Rupert Bear
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Rupert Bear is a cartoon character created by Mary Tourtel and who first appeared in the Daily Express on November 8 1920. He is now a white-furred bear, however he started off with brown fur, the colour being changed to white as it was cheaper to print. That said, in some countries (the Netherlands, for example) he is still known as "Rupert Brown Bear". He wears yellow checked trousers and scarf and a red jersey and lives in the town of Nutwood. Rupert has several friends, Bill Badger, Algy Pug and Edward Trunk (an elephant) being the most enduring. He also had a foe called Raggety, a creature made from twig. Mary Tourtel's last Rupert story was 'Rupert and Bill's Seaside Holiday' published in 1935. Mary Tourtel was replaced by Alfred Bestall who was previously an illustrator for Punch. Bestall improved the stories and plots of Rupert but more importantly he created the most beautifully crafted illustrations in the Rupert Annuals. Bestall drew Rupert until 1973, when he retired. Much of the landscape in Rupert is inspired by the Snowdonia landscape of North Wales. He appears each day in the Daily Express, his new adventures are illustrated by John Harrold. A Rupert Annual is still produced every year, with Harrold's drawings coloured usually by Gina Hart.
Rupert appeared in Paul McCartney's 1984 music video We all stand together; McCartney also made an animated video starring Rupert called Rupert and the Frog Song.
Television series
In 1993, Rupert Bear had finally got its own animated television series, with 39 episodes produced by Ellipse (France), and Nelvana (Canada), and another 27 episodes by Nelvana to bring the total to 66. It is still broadcast in syndication on YTV in Canada. In the United States, the show first aired on Nickelodeon before moving to CBS [link].The show was broadcast in the UK on CITV.
On October 31, 2005, UK Media Group Entertainment Rights secured majority interest from the Daily Express on Rupert Bear. The group will create a new Rupert Bear animated television series and Rupert will henceforth sport high-top trainers and his fur will have a slight tan. There are plans for a film, books, DVDs which will see Rupert joined by new friends in addition to established characters.
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External links
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