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Meet the man they call Mr. Mr. Bean: Tom Beattie, Managing Director of Tiger Aspect Kids & Family.
Great to meet you, sir! Let’s get the admin done… What’s your job title, Tom?
I’m M.D. of Tiger Aspect Kids and Family. So I run the company that produces animation and live action across all genres there. The animated Mr. Bean is one of my main projects – I’m the executive producer on the series.
Perfect. And I’m told that you’re SO knowledgeable about the Mr. Bean brand that you’re known as Mr. Mr. Bean…
Ha! Well, yes… I’m the self-professed number-one Mr. Bean fan. I love it and I’m proud to have been working on it for well over 20 years. I started on the first animated series as a production coordinator. All these years later, and we’re up to 182 episodes.
And we’re tying in now because the new animated series debuts in 2025 – and Mr. Bean turns 35!
Yes, it’s 35 years next year since it’s been on TV as live action. The first episode aired on January 1st, 1990 on ITV. But I work with Rowan Atkinson really closely so it’s worth saying that I know he’s been living and breathing that character for 40-plus years… Because, as you may know, that character was part of his stage show before it was known as Mr. Bean.
Right. The scene in which Mr. Bean is nodding off in the church… That grew from the stage show Rowan Atkinson in Revue, I think.
Absolutely. Mr. Bean was co-created by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson. That’s how it started… Richard and Rowan met at university along with a third member of Mr. Bean – Howard Goodall, the composer.
Ah! Brilliant composer… Q.I., Red Dwarf, all the Blackadders…
And he’s the composer on the animation as well as the live action and Bean films. But yes, Richard wrote a sketch about a man who couldn’t stay awake… Rowan embodied that physical character – and that became that church scene. So that’s where it all stems from. Robin Driscoll also did some writing on the main series and films. He then wrote on the first series of the animation.
So Mr. Bean has, as a brand, a real pedigree…
Yes – and in terms of Mr. Bean branding, everything comes through one person because it’s not just about brand stamping. Bean is such a funny little character; it’s about finding the right way to make the brand work together with products. It’s about the fun you can have with him. An example comes to mind… We did a Mr. Bean Scalextric set. That had Mr. Bean sitting on top of his mini in his new armchair. And there was a blue Robin Reliant as well – a fantastic Scalextric set.
That’s very funny! And by no means an obvious partnership… Out of interest, is there anything that you would like to do in product licensing that you haven’t done yet?
That’s interesting! Thinking ahead to the 40-year celebration, I’d love to see Mr. Bean on stamps. We see so many iconic images of people on stamps; people that are cemented in the UK psyche. And I think Mr. Bean could very easily qualify as a face on a stamp.
Great shout! Or a coin, maybe!
Or a coin! So that’s what I’d love to see. Beyond that, there’s some publishing stuff we’d love to do. And I’d love to see some big collaborations which I think are key in licensing… Whether it’s fashion or national institutions or whatever, there’re some collaborations that I think could be great. Also, the digital side of Mr. Bean is interesting. That’s a sleeping giant…
Interesting choice of words… In what way?
In that people don’t realise that, overall, Mr. Bean has 237 million followers across all platforms, with 52 billion views across those platforms. On Facebook alone, Mr. Bean is the fourth biggest page in the whole world. So it’s bigger than Shrek, The Simpsons, Harry Potter… When you think about how many Facebook pages there are – and the size of the biggest TV and film brands – that gives you a context. So digitally, Mr. Bean is going great guns. It’s amazing.
Absolutely. I had no idea!
We’ve got 141 million Facebook subscribers. We also have 14 channels on YouTube. We’ve got Instagram and TikTok. So we’re everywhere, digitally. It’s phenomenal. And maybe people don’t realise it, but – going back to the live-action episodes – those were three sketches over each half an hour… So it was social-media ready before social media existed. They offer snackable, short, funny and mainly non-dialogue content.
What a fascinating way to look at that. So Mr. Bean and social media have grown alongside each other?
Right. 1990, when the series launched, was the year the World Wide Web launched – or became accessible to people at least. I’ve got some great stats about this in front of me because we’ve been doing research into brand awareness and recognisability in different countries. Mr. Bean has super-high recognition with kids and adults alike. 90% plus of the audience recognises that brand.
I can believe that! I was just thinking about his international recognisability because early Mr. Bean in particular was almost language independent… Like Jacques Tati; his Monsieur Hulot was a great antecedent I suppose…
Totally. And Rowan acknowledges Tati’s influence. Of course, what Tati didn’t have was the power of Banijay Entertainment behind him. I know it sounds like I’m drinking the juice here!
Ha!
It’s true, though. You know, there’re only 14 episodes of the live-action show. So to be able to do big things by slicing and dicing those, with no new content, is amazing. One of the fantastic things at the forefront of digital is that we’ve launched a Fast Channel to make sure Mr. Bean remains for everyone, everywhere…
When you say a Mr. Bean Fast Channel, you mean Mr. Bean broadcasting 24 hours a day?
Yes, Mr. Bean animation on your connected TV. It’s syndicated across 36 territories and in ten different languages!
My days! I don’t think you should’ve told me that – I might never leave the house! And what’s the secret of his appeal, Tom? What makes this strange, spiteful little character a national treasure?
Well, I will just say that he’s not spiteful! What he is is focused on what he wants or need. So if he’s focused is on getting a parking space, say, he’ll do anything to get that. He doesn’t even realise that the blue Robin Reliant is there. If he goes to a shop for a frying pan, it makes sense to take a fish out and put it in the pan. He’s focused on whether the pan is right for him – he’s not thinking that it’s smelly or unhygienic or unpleasant for someone else, or even that he shouldn’t do it. The fish has to fit… Why wouldn’t he try it?
