Mr. Bean
Additionally, the character has been used in one-off sketches, guest appearances and television commercials. Mr. Bean appeared in the music video of a 1991 fundraising single for Comic Relief, fronted by Hale and Pace, entitled “The Stonk”.34 Mr. Bean also appeared in the music video for the Boyzone single “Picture of You”,35 which was the main theme song for the first film adaptation. Mr. Bean often seems unaware of basic aspects of the way the world works, and the program usually features his attempts at what would normally be considered simple tasks, such as going swimming, redecorating, or going to church. The humor largely comes from his original (and often absurd) solutions to problems and his total disregard for others when solving them, his pettiness, and occasional malevolence.
Teddy
During its original five-year run, Mr. Bean was met with widespread acclaim and attracted large television audiences. The series was viewed by 18.74 million viewers for the episode “The Trouble with Mr. Bean”3 and has received a number of international awards, including the Rose d’Or. It has inspired an animated spin-off and two theatrical feature-length films, along with Atkinson reprising the titular role for a performance at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London, television commercials, and several sketches for Comic Relief.
- Occasionally, he will change his outfit (often to suit the scene he is in).
- Due to his popularity, Mr. Bean has appeared beyond the original 15 episodes of the original sitcom and has appeared in a British-American film, Bean (1997), a British-French film, Mr. Bean’s Holiday (2007), and an animated cartoon of the same name (2002-).
- Mr. Bean often pretends his teddy is real but he doesn’t always treat Teddy nicely.
- In “Tee Off, Mr. Bean”, Bean is hitchhiking and the Reliant pulls over for him but Bean, who recognizes the car, pretends to not see it until it leaves.
- Mr. Bean is mostly seen wearing a brown tweed jacket, a white shirt, a thin red tie, dark brown trousers with a lighter brown belt, gray socks, and black shoes.
- In the episode The Return of Mr. Bean, when Bean is heading to a fancy restaurant to celebrate his birthday, he wears a grey suit with a dark red tie.
Feature films
Mr. Bean often seems unaware of basic aspects of the way the world works, and the programme usually features his attempts at what would normally be considered simple activities, such as going swimming, using a television set, interior decorating or going to church. The humour largely comes from his original (and often absurd) solutions to problems and his total disregard for others when solving them, and his pettiness and occasional malevolence. In 2012, Atkinson reprised his role as Mr. Bean for a live performance as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London. In the scene, Mr. Bean works within the London Symphony Orchestra in its performance of “Chariots of Fire”, conducted by Simon Rattle.
Series Info
Rowan Atkinson himself has acknowledged that Bean “has a slightly outcast aspect to him”. Mr. Bean’s vehicle, a citron-green16 1977 British Leyland Mini 1000 Mark 417 with a matte black bonnet, was central to several antics such as Bean getting dressed in it, driving while sitting in an armchair strapped to the roof or attempting to avoid a car park fee by driving out through the entrance. In the pilot episode, Bean’s vehicle was an orange 1969 BMC Morris Mini 1000 Mark 2 (registration RNT 996H) but was destroyed in an off-screen crash at the end. In “Back to School Mr. Bean”, Bean’s Mini is crushed by a tank as part of a demonstration after he replaced an identical Mini (registration ACW 497V) meant for the demonstration with his own to secure a parking space.
- In 1997, it was purchased by the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum and displayed for a number of years, later being sold on to a museum in the United States.
- Mr. Bean is also a pain to the Reliant Regal in loads of episodes becoming a running gag in the series.
- He was created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, portrayed by Atkinson, and made his first appearance on television in the pilot episode, which first aired on 1 January 1990.
- The series originally aired on ITV, beginning with the pilot episode on 1 January 19901 and ending with “The Best Bits of Mr. Bean” on 15 December 1995.
- Mr. Bean often seems unaware of basic aspects of the way the world works, and the program usually features his attempts at what would normally be considered simple tasks, such as going swimming, redecorating, or going to church.
- The humour largely comes from his original (and often absurd) solutions to problems and his total disregard for others when solving them, and his pettiness and occasional malevolence.
- At the beginning of episode 2 onwards, Bean falls from the sky in a beam of light, accompanied by a choir singing Ecce homo qui est faba (Behold the man who is a Bean).
Portrayed by
For this scene, Bean does not wear his usual brown tweed sports jacket but the traditional clothing of the musician – white tie and tails. As they perform the piece, Bean is mostly bored with playing the same note repeatedly on the synthesiser and gets jealous of the more interesting part being played on the grand piano. Still bored, he takes out his mobile phone and takes a picture of himself, looking proud. He then sneezes in a comical fashion and tries to retrieve his handkerchief from his bag behind him, finding he cannot reach it while at the synthesizer until he uses an umbrella to maintain his performance. When he finally blows his nose with his serviette, he throws it into the grand piano. Mr. Bean is a British sitcom created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, produced by Tiger Aspect Productions and starring Atkinson as the title character.
This series is…
Mr. Bean is the titular main protagonist of the comedy series of the same name. He is a slow-witted, sometimes ingenious, selfish, and generally likable buffoon who brings various unusual schemes and connivance to everyday tasks. After filming ended, one of the original Minis was sold to Kariker Kars to be hired for various events whereupon it was temporarily displayed as a major attraction at the Rover Group’s museum.