\n<\/p>\n
For the millions who adore Paddington Bear, Michael Bond\u2019s marmalade-loving character is the epitome of English politeness and understatement \u2013 so a new depiction as a drug-taking, potty-mouthed podcast host was always going to prove challenging.<\/p>\n
But the satirical overhaul of Paddington by the team behind Spitting Image has proved too much for the film studio and estate that own the character\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n
StudioCanal, the producers of the successful Paddington movies, are joining up with Bond\u2019s estate to sue the British production company Avalon, which is behind Paddington\u2019s radical reimagining.<\/p>\n
A high court complaint, first reported by Deadline, cites copyright and design right concerns. The court filing does not set out the specifics of the claim, but it comes after Paddington\u2019s appearance in the latest Spitting Image YouTube show, The Rest Is Bulls*!t.<\/p>\n
The show contains sketches about Elon Musk, Donald Trump and Keir Starmer. It also satirises ubiquitous podcasts in which hosts talk about achieving success.<\/p>\n
It is hosted by a typical Spitting Image-style puppet of Prince Harry and a dishevelled-looking Paddington. In the first episode, Paddington begins by proclaiming he does not really talk like Ben Whishaw, the Bafta-winning actor who voices the character in his recent movie outings.<\/p>\n
<\/span>A dishevelled-looking Paddington appearing alongside \u2018Prince Harry\u2019 on the episode.<\/span> Photograph: Avalon Promotions<\/p>\n He then switches to a generic South American accent before shouting: \u201cI am from Peru, motherfuckers \u2013 I am Paddington Bear from Peru! You most likely remember me from the films Paddington, Paddington 2 and Paddington in Peru. I also had a starring role in the Netflix series Narcos, as Pablo Escobear. It is a joke. Laugh, muchachos.\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of the episode, a chaotic Paddington is seen snorting a white powder before apparently passing out.<\/p>\n The court action comes three months after Avalon launched The Rest Is Bulls*!t, a poke at the successful stable of podcasts produced by Gary Lineker\u2019s company, Goalhanger.<\/p>\n The show\u2019s launch on YouTube in July marked a new chapter for Spitting Image, which has a rich history of upsetting its targets \u2013 usually politicians, rather than treasured children\u2019s characters.<\/p>\n The original series was one of the most-watched programmes in the 1980s and was cancelled only in 1996 after viewing figures waned. It was rebooted in 2020 for the streaming service BritBox, lasting two series before it was cancelled again.<\/p>\n Its new incarnation on YouTube has been adapted for the platform. Shows are between 10 and 15 minutes, designed to appeal to viewers who scroll through recommended content.<\/p>\n In the first show, viewed more than half a million times, Paddington and Harry interview Musk, and Paddington urges the rightwing billionaire to go to Mars. \u201cYou are too much genius for one planet,\u201d he says. \u201cAs I say about my cocaine, it is only right to share.\u201d<\/p>\n He later says the secret to his personal glow is \u201c100% Peruvian, biodynamic, organic, catastrophic cocaine\u201d.<\/p>\n The pair also announce an advert for guns. Paddington says: \u201cGo to Bogot\u00e1 and ask for Matthias. Tell him Paddington sent you.\u201d<\/p>\n The bear begins another segment by observing: \u201cAnd that\u2019s why I said \u2018no\u2019 to Harry Potter. Paddington Bear gets out his wand for no one.\u201d<\/p>\n StudioCanal declined to comment. A spokesperson for Michael Bond\u2019s estate said they could not comment as the issue was the subject of legal proceedings.<\/p>\n Avalon has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the millions who adore Paddington Bear, Michael Bond\u2019s marmalade-loving character is the epitome of English politeness and understatement \u2013 so a new depiction as a drug-taking, potty-mouthed podcast host was always going to prove challenging. But the satirical overhaul of Paddington by the team behind Spitting Image has proved too much for the film<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[4528,9138,8215,4428,15792,15793,11748,4182,248],"class_list":{"0":"post-26266","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-justice","8":"tag-bear","9":"tag-episode","10":"tag-image","11":"tag-laugh","12":"tag-muchachos","13":"tag-paddington","14":"tag-spitting","15":"tag-studio","16":"tag-sued"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}