At the beginning of episode two onwards, Mr. Bean falls from the sky in a beam of light, accompanied by a choir singing Ecce homo qui est faba (“Behold the man who is a bean”), recorded by Southwark Cathedral Choir. These opening sequences were initially in black and white in episodes two and three, and were intended by the producers to show his status as an “ordinary man cast into the spotlight”. However, later episodes showed Mr. Bean dropping from the night sky in a deserted London street against the backdrop of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Mr. Bean Animated Series
At the end of episodes three and six he is also shown being sucked right back up into the sky in the respective background scenes (black scene in episode 3 and street scene in episode 6). Atkinson has acknowledged that Mr. Bean “has an alien aspect to him”.2 In the animated series (episode, “Double Trouble”) he is taken inside a spacecraft with “aliens” who look exactly like him and even have their own plushy toys. In an homage, the aliens send him back home in a beam of light and music similar to the opening of the original live-action Mr. Bean series. Mr. Bean is mostly seen wearing a brown tweed jacket, a white shirt, a thin red tie, dark brown trousers with a lighter brown belt, gray socks, and black shoes. Occasionally, he will change his outfit (often to suit the scene he is in).
- These opening sequences were initially in black and white in episodes two and three, and were intended by the producers to show his status as an “ordinary man cast into the spotlight”.
- Mr. Bean’s vehicle, a citron-green16 1977 British Leyland Mini 1000 Mark 417 with a matte black bonnet, was central to several antics such as Bean getting dressed in it, driving while sitting in an armchair strapped to the roof or attempting to avoid a car park fee by driving out through the entrance.
- The series was viewed by 18.74 million viewers for the episode “The Trouble with Mr. Bean”3 and has received a number of international awards, including the Rose d’Or.
- When he finally blows his nose with his serviette, he throws it into the grand piano.
- For this scene, Bean does not wear his usual brown tweed sports jacket but the traditional clothing of the musician – white tie and tails.
- He can sometimes be a gentlemen towards other women, like Roxy and Sabine, but he doesn’t show much care to his girlfriend which was proven in many episodes (live-action and animated).
Characters and recurring props
In 1997, it was purchased by the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum and displayed for a number of years, later being sold on to a museum in the MrBen United States. The main Mini is privately owned and nearing the end of restoration in the south of England. Two episodes later, its head reached its current size but its “eyes” were not present until Bean placed gold thumb tacks on its face. The “eyes” have since been replaced with two small white buttons sewn over Teddy’s face, giving it a distinctive image.
This series is…
Mr. Bean is the titular main protagonist of the comedy series of the same name. He is a slow-witted, sometimes ingenious, selfish, and generally likable buffoon who brings various unusual schemes and connivance to everyday tasks. After filming ended, one of the original Minis was sold to Kariker Kars to be hired for various events whereupon it was temporarily displayed as a major attraction at the Rover Group’s museum.
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- Due to his popularity, Mr. Bean has appeared beyond the original 15 episodes of the original sitcom and has appeared in a British-American film, Bean (1997), a British-French film, Mr. Bean’s Holiday (2007), and an animated cartoon of the same name (2002-).
- Occasionally, he will change his outfit (often to suit the scene he is in).
- From 2002 to 2004, 52 episodes were originally broadcast on ITV1 each consisting of two 11-minute segments.
- Mr. Bean often pretends his teddy is real but he doesn’t always treat Teddy nicely.
- The sitcom consists of 15 episodes that were co-written by Atkinson alongside Curtis and Robin Driscoll; the pilot episode was co-written by Ben Elton.
Mr. Bean often seems unmindful of basic aspects of the way the world works, and the programme typically features his attempts at what would generally be considered simple activities, such as going for a swim, using a television set, redecorating, or attending church. The humour largely comes from his original (and often absurd) solutions to problems – usually self-inflicted – and his total disregard for others when solving them, his pettiness and occasional malevolence.1 Atkinson himself has stated in various interviews on the character. At the beginning of episode 2 onwards, Bean falls from the sky in a beam of light, accompanied by a choir singing Ecce homo qui est faba (Behold the man who is a Bean). These opening sequences were initially in episodes 2 and 3, and they were intended by the producers to show his status as an “outcast cast into the spotlight”. But later episodes showed Mr. Bean dropping from the night sky in a deserted London street against the backdrop of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Mr. Bean often seems unaware of basic aspects of the way the world works, and the programme usually features his attempts at what would normally be considered simple activities, such as going swimming, using a television set, interior decorating or going to church. The humour largely comes from his original (and often absurd) solutions to problems and his total disregard for others when solving them, and his pettiness and occasional malevolence. In 2012, Atkinson reprised his role as Mr. Bean for a live performance as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London. In the scene, Mr. Bean works within the London Symphony Orchestra in its performance of “Chariots of Fire”, conducted by Simon Rattle.
Mr. Bean is also a pain to the Reliant Regal in loads of episodes becoming a running gag in the series. In a few occasions, Mr. Bean had been a bit kind but he rarely shows it. He also tends to hate Irma kissing him, and whenever Irma does this to him, he would usually smudge his cheek. The second film, Mr. Bean’s Holiday, was directed by Steve Bendelack and released in 2007. The film is notable for featuring a mixture of traditional film photography and home-shot video camera photography.