| Rupert Bear | |
|---|---|
 Logo for Rupert Bear | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Daily Express |
| Format | Text comics, later balloon comics too. |
| Genre | Adventure comics,Fantasy comics |
| Publication date | 1920; 105 years ago (1920)–present |
| Main character | Rupert |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Herbert Tourtel (1920–1931) Mary Tourtel (1931–1935) Alfred Bestall (1935–1974) Freddie Chaplain (1965–1978) James Henderson (1978–1990) Ian Robinson (1990–2002) Stuart Trotter (2008–present) |
| Artist(s) | Mary Tourtel (1920–1935) Alfred Bestall (1935–1974) Alex Cubie (1975–1977) John Harrold (1978–2007) Stuart Trotter (2008–present) |
Rupert Bear, also known simply asRupert, is an English children'scomic strip character and franchise created by Herbert Tourtel[1] and illustrated by his wife, the artistMary Tourtel, first appearing in theDaily Express newspaper on 8 November 1920. The initial purpose of the strip was to win sales from the rivalDaily Mail andDaily Mirror. In 1935, the stories and artwork were both taken over byAlfred Bestall, previously an illustrator forPunch and other glossy magazines. Bestall proved successful in the field of children's literature and worked on Rupert stories and artwork into his nineties. Various other artists and writers have since continued the series. About 50 million copies have been sold worldwide.[2]
The comic strip is published in theDaily Express, with many of the stories later appearing in books. A Rupert annual has been released since 1936.Rupert Bear is part ofchildren's culture in theUnited Kingdom, and there are four television shows based on the character.
Rupert is a bear who lives with his parents in a house in Nutwood, a fictional idyllic English village. He is drawn wearing a red jumper and bright yellow checked trousers, with matching yellow scarf. Originally depicted as abrown bear, his colour soon changed to white to save on printing costs,[3] though he remained brown on the covers of the annuals.
Most of the other characters in the series are alsoanthropomorphic animals. They are all scaled to be about the same size as Rupert, regardless of species. Rupert's animal friends are usually referred to as his "chums" or "pals." Aside from his best friend BillBadger, some of the most enduring pals are anelephant (Edward Trunk), amouse (Willie), Pong-Ping thePekingese, AlgyPug (who actually pre-dates Rupert),[4] PodgyPig, Bingo the BrainyPup, the identical twins Freddy and FerdyFox, the identical twins Reggie and RexRabbit, and Ming thedragon. The kindly Wise Old Goat also lives in Nutwood, and helps Rupert in some of his adventures. One of the most unusual and evocative characters is Raggety, a woodland troll-creature made from twigs, who is often very grumpy and annoying. In the 2006 television revival of the series, Raggety has been transformed into a friendlyelf with broken English. There is also a recurring country Police Officer who is an adult dog named PC Growler.[5]There are also a few human characters in the stories, such as the Professor (who lives in a castle with his servant, Bodkin), Tiger Lily (a Chinese girl), her father "the Conjuror," and several less frequently occurring characters such as Sailor Sam, Gaffer Jarge, Captain Binnacle, the Sage of Um (who is seen travelling in a magical upside down umbrella) and Rollo, the Gypsy boy. There is also a recurringMerboy.During his time as Rupert writer, Alfred Bestall added further characters such as the girl guides Beryl, Pauline and Janet, with Beryl's cat, Dinky. These characters were based on Girl Guides from Bestall's own church who asked him in late 1947 if they could have their own adventure with Rupert. They remain part of the comic series even today.
The series often features fantastic and magical adventures in faraway lands. Each story begins in Nutwood, where Rupert usually sets out on a small errand for his mother or to visit a friend, which then develops into an adventure to an exotic place such as King Frost's Castle, the Kingdom of the Birds, underground, or to the bottom of the sea. Sometimes one of the Professor's inventions opens the door to one of Rupert's adventures. At the end of the story Rupert returns to Nutwood, where all is safe and well, and where his parents seem perfectly sanguine about his adventures.
