January 15th, 2020 
Jackson Murphy 
Paddington is one of the most beloved characters of all-time. The two recent big screen adventures were big hits. And now Nickelodeon presents a new CG animated series The Adventures of Paddington, premiering Monday January 20th at 10:30am ET/PT. UK-based show directors Adam Shaw and Chris Drew share their love of the bear and… maybe… his favorite food.
Adam Shaw: Paddington is a childhood favorite. It’s always been dear to my heart. When I was young, I always read it with my parents – and based on memories of the gorgeous stories. I’ve got children, who are 6 and 10 now. I read the Paddington books to them. When I heard that the owners were looking to make a TV series, we were very very keen to come on and get involved.
Jackson Murphy: And right out of the gate, the theme song is so jolly and happy. I love when Paddington is dancing with the two kids in the park. I think it’s so funny. It makes me smile every time I watch it. Was this one of the more challenging aspects of the overall process – getting this theme right?
Chris Drew: I think they’re always quite tricky. You have to make sure you capture the mood of the show, and you wanna get people to sit up. It’s sort of like a call to arms. You want people to come in, so a strong, catchy tune is a great start. I think we’ve pulled it off. I think it looks really good and we get everybody in there. We get that sense of community. We get that Paddington surrounded by all his family and friends. Tricky, but I think it works well. I’m glad you enjoy it and that it makes you smile. That’s great to hear.
Jackson Murphy: And I think the show is not just for pre-schoolers but I think older kids and adults will really enjoy it, especially if you love the two “Paddington” movies. It’s great that Ben Whishaw, who voiced Paddington in those films, voices him again on this series. How was it getting Ben to be on board for this show?
AS: When it was suggested to us who would like to play Paddington for the TV series, our first call was to Ben… because he does such an amazing job in the films, and he really embodies Paddington so well. It’s this lovely, naive approach to the world, and he’s got so much charm. When we found out that Ben was interested in the TV series… he’s a busy guy… we were so pleased.
CD: When we started, I think he was a bit startled to begin with. I don’t think he had done TV voice work before. I think he was quite startled at the amount of work that we had to get through to begin with. But he was great. He really took to it so quickly. He produces all these wonderful lines for us and brings another twist to the dialogue. It’s great having him involved.
JM: 52 different stories for these Paddington episodes, right? That’s a lot.
CD: 52 10-minute episodes.
AS: And a couple of Christmas specials.
CD: Oh yeah – technically speaking, 54.
JM: That’s great.
AS: Also, there’s a line that he doesn’t think is quite right – or he doesn’t believe Paddington would quite say in that way – he’ll be very forthcoming and come-up with an alternative to make sure that it really comes from the heart of Paddington.
JM: When it comes to the look of the characters, they’re all CGI, but they do have this stop-motion, puppet-like look and vibe to them – the way they move and blink.
AS: From the beginning, we were kind of influenced by the Ivor Wood stop-motion animated series… to really bring it up to our contemporary audience. We looked at what Laika has been doing and other great stop-motion animation companies. We really wanted the main characters to be really tactile. In look, even their eyes kind of feel more animatronic. They’ve got a simplicity. Their eyelids are shuttered. You can have so much fun with them, and they’ve got so much charm.
JM: There are some big sequences in the first few episodes. You’ve got Paddington flying through the house. There’s a lot of bubbles in one scene, which is a nice nod to the films. Take me through staging one of those big kinds of sequences.
CD: When we started the show, we started the world quite small and we built our way out. As the production progressed, we added in more and more things. To begin with, we started with just in the house, and we’ve worked our way out into the garden. And now we have some exterior locations. As we’ve gone on, we’ve been able to do broader and bigger episodes. We have episodes coming up where we’re running around in the park and some action sequences.
Staging the house was always quite interesting, and we’ve had to work out with lenses and very camera angles to make sure we have that sense of continuity. But it also feels like it’s all taking place in this set location. We storyboard a lot. There’s a lot of planning to do. The set is an actual set. The house has been built. We don’t have too much freedom when it comes to, “Oh, we need an extra 50 yards of hallway.” We don’t have that. We’ve only got what we got. We’re careful with our cameras and how we stage our action.
JM: One of these “Paddington” episodes focuses on him finding a hobby. Do you have a lot of hobbies, or is animation pretty much your life?
CD: Well “Paddington”‘s been quite busy. I’ll be honest. It’s been keeping us busy for the last year or so. I’ve got two teenage children now, and they keep me quite busy. Hobbies? Sleeping – does that count as a hobby? I’m not sure. I still like to draw as much as I can – whenever I can. I like to swim if I can. But… I can’t answer that. I’m really sorry, Jackson. I’m boring. I don’t have a hobby.
JM: (laughs) That’s okay. What about you, Adam?
AS: I spend a lot of my time in the garden. I’ve got quite a big garden here, so it helps me relax. I love doing stuff like mountain biking with the kids and watching films. I’m not a skydiver or an extreme sports fanatic as much as I’d love to be. But maybe when I get a bit more time in my life again.
Chris Drew and Adam Shaw
CD: I wish you answered this first Adam, because it made me sound really boring now.
JM: Have your kids seen episodes of this show yet? What do they think about “The Adventures of Paddington”?
CD: Mine are older now, but I storyboarded a lot from home when they were tiny. They are both fully aware of the process that goes through. They’ve been watching animatics and storyboards and all kinds of stuff since they were tiny. They’re a bit blasé about the whole process. They know how the whole thing’s made. But when it comes to anything I’m working on, they’re always interested. Even though they’re 15 and 13 now, they’re both still really interested. And they both love it. They’re very pleased with it.
AS: I kind of get a lot of kudos at school. Both of my kids are at primary school. I make programs that a lot of the kids watch. Everyone’s really excited about “Paddington”, off the back of the hugely successful films. There’s so much anticipation to see what it’s like – both for the children and the parents. I’ve never been so anxious to see what everyone thinks about a thing [I’ve worked on]. It’s got such a big following. Fingers crossed.
JM: I think this is gonna be a big hit for sure all over the globe. So honestly, as you’ve been working on this show, how often have you craved a marmalade sandwich?
AS: (laughs) That’s a good one, actually, because before I worked on this, I really didn’t like marmalade. SOMEHOW – It’s now my favorite thing to have on toast. It’s changed me.
JM: Wow.
CD: Oh, I can’t believe you just…! That’s a terrible answer! Is that true?
AS: Yes, it’s true! It’s true!
CD: I’m just gonna be honest. I don’t like marmalade. There we go. Paddington can have mine. I’m more than happy to have Paddington eat my marmalade for me.
JM: Wow. When this gets transcribed for Animation Scoop, the headline will be: “Paddington Directors: One had their life changed because of marmalade, the other HATES marmalade”.
CD: (laughs) Excellent! We want controversy. We wanna get a stir up – get everyone talking about the show.
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