Who is Rupert Bear?

Created by Mary Toutel way back in 1920, Rupert Bear has since become one of the nation's favourite childhood icons.

Rupert lives in Nutwood with his parents and has a group of friends, many of them animals, but some from unusual children such as the Chinese girl, Tiger Lily and her father, the Professor and Sailor Sam. However, his very best pal is Bill Badger. Others include Edward Trunk, an elephant, Pong Ping, who is a pekingese and Algy Pug.

Rupert's adventures, some of which are distinctly unusual and, in earlier editions of his annuals, beautifully illustrated, may well be seen as influential. The influence of the Orient and of Tiger Lily and her father, reveal the British involvement with the Far East, especially Hong Kong and Singapore, which were colonies at the time that Rupert first appeared. However, the unusual stories are always set in a very safe world, harking back to the Home Counties of a pre-industrial age, with small cottages, often thatched and little villages, woods and pipe-smoking, middle-class fathers.

It is, perhaps, the very safety of the countryside that prompts Rupert to explore and to have his adventures, because life otherwise, would be too dull. In this way, he can be seen as a precursor to Just William, but infinitely better-behaved!