Mr. Bean: The Animated Series

I absolutely love this cartoon. I love the live action series as well, and I'm delighted that this animated version captures the essence of the originals.

I'll start off by saying the animation style is brilliant. Very refreshing. Kind of a retro style with regards to the simplified backgrounds. Really nice colours. The trees are like the ones in Looney Tunes or Pink Panther cartoons. The characters are superbly drawn, capturing the rubbery facial expressions of Rowan Atkinson. I like the heavy outlines on the characters to set them off from the backgrounds, and I find it amusing that their feet aren't attached to their legs, lol. I'm a graphic designer and I'm a sucker for the retro style artwork. And I'm a sucker for anything truly British in nature.

Like the live action series, there isn't much talking. But I think it's wonderful that Rowan Atkinson supplies what mumblings there is for Mr.Bean. And you've got to love his horrid landlady Mrs.Wicket when she yells "BEAN" at the top of her lungs. (She makes him do all the house and yard work and her grocery shopping; does she give him a break on the rent?!) The plots are terrific. Most of them are imaginable as plots that could have been done for the live action series. Mr.Bean buys a new sofa, Mr.Bean loses his ship-in-a-bottle, Mr.Bean irritates a mime... problems he causes, but then resolves in in an outlandish way, and sometimes with a bit of vindictiveness. Sure, there are a few that are a bit more "cartoony" like when burglars steal all the teddy bears, or Mr.Bean's nemesis tenant invents a robot, but that's the beauty of animation, and they never carry it too outlandishly far.

Oh, and the music. Howard Goodall's theme is marvelous. I have it in my head all of the time. The one from the live action series was never singable! Goodall even provides piano music for it at his website. If only I could read sheet music. Or had a piano....

The DVDs have some nice behind the scenes on the making of this series. The work and care they put into every aspect really shows through. Months of work for an 11 minute episode, 52 episodes in all! I highly recommend this show. It has a hilarious subtlety, and a lovely charm I haven't seen since the Wallace & Gromit movie. But don't get me wrong, I like things like Family Guy and Simpsons as well, so there's room for everything!

Anyone who giggled at the original Bean series would laugh out loud at this one. Mr. Bean gets himself into all kinds of hot water, but now he can get into things a real person can't. Seeing is believing. This is hilarious!

The live-action version of Mr. Bean was hilarious. The movie was a little disappointing (being a rehash of some of the more famous sketches, but inserted into an actual plot). The animated series is visually gorgeous, with the use of the latest technology in animation, but a cartoon caricature of a cartoonish real-life character is somewhat redundant. Maybe Rowan Atkinson is getting a little old to do even more outrageous antics than in his first series, so is letting an animated character take the reins. The series certainly does capitalize on the freedom of animation, being more comedically surreal, but is essentially the same old Mr. Bean, voiced by Mr. Bean. Entertainment for all ages based on entertainment for all ages.

I love Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean who I always felt was more of a cartoon character than an actual human being. Mr. Bean is quite childlike in his nature. We don't know where he come from or who is his parents or anything else. We see him constantly try to handle life on earth without guidance unless you count his teddy bear as his true companion. He seems clueless yet he continues to drive around his little yellow car and act quite naive. We barely here him talk. The character could remind me of a Samuel Beckett character or play where he is quite minimal. The character of Mr. Bean is one to study. He appeals to a wide audience who may not get British humor. The show is more done without scripting but direction just like the show itself.

I wasn't expecting much and part of me knew it wouldn't be as good as the brilliant live-action TV series. It is inferior, I agree one or two jokes are a tad too simple and somewhat childish. But actually, this animated series is very good. The animation is very nice, the colours and backgrounds are done with care and Mr Bean still acts and looks zany as an animated character. The music, for piano this time, is very fitting, the visual gags and physical comedy still makes me laugh, most of it is really quite hilarious and the characters are as cute and as zany as ever. Rowan Atkinson excels still as the lovable character we all know as Mr Bean. Overall, this animated series is surprisingly very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox