Rupert Annual 2022

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Illustrator Alfred E Bestall always depicted Rupert on the annual's cover with a brown face, whereas inside the book the bear's face was always white. Most of the other characters in the series are also anthropomorphic animals. They are all scaled to be about the same size as Rupert, regardless of species. Rupert's animal friends are usually referred to as his "chums" or "pals." Aside from his best friend Bill Badger, some of the most enduring pals are an elephant (Edward Trunk), a mouse (Willie), Pong-Ping the Pekingese, Algy Pug (who actually pre-dates Rupert), [3] Podgy Pig, Bingo the Brainy Pup, the identical twins Freddy and Ferdy Fox, the identical twins Reggie and Rex Rabbit, and Ming the dragon. The kindly Wise Old Goat also lives in Nutwood, and helps Rupert in some of his adventures. One of the most unusual and evocative characters is Raggety, a woodland troll-creature made from twigs, who is often very grumpy and annoying. In the 2006 television revival of the series, Raggety has been transformed into a friendly elf with broken English. There is also a recurring country Police Officer who is an adult dog named PC Growler. [4] But in 1973, after a dozen copies of the brown-faced annual had been printed, the newspaper's editor stopped the presses and changed the cover so Rupert had a white face - without consulting illustrator Bestall.

The 1973 book is one of only 12 printed that year showing the much-loved children's character with a brown face on the cover - making it ultra rare and causing a stir among collectors across the world, ahead of the auction at Dominic Winter auctioneers in South Cerney. To auctioneer and expert Chris Albury's knowledge, only four of these have ever come to light - making this lot up for auction at Dominic Winter, as he says, "the holy grail of any Rupert collection".Stories: Bestall’s final years as the primary illustrator for the annuals saw stories such as “Rupert and the Hazelnut Pie,”“Rupert and the Whirlwind,” and “Rupert and the Sky Ship.” In 1935 the mantle of Rupert artist and storyteller was taken over by Alfred Bestall, and the first annual was produced in 1936 The New Adventures of Rupert. Bestall proved to be successful in the field of children’s literature and worked on Rupert stories and artwork into his 90s. Bestall’s work can be seen up until the 1973 Annual. Since then various other artists and writers have continued the series, which still runs to this day – Alex Cubie (1974-1977), John Harold (1978-2007) and Stuart Trotter from 2008. When Bestall realised the change had been made, he was incensed at not being consulted, left in protest and never drew another cover for a Rupert annual.

In 1991, Rupert Bear featured in an animated television series with 65 episodes and five seasons (13 per season) produced by Nelvana (Canada), Ellipse (France) and Television South (TVS) for the first season (13 episodes), with Scottish TV taking over control from season 2 when Television South lost its ITV franchise. The show followed the style and tone Bestall established in the Rupert newspaper series, with many of the stories being almost direct adaptations of his or others' panel stories from the Daily Express.

Stories: Bestall continued to contribute his charming illustrations and imaginative stories during this period, creating classics like “Rupert and the Gremlin,”“Rupert and the Magic Whistle,” and “Rupert and the Glass Mountain.” Larkin, Colin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music (Firsted.). Virgin Books. p.276. ISBN 0-7535-0149-X.

Larratt, Shannon (22 May 2007). " "Rupert visits Coon Island" (!)". Shannon Larratt is Zentastic . Retrieved 25 January 2011. From 1941, the covers comprised a piece of "wrap-around" artwork and each annual from 1950 had endpapers of equally beautiful artwork. Origami was introduced to the annuals in 1946 and became a regular feature for many years. In 1960, magic painting pictures were introduced. These appeared until 1968.Stories: This first annual included several stories from the original Daily Express comic strip, such as “Rupert and the Wise Goat,”“Rupert and the Old Man of the Sea,” and “Rupert and the Little Woodman.” Brainwaves Limited of Basingstoke, Hampshire, produced a series of Rupert storybooks in 1991 (no author or artist credited): Rupert Bear Annuals have been a tradition in the UK since 1936. However, Rupert Bear was actually created by the English artist Mary Tourtel and first appeared in the Daily Express 16 years earlier on the 8th November 1920. In our guide we look at the early annuals, the rarest annuals, the most expensive annuals and more. Rupert Little Bear Library". Rupertannuals.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012 . Retrieved 11 June 2016. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link) Sheridan, Simon (2004). The A-Z of Classic Children's Television: From Alberto Frog to Zebedee. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. pp.32–35. ISBN 1903111277.