Unlike most moderncomic strips, Rupert Bear has always been produced in the original form of strip with illustrations accompanying text, called "text comics", as opposed to text being incorporated directly into the art; for example, withinspeech balloons.
Bestall developed the classic Rupert story format: the story is told in picture form (generally two panels each day in the newspaper and four panels to a page in the annuals), in simple page-headers, in rhyming two-line-per-image verse, and as running prose at the foot. Rupert Annuals can therefore be "read" on four levels.
Rupert's unspectacular introduction was in a single panel, the first of 36 episodes of the story "Little Lost Bear" written by Herbert and drawn by Mary Tourtel.
Bestall expanded the stories and plots of Rupert; and in addition to precise and detailed drawings for theDaily Express panels he also created beautifully crafted illustrations in the Rupert Annuals. Bestall drew the Rupert stories for theDaily Express until 1965; and continued to illustrate the covers for the annuals until his retirement in 1973. Much of the landscape in Rupert is inspired by the Vale of Clwyd inNorth Wales (Alfred Bestall himself lived for many years in the north Welsh village ofBeddgelert)[6](the Professor's castle is based on Ruthin Castle), theSussex Weald andEast Devon.[citation needed] Bestall's successor was Alex Cubie. Cubie created Rupert annual artwork between 1974 and 1977. His images are recognisable from the thicker black outlines around the characters and the use of more vibrant colours than Bestall employed. A Rupert Annual is still produced every year and Rupert appears each day in theDaily Express. In 1978, his new adventures became illustrated by John Harrold; his drawings in the annual were usually coloured byGina Hart. In 2008 John Harrold was succeeded by Stuart Trotter and a new style of annual (sans serif typeface) with a more modern Rupert to tie-in with theCGI-animationRupert Bear, Follow the Magic..., began.
The Rupert Annual for 1960 contained a story calledRupert and the Diamond Leaf, in which he visits "Coon Island", whose inhabitants are little "Coons".[7] The Coons previously appeared on the cover ofThe New Rupert: The Daily Express Annual, 1954 and in the interior storyRupert and the Castaway.[8] The first appearance was in the 1946 soft cover summer specialRupert on Coon Island.
Rupert appeared inPaul McCartney's 1984music video "We All Stand Together"; McCartney also made an animated video starring Rupert calledRupert and the Frog Song. The short film, produced by McCartney won theBritish Academy Award.[9]
Tourtel's home was inCanterbury in Kent, and theRupert Bear Museum, formerly part of theCanterbury Heritage Museum, which has since closed, had collections that covered much of the history of Rupert and his friends, as well as Tourtel and other illustrators. The museum was geared toward families and those interested in the general history of Rupert.
In 1999, Rupert appeared in an advert for theNSPCC, where he is seen on a mug, covering his eyes over the sight of a psychopath bullying his child offscreen.
On 31 October 2005, UK Media GroupEntertainment Rights (which was later bought byBoomerang Media, thenDreamWorks Classics and nowNBCUniversal) purchased a majority interest in the Rupert Bear character from theDaily Express.[10]
Every year since 1936, a Rupert Bear annual has been released, even during the years ofWorld War II, during a paper shortage.
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All of these books were written and illustrated by Mary Tourtel and originally published from 1928 to 1936, by Sampson Low. There were 46 books in the original series.
