks would pick up the series in the US.
  • In 2002, Spanish company "MARUKATSU" released Mr. Bean figures of Mr. Bean with his suitcase and pointing, Teddy, Irma, Mrs. Wicket and Scrapper.
  • In 2003, ABC Books released a Mr. Bean book series called "The Adventures of Mr. Bean", a total of 10 books in the series were made.
  • In 2003, PEZ made dispensers based on the animated designs of Mr. Bean, Irma, Teddy and the Mini, interesting trivia is that Bean and Irma were manufactured in Hungary compared to Teddy and the Mini who were manufactured in Slovenia.
  • In 2003, Spanish company "Quirón" released Mr. Bean soft toys. Only Bean and Teddy were ever made with Bean being rereleased several times with different outfits and even being an amusement prize under the company "City Chix". Though in 2006, Mr. Bean got revamped with the removal of the plastic eyes and a flatter head. Teddy saw loads of re-releases even up to the revival.
  • In 2004, Italian company "ICA CRIK CROK" released a Mr. Bean figure collection within Kinder Surprise eggs consisting of Mr. Bean with his suitcase, pointing, holding teddy and in his car, Irma and Mrs. Wicket in her armchair with Scrapper sitting atop of it.
  • In 2004, an unknown company made a magazine series called "Mr. Bean's Amazing A to Z". This consisted of 52 issues, all were full of facts about "amazing animals, science, famous people and much more" of the time.
  • There were several Funko Pop vinyl figures released.
  • There also were Beanie Babies plush Teddy toys released in various versions: casual, wearing Mr. Bean's suit (albeit much smaller), with a "I heart Bean" white t-shirt with a heart on it with a union jack pattern, and royal guard.

Games

Several Mr. Bean games based on the animated series have been released, view a list of the Mr. Bean games here.

Continuity

  • Mr. Bean has an extra yellow room in his flat which inconsistently disappears for a majority of the animated series, though is shown in the segments In The Wild, Missing Teddy, No Pets and Neighbourly Bean.
  • Though being thought up somewhere in 1995, the animated series went into production in early to mid 2000 and the revival went into production in 2013.
  • When the show was revived in 2015, the intro sequence was changed. Aside from the animation style, the changes were as follows:
    • The theme music has been rearranged and extended, sounding different from the previous theme as well as the extended version of it played during the end credits.
    • Mr. Bean's dance is longer and animated differently than it was in the traditionally-animated intro.
    • When Mr. Bean picks up the flashlight from his mouth as he keeps making Teddy dance, he briefly stops to make Teddy "nod".
    • Mr. Bean doesn't drop the flashlight when Mrs. Wicket shows up; instead, he keeps it grasped in his hand and shuts it off.
    • Mrs. Wicket sighs before slamming the door.
    • The font for the title cards are now less cartoony, being now written in a font called Minya Nouvelle as opposed to the original FF Dolores Black.

Differences from the live-action series

  • In some episodes in the live-action series, Mr. Bean would live in different flats, but in the animated series, he'd live in the same flat throughout the entire series.
  • In the first episode of the live-action series, Mr. Bean had an orange Mini and, later, a green one starting from episode 3. In the animated series, Mr. Bean had the same green Mini since episode 1, which eventually became his signature vehicle.
  • Mr. Bean lived alone in the live-action series, but he lived with Mrs. Wicket and several next-door neighbours in the animated series.
  • In the live-action series, Mr. Bean's mini's registration was SLW 287R. This was changed in the animated series, in which it is now STE 952R.
  • Originally in the live action series, the Reliant Regal's registration was GRA 26K, but in the animated series, it's DUW 742.
  • Irma Gobb broke up with Mr. Bean in the live-action series' seventh episode, but she never dumped him in the animated series.
  • Lastly, the live-action series' theme song was a slow, melancholy choir singing "Ecce/vale homo qui est faba". For the animated series, it was more of an upbeat piano tune that also served as the leitmotif for Mr. Bean.

Feature film

Main article: Mr. Bean: The Animated Movie

Yellow extra room

In The Wild (top) and Missing Teddy (bottom)

References

External links

  • Template:Official website
  • Template:IMDb title
  • Template:Tv.com show
  • Template:Http://um-daddy.blogspot.com/2005/11/jumping-bean.html?m=0
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