When I first heard there was an animated series of Mr Bean, I squeezed my little teddy while my mind filled with questions. I wondered why they bothered.
But Mr Bean With Rowan Atkinson is not just a carbon-copy cartoon of the original. Atkinson, the Englishman who has created the world-renowned character, was actually involved; his body movements were incorporated in the production so animators could capture his essence.
Reportedly the cartoon series, which consists of 52 stories of about 11 minutes each, involved more than 300 animators. The scripts were transcribed on story boards and then sent to production in Hungary. But I soon saw why Mr Bean was made into an animated series after watching two pilot episodes, In The Wild and Missing Teddy.
But I must come clean and state my personal misgivings. I am not a Mr Bean fan, despite the popularity of the teddy-bear hugging man who has captured millions of hearts in more than 200 countries. And this has been done with just 14 episodes since it debuted in 1989. I found him out of date. But, I do enjoy the vividly coloured animation. The cartoon Mr Bean has a more innocent and amiable look.
In the cartoon, Mr Bean can do things that Atkinson would find impossible to do in real life. In Wild, for example, Mr Bean ends up unscathed after trying to fight off a pack of dogs. He gives a frog a twisted smile and the frog makes a face at him. This can only be done through animation.
The story lines of Wild and Missing are simple yet funny. I saw an episode of the TV show and didn't like it, but I giggled when I saw the cartoon.