You make a great point! Spiteful is the wrong word; I stand corrected!
But to your question: why is he so popular? I think it’s because he is – as Rowan and Richard Curtis describe it – a nine-year-old in the body of an adult. Kids love to see adults being silly – or looking at the world just as they do. Again, it’s that kind of focus and outlook on life. Then, for parents, I think he – especially in animation – deals differently with the normal world. He’s an adult in an adult world; he has to go and pay rent and things like that, which is unusual for a kid’s animated show… But the character is doing those adult things like a big kid.
Another thing about the animation that’s unusual – for kids’ content – is that it’s a talent-driven brand. By which, I mean the person who created it is across everything. Most kids’ content doesn’t have that kind of line through it the whole time – but having that line really gives it its authenticity. So the brand’s protected because it’s always gone through that lens – and that lens can be very, very focused in terms of getting the details right.
Can you give me an example of that? Of getting the details right?
A good example would be with the sounds of Mr. Bean’s car in the first series. Rowan wasn’t happy with them. As you may know, he’s a car fanatic. He wanted Bean’s car to sound like it was of a certain age. So we went to an airfield with Rowan and had a sound recordist record Rowan just driving the right-sounding car. We created a library of car sounds: every window being wound down, every horn being hooted, every button being pressed, the handbrake going up and down… All done by Rowan.
Good lord! This is amazing. And on the subject of sounds, I wanted to say earlier that – every so often – you do a very passable Mr. Bean impression! You’ve never played Mr. Bean, obviously – but am I right in saying you’ve had your voice in the animation?
Ha! Yes! I do have one voice credit but I’ve also been a wrestler, an orchestra remember and various other bit parts. And I do do all of Mr. Bean’s burps…
Well, talk about burying the lead! Ha! You do all of Mr. Bean’s burps?!
Ha! Yes. Rowan doesn’t burp on demand but, because of my misspent youth, I can do that. I actually do the burps on a lot of the TV shows I work on. One day, I’m going to edit them all together in a kind of little-bitty burps showreel.
And burping aside, Tom, how have you come to be doing this? What’s your background?
I’ve been here 20 years, but I started in advertising: copywriter, art director, coming up with ideas… But then moved more camera side. Then I worked in production of commercials and videos. I did that for a few years, then got a job at Tiger Aspect in animation. So I’ve come from commercials and productions where you do a two-day shoot working 24 hours a day… Nowadays I get a Mr. Bean schedule for two and a half years!
Ha! The relief!
Oh, it’s great! I know exactly what I’m doing every Monday for the next two years! But I do come from a creative background; I did an arts degree – and visual media is my thing. I’ve had to bide my time and go through the different stages of production to get to a place where I help drive and shape the vision for Tiger Aspect Kids and Family and the projects we select. And we do option a lot of IP as well as create our own.
Can you give me an example of that?
We’re working with Julia Donaldson at the moment – the Gruffalo creator – on a pre-school production. We’re also just working on a series for the BBC as well as other European broadcasters called Super Happy Magic Forest. That’s based on a book by Oxford University Press.
Fantastic. And one last thing I wanted to pick up on from earlier… When you’re coming up with ideas for Mr. Bean’s ongoing animated adventures, what’s the process? Where do the ideas come from?
Ah! They come from everywhere, really. We have a collective team of writers. working on the animated series. And Rowan, of course, sees everything at every stage. So we might write an episode synopsis, or just a three- or four-line idea… Mr. Bean goes bowling and gets his fingers stuck in a bowling ball: what happens from that? And if Rowan’s happy with that, we work on it some more.
He’d give that a nod to save people wasting time on developing something he doesn’t want Mr. Bean to do?
Exactly. Then we’d go to a more expanded outline of a scene before getting an idea of how it flows as a story. Next, we go to script in early drafts… But as I say: Rowan sees everything: he sees the animatics, he sees the animation… He’s in all of those stages and – of course – all the voice recordings, all the voice recordings are bespoke. We do have a library of grunts and groans and other Mr. Bean noises.
I’d’ve been disappointed if you didn’t! Ha!
Ha! But yes, the stories and ideas come from everywhere. I’m always making notes to my phone about funny things I see from anywhere and everywhere: being in a soft play with the kids, or jumping in a ball pool – all those kinds of things. Another example: I’ve got a new passion for table tennis – that went into the system! The writers came up with ideas around that and we have it in an episode in the new series.
Brilliant. Well, I’ve loved this conversation, Tom! Alas, we need to start wrapping it up. My final question is this… What’s the one thing I could have asked you about today that I didn’t?
Hmmm. I think we’ve covered quite a bit! I guess you could’ve asked me about my glasses collection behind me… That’s not all of them; I’ve got a few hundred.
Ah! Is that what they are?! Novelty spectacles? The irony is I couldn’t quite see! Ha! So, yes… For the benefit of the reader: you have some shelves behind you with a range of novelty glasses on…
Yes. I’ve got a collection of a few hundred. Behind me is part of it; these are all festive! I have a revolving schedule now. So they’re there just until the new year. Then I’ve got my numbers glasses which go from 2000 to 2024, I think… After that, I think my next display would be glasses with appendages; glasses with moustaches and other things like that…
This is great! Do you have a favourite pair? Or is that asking you to pick a favourite child?
It is a bit. I mean, I’ve got hundreds! But I bought my first pair 20 years ago, and that pair means a lot to me. It’s a big white pair that go into a kind of fan with diamonds. They’re just happy! And my feeling is that when you put on glasses like those, you take on the character of the glasses… You become someone else: you put on the little ones, you become a little teacher or a vicar or whatever…
Ha! I couldn’t agree with you more. Well, there we go! Thank you so much, Tom. I’ve enjoyed every second of this. I hope you’ll come back and speak to us again.
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