The Paddington Bear Experience: Unusual rule behind the London attraction's magic
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IN LONDON
From concerts to social catchups to even just a relatively attractive sunset, there's not a lot we don't feel compelled to capture on our phones.
But for the tens of thousands of people who enter the immersive world of Paddington Bear in the heart of London, it's as though they're back in the pre-screen era.
The Paddington Bear Experience, which just celebrated its first birthday, takes visitors into a multi-sensory adventure through a series of rooms, all inspired by locations within the original stories.
It's huge, and colourful, and fun – exactly the kind of place you'd usually be snapping endless pictures.
But a huge part of the magic is the utter lack of screens – a policy forewarned on signs from the moment you board the 'Paddington Station train'.
The Experience is inspired by the beloved franchise. Picture: Supplied
'You're immersing yourself in it – for that [hour], you're just there and you're just living it. You're part of Paddington's world and you are a part of that experience,' Nathan Brine, the Path Entertainment Group producer behind the Experience, told news.com.au.
'What's lovely is when people actually say, 'you know what? I was there, and I wasn't there through a screen'. Because in truth, if you want to watch that on the animated series or the films, you can do that at home.
'This is about being there, and being visceral and being able to touch everything and be involved in everything.'
Phones are put away during the charming, actor-led immersive adventure. Photo: Alex Brenner
Taking my exuberant four-year-old Paddington-obsessed son through the immersive, actor-led adventure, I myself quickly lost the urge to pull out my phone, as most parents are usually programmed to do during moments of excitement and joy.
Instead, the pair of us just got swept up into the Brown's home in Windsor Gardens, Peru, and all the extraordinarily-detailed bits in between – a rare break from technological connection.
Crafting the Experience to pay due tribute to the beloved franchise, first created by author Michael Brown in 1958, was no small feat – but with the help of a 'huge volume' of props from the films, loaned by Studio Canal, it basically feels like you're visiting the real Bear and his pals.
The iconic home of the Brown family, featuring the painted tree snaking up the staircase wall, is where most of them ended up. Some pieces from the film sets though, according to Brine, were simply too valuable to borrow.
'[Things that] cannot be touched, cannot be broken, basically need to be insured for a lot of money … some of those are like, 'Okay, you keep holding on to them',' he told news.com.au with a laugh.
A sneak peek into the section that takes visitors into Darkest Peru, Paddington's birthplace. Picture: Alex Brenner
Six years in the making, the effort behind the Experience is evident around every corner. Whether a diehard or medium fan, or even just remotely interested in Paddington Bear and its cultural significance in the UK, it's impossible not to smile at the charming curation of his world at every turn.
Finding the exact right location for it, though, was initially quite a challenge, but it ended up nestled along the Thames in the tourist hotspot which also hosts The London Eye, Shrek's Adventure and the London Dungeon.
'It was a bit of a crazy space, but we walked out of what is now Mr Gruber's antique shop, and out onto the South Bank and looked directly at Big Ben and were like, 'this feels weirdly familiar',' Brine recalled.
'And then we revisited the [Paddington] film posters and one of them is Paddington sat on that exact wall outside our entrance, with Big Ben behind. So it felt a little bit like destiny, like this is where he should be.'
* The writer was a guest of The Paddington Bear Experience.
Originally published as The Paddington Bear Experience: Unusual rule behind the London attraction's magic
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