Mr. Bean (character)
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Mr. Bean is a fictional character from the British
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
television programme '' Mr. Bean'', its animated spin-off, and two live-action feature films. He was created by Rowan Atkinson and
Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a British screenwriter, producer and director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known for romantic comedy-drama films, including ''Four Weddings and a Funeral' ...
, portrayed by Atkinson, and made his first appearance on television in the pilot episode, which first aired on 1 January 1990.


Overview

Mr. Bean lives in Flat 2, 12 Arbour Road, Highbury, London, England. His first name and his profession, if any, are never mentioned; he introduces himself simply as "Bean." In the first film adaptation, ''
Bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...
'', "Mr." appears on his passport in the "first name" field, and he is shown employed as a security guard at London's
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
.Mel Smith, ''Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie'', PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, 1997 His date of birth is given variously as 15 September 1956, or as 6 January 1955 (the latter being Rowan Atkinson's actual date of birth). 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 St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
. 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". In the
animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. 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 obvious 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.


Clothing

Mr. Bean is usually seen wearing a brown tweed jacket, a white shirt, a thin red tie, brown trousers, black shoes and a black digital
calculator watch A calculator watch is a digital watch with a built-in calculator, usually including buttons on the watch face. Calculator watches were first introduced in the 1970s and continue to be produced, despite falling from their peak popularity duri ...
. He occasionally changes his outfit to suit the scene he is in. In the episode " The Return of Mr. Bean", when Bean is heading to a fancy restaurant to celebrate his birthday, he wears a grey suit with a dark red tie. In the same episode, he wears a
tuxedo Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and North American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal ...
. In the episode " The Curse of Mr. Bean", when Bean is heading for the park to make a sandwich for his lunch, he wears a long dark green
overcoat An overcoat is a type of long coat intended to be worn as the outermost garment, which usually extends below the knee. Overcoats are most often used in winter when warmth is more important. They are sometimes confused with or referred to as #T ...
with a light green shirt and a dark green tie. In the same episode when Bean goes to watch a horror film with his girlfriend, he is wearing his trademark clothes but with a light colored brown sweater instead of his trademark brown tweed jacket.


Personality

Mr. Bean is immature, self-absorbed, extremely competitive and brings various abnormal schemes and contrivances to everyday tasks. He rarely speaks, and when he does, it is normally only a few mumbled words which are in a comically low-pitched voice. 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. Atkinson himself has stated in various interviews on the character.
Mr Bean is a child at heart. He is a child trapped in a man's body so all the jokes involving Mr Bean are fairly sort of silly childish things.
Mr Bean is a very unpleasant character. He is a natural-born anarchist, he's incredibly selfish, incredibly childish. He is aged 11 really, mentally. He hasn't moved on and he never will.


Influences

Atkinson cited the comedy film '' Monsieur Hulot's Holiday'', starring and directed by French comedian and director
Jacques Tati Jacques Tati (; born Jacques Tatischeff, ; 9 October 1907 – 5 November 1982) was a French mime, filmmaker, actor and screenwriter. In an ''Entertainment Weekly'' poll of the Greatest Movie Directors, he was voted 46th (a list of the top 50 was ...
, as an influence on the character, particularly its usage of wordless humor in ordinary situations.


Appearances

Mr. Bean is the main character of both the titular TV series and its animated spin-off, as well as of feature films based on the series, ''
Bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...
'' (1997) and '' Mr. Bean's Holiday'' (2007). Bean also made guest appearances at the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony and in the 2017 Chinese film ''Top Funny Comedian: The Movie''. Atkinson also portrayed Bean in several sketches for
Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
and also in television advertisements throughout the years such as REMA 1000, M&M's,
Fujifilm , trading as , or simply Fuji, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the areas of photography, optics, Office supplies, office and Biomedical engine ...
, Nissan Tino,
Snickers Snickers (stylized in all caps) is a chocolate bar consisting of nougat topped with Caramel#Candy, caramel and peanuts, all encased in milk chocolate. The bars are made by the American company Mars Inc. The annual global sales of Snickers is ...
and most recently for Etisalat in 2019.


References


External links


Mr. Bean official website

Mr. Bean
on
IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
*
Official Youtube channel
{{Authority control English male characters in sitcoms Comedy television characters Comedy film characters Television characters introduced in 1990 Fictional people from London Film and television memes Rowan Atkinson