Paddington Bear Given British Passport

Paddington Bear, one of Peru's most famous exports, has been granted a British passport.

Producer Rob Silva revealed the United Kingdom's Home Office had issued the document to the fictional character after the production team made a request to use one in the latest movie, Paddington in Peru.

"We wrote to the Home Office asking if we could get a replica, and they actually issued Paddington with an official passport – there's only one of these," Silva told the U.K.'s Radio Times.

He added: "You wouldn't think the Home Office would have a sense of humor, but under official observations, they've just listed him as 'Bear'."

The passport, which includes a photo of Paddington with his face pressed up to the camera lens and his tongue out, displays the marmalade-loving bear's name as Paddington Brown, with Peru as his birthplace and June 25 as his birth date.

The latest installation of the live-action/animated adventure comedy film stars Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington, with Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Olivia Colman, and Antonio Banderas in supporting roles.

In the film, Paddington will travel to Peru with his adopted family, the Browns, after he is issued with a British passport to visit his Aunt Lucy, who is living at the Home for Retired Bears.

Paddington will travel to Peru to visit Aunt Lucy in the new film. The fictional bear was issued an official passport by the U.K. Home Office.

However, they discover that his aunt has gone missing, sparking a search that takes the group deep into the Amazon rainforest.

Whishaw told Radio Times that the passport wasn't needed during filming, as he completed the entire shoot in a central London studio underground.

"I never met Antonio [Banderas] or Olivia [Colman] for this film, but I hope I will at some point, because I watched their performances and enjoyed them so enormously. On Paddington 2, I never saw Hugh Grant, not once," he said.

"I would have loved to have gone to Peru and Colombia, but I didn't get to go. I was just in a basement in Soho the entire time."

He added that Paddington's voice is "not any different" to his own: "It's not like I'm putting on a voice, but it is somehow different."

Paddington tries to master the passport photo booth. The latest film stars Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington, alongside Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Olivia Colman, and Antonio Banderas. StudioCanal

The third film of the franchise, following 2014's Paddington and 2017's Paddington 2, is directed by Dougal Wilson, who admitted feeling "incredibly apprehensive" about taking on the project.

He called Paddington 2 one of the "greatest films of all time" and told the Radio Times: "I was very scared and very anxious."

"I'm under no illusion of how difficult it is to follow up those first two films, and obviously a third film is always very challenging. I really hope we don't let down the fans."

Although Paddington has been issued the passport, the Home Office has said that it is a specimen which cannot actually be used to travel.

The internationally beloved fictional character was created by British author Michael Bond and first appeared in the book A Bear Called Paddington, which was published in 1958.

The story chronicles the adventures of a small, orphaned bear journeying from Peru to the British capital of London.

Paddington in Peru is set to be released in the United States on January 17, 2025.