The Home Office gave Paddington a passport for Paddington In Peru

paddington holding a passport
Share this Article:

Paddington could certainly use a holiday once this press tour is over, so itā€™s a good job heā€™s been sorting his paperwork earlyā€¦


If youā€™ve seen the first trailer for the eagerly-anticipated Paddington In Peru, youā€™ll have noticed our young ursine friend having a spot of bother in a photo booth. Youā€™ll also have noticed that, ever the resilient type, this doesnā€™t seem to have stopped him from navigating the governmentā€™s online passport service ā€“ heā€™s now the proud owner of his very own little blue book.

As it turns out, Paddingtonā€™s passport might just be a little more official than youā€™d expect. On the most recent episode of The StudioCanal Podcast, producer Rosie Alison told our own Simon Brew about its very special feature:

ā€œWe reached out to the home office and asked if we could have permission to use the branding in the film,ā€ she said. ā€œThey had a wonderful sense of humour, and they came back with Paddington’s own personalized passport.

ā€œIt has a special [page]: ā€˜This page is reserved for special observationsā€™, and the official observation is: ā€˜bear'ā€.

If youā€™re looking to reproduce your own passport for a multi-million dollar family film franchise, The National Archives has produced a handy document on how to go about it. Turns out the cover is protected, not by fancy fraud laws, but good old fashioned copyright. Just a little treat for all you legal beagles out there.

Read more: Paddington In Peru trailer | A bear rides a llama on the hunt for El Dorado

They seem quite strict on what you can put in a fake passport, too. You canā€™t use the official Royal Arms, for example (the king owns the rights to that), and the personal details page has to use a different font. Weā€™re not sure this is looking much like a passport at this rate.

Anyway, assuming Paddington gets through customs, his new film, Paddington In Peru, is arriving in cinemas on 8th November. Photo ID will not be required (weā€™re assuming, perhaps wrongly, the BBFC wonā€™t give it a 15 rating).

Share this Article:

More like this