[3] The friendly, anthropomorphised spectacled bear from "darkest Peru"—with his old hat, battered suitcase, duffel coat and love of marmalade sandwiches—has become a classic character in British children's literature.

[4] Paddington is always polite—addressing people as "Mr", "Mrs", and "Miss", but rarely by first names—and kindhearted, though he inflicts hard stares on those who incur his disapproval.

[10][11] Bond reflects, "They all had a label round their neck with their name and address on and a little case or package containing all their treasured possessions.

[12] Bond's daughter Karen states, "Had he lived in another part of the country or not travelled by train, he might never have come up with the idea for a bear being found on Paddington station.

)[18] The earliest bears wore small children's boots manufactured by Dunlop Rubber until production could not meet demand.

[15] Shirley Clarkson's book describes the evolution of the toy Paddington from a Christmas gift to the subject of litigation and ultimately commercial success.

Bond has said that his memories of newsreels showing trainloads of child evacuees leaving London during World War II, with labels around their necks and their possessions in small suitcases, prompted him to do the same for Paddington.

[2] Author Michael Bond was also a BBC TV cameraman who worked on the popular children's television programme Blue Peter.

The character of an American boy named David, Jonathan and Judy Brown's cousin who arrived in London on the same day as Paddington, was added to the stories in the 1989 cartoon.

Paddington appeared along with other British children's literature characters in the televised broadcast of Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday party event held in the Garden at Buckingham Palace on 25 June 2006.

Hamish McColl, who penned Mr. Bean's Holiday, would write the script with Paul King serving as co-writer and director.

The film would not be an adaptation of an existing story, but "draw inspiration from the whole series" and features an animated Paddington Bear interacting with a live-action environment.

After the film's distributor challenged the certification, the BBFC revised the wording of its parental guidance, replacing "mild sex references" with "innuendo".

[63] From 4 November until 30 December 2014, 50 Paddington statues were placed around London close to museums, parks, shops and key landmarks.

The 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) statues have been created by artists, designers and celebrities, including supermodel Kate Moss, actresses Nicole Kidman and Emma Watson, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, footballer David Beckham, and actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville who also played Henry Brown.

[68] The mantra from the film, "If we're kind and polite, the world will be right", was taught to Paddington by his beloved Aunt Lucy in times of both duress and joy.

[69] New cast members included Hugh Grant as Phoenix Buchanan, a narcissistic actor and former West End theatre star, reduced to making adverts for dog food, and Brendan Gleeson as Knuckles McGinty, the short-tempered prison cook.

The actor Stephen Fry, who narrated Paddington audiobooks, stated "Michael Bond's bear is a Great British icon with his charm, humour, spirit of adventure and generosity".

[75] "The magic of Paddington is that, through his wide-eyed innocence, he sees the very best in humanity, reminding us that love and kindness can triumph if we open our hearts and minds to one another."

[76] Similarly, The Horn Book Guide, a bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature, praised the short story Paddington Helps Out (1960).

[77] Both articles emphasise the welcoming Brown family and how the book captures Paddington's adventurous, charming, and funny attitude.

[76][77] Further, The New York Times' article highlights the resemblance of Paddington to a child, indicating that 6 to 9 year olds could enjoy both the colourful illustrations and the book's content.

"[78] Scholars Angela Smith, Kyle Grayson and Lisa Dussenberry additionally discuss the role of Otherness in the Paddington series.

[79][80][81] Smith writes that though children will be able to subtly learn the complex political and psychological issues of migration, Paddington nonetheless enforces assimilation to the dominant culture.

In 2007, Stephen Fry narrated the audiobook More About Paddington (1959), and in 2008 he received the Audie Award for Young Listeners' Title from the Audio Publishers Association in the U.S.[85] On 13 October 2008, Google celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first Paddington publication by placing an image of the travelling bear with a sign showing Peru and London incorporated into a Google Doodle.

[89] As part of the promotion of film and to celebrate cross-cultural links between the UK and Peru, the British Embassy and StudioCanal commissioned a statue of Paddington in Parque Salazar in the Miraflores district of the Peruvian capital, Lima, which was unveiled in July 2015.

[92] His creator Michael Bond was the second author to have their character feature on the coin after Beatrix Potter whose literary creation Peter Rabbit appeared two years earlier.

[94] When asked why Paddington 2 was referred to, director Tom Gormican said "It's a perfect movie...we were big fans" and Cage described it as "wonderful".

[95] In a pre-recorded comedy segment at the opening of the Platinum Party at the Palace on 4 June 2022, Paddington joined Queen Elizabeth II for tea and marmalade sandwiches at Buckingham Palace before they tapped their tea cups to the beat of "We Will Rock You", prior to Queen + Adam Lambert performing the song outside live.

[99][100] The video would turn out to be one of the last public appearances of Elizabeth II before her death on 8 September 2022, and as a result Paddington Bear became a symbol of mourning for the Queen.