Mr. Bean, la série animée

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!

When i first heard of this, i thought it would be a cheap spinoff, that was not funny, i couldn't of "bean" more wrong, this cartoon is the best thing since the simpsons, it's hilarious, original, and most importantly, it's not American.

So it was decided to return the bumbling figure in a new setting. Mr. Bean made a comeback in 2002, but this time as a cartoon. Atkinson himself made a comeback to lend the voice. Additionally, Mr. Bean's beloved teddy bear made an appearance.

The animation merely continued where the first one left off, with Mr. Bean encountering numerous absurd circumstances. He also enjoyed driving around in his car or causing commotion at home. He would always come up with the most peculiar solution to any issue. Other recurring characters included Mrs. Wicket, the fairly elderly and grouchy landlord, and her cat Scrapper. Mr. Bean's patient girlfriend was also present.

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.

This cartoon was amazing it's defiantly a treat for all Mr Bean fans and a worth introduction to Mr Bean for the newer generation.

I used to enjoy this show when it used to be on back in the early 2000's but when it returned in 2014/2015 something didn't feel right.