Some of the titles were later published for theWoolworth's retail chain, with only 18 of the original titles. However, the titles and numbers for this series did not relate to the earlier published series.[11]
Brainwaves Limited ofBasingstoke, Hampshire, produced a series of Rupert storybooks in 1991 (no author or artist credited):
In addition, they published other Rupert series:
Rupert first appeared on television in anITC series produced for theITV network that ran for 156 ten-minute episodes.[12] The characters were all puppets, although the opening sequence featured a toy Rupert bear sitting in a live-action child's bedroom. Rupert's friends and flying chariot appeared straight from theDaily Express pages, although he was joined by some new friends including Willy Wisp, Drizzle, Della, Jimmy, Mr Grimnasty, Gypsy Granny, Chun-Mao, The Wise Old Wizard, and Mr Koskora
The theme song, written byLen Beadle (also known as Frank Weston) andRon Roker, sung byJackie Lee, reached number 14 in the UK charts in 1971.[13][14]
Rupert returned to television in 1985 to theBBC, in the form of 36 five-minute-stories.[15] In this series, each episode consisted of a series of still illustrations and narration. The sole narrator wasRay Brooks.[16] The short title music is credited to Brave New World. In the US, these shorts aired on theDisney Channel as part of its "Lunch Box" program.[citation needed]
In 1991, Rupert Bear featured in ananimated television series with 65 episodes and five seasons (13 per season) produced byNelvana (Canada),Ellipse (France) andTelevision South (TVS) for the first season (13 episodes), withScottish TV taking over control from season 2 when Television South lost itsITV franchise. The show followed the style and tone Bestall established in the Rupert newspaper series, with many of the stories being almost direct adaptations of his or others' panel stories from theDaily Express.
It was aired in syndication onYTV in Canada. In the U.S., the show first aired onNickelodeon (as part of theNick Jr. block) before moving toCBS in January 1999.[17] Repeats of the series later came toDisney Channel (as part of thePlayhouse Disney block) from 2000 to 2001. From 2009 until the channel's closure in 2021, the show aired onQubo, although only the latter 26 episodes were shown. The show was aired in the United Kingdom onCITV. In Australia, the show was aired on theABC and onTV2 in New Zealand as part of theJason Gunn show.[citation needed] The show has been returned in the United Kingdom on the satellite and cable networkTiny Pop. InSouth America, the show was aired inBrazil by theTV Cultura channel between 1998 and 2008.[citation needed]
In 2000, the Canadian producerNelvana made plans to produce a feature film about Rupert atHollywood studios, but the project was not implemented.[18]
In 2006, a new Rupert Bear stop-motion-animated television series was produced, skewing almost entirely towards small children. Changes to the characters are that Rupert wears trainers and his fur has a slight tan; Bill wears a dark blue leather jacket and blue trousers with yellow stripes instead of his suit and bowtie, and tends to carry apersonal digital assistant with him at all times; Pong Ping has become a girl who uses magic and had her name reversed; Raggety, who rarely appeared before, has become a friendly tree elf; Ming a baby dragon and Ping Pong's pet; Edward no longer has tusks, his trunk has been straightened and he wears an orange T-shirt and brown shorts; and one of the fox twins (Ferdie) has been changed into a girl named Freda. There are new characters like Miranda themermaid; but characters Podgy Pig, his self-obsessed sister Rosalie and the timid Willie Mouse make no appearances.[citation needed]
Rupert Bear, Follow The Magic ... was first aired onFive from 8 November 2006 until 1 February 2008. 52 ten-minute episodes were broadcast and subsequently repeated.[citation needed]
A short film directed byGeoff Dunbar based on ideas/music/songs byPaul McCartney was made in 1984, titledRupert and the Frog Song. It follows Rupert as he explores the country one night and finds a special gathering of frogs. The film contains a song titled "We All Stand Together", written by McCartney and arranged by theBeatles' producerGeorge Martin. The song reached No.3 in the UK Singles Chart.[citation needed]
The British video-game publisherQuicksilva adapted Rupert Bear for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum 8-bit computers, in two game instalments: the 1985Rupert and the Toymaker's Party and the 1986Rupert and The Ice Castle.[citation needed]
In September 2020,Royal Mail issued a set of eight stamps to commemorate the centenary of Rupert Bear.[19] Featuring Bestall's artwork, they comprised two second-class stamps, two first-class, two at £1.45 and two at £1.70.[20]
A cartoon of Rupert superimposed on aRobert Crumb drawing, showing the bear in a sexual situation, was a notable part of the notorious edition of the British underground magazineOz guest-edited by schoolkids. Subsequently, the adult editors and publishers of the magazine were prosecuted in a high-profile obscenity trial at the Old Bailey in June 1971; the inclusion of Rupert formed a part of the prosecution's case and defence witnesses were cross-examined on it.[21][22]
