Rupert the Bear
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Rupert the Bear is a cartoon character created by Mary Tourtel in the 1920s.
He is a white-furred bear who wears yellow checked trousers and scarf and a red jersey. He lives in the town of Nutwood.
Rupert has several friends, Bill Badger, Algy Pug and Edward Trunk (an elephant) being the most enduring.
Mary Tourtel's last Rupert story was 'Rupert and Bill's Seaside Holiday' published in 1935.
Mary Tourtel was replaced by Alfred Bestall (born 1892) who was previously an illustrator for Punch magazine.
Bestall improved the stories and plots of Rupert but more importantly he created the most beautifully crafted illustrations in the Rupert Annuals. Bestall drew Rupert until 1973 when he retired.
Much of the landscape in Rupert is inspired by the Snowdonia landscape of North Wales.
He appears each day in the Daily Express, and the new adventures are illustrated by John Harrold.
Television Series
In 1993, Rupert the Bear had finally got its own television series, with 39 episodes produced by Ellipse (France), and Nelvana (Canada).
In the mid-1990s, there were 26 more episodes of the show, which were produced by the Canadian company Nelvana Enterprises, Inc.
The television series went out of production after 65 episodes were made.