Christmas Traditions: We All Stand Together (1984)

In 1984 (forty years ago), Paul McCartney wrote the beautiful song 'We All Stand Together'. Together with The Frog Chorus, Paul sang the song that is regularly heard during the winter holidays. This song is also in the Top 2000 this year at number 1189. Do you know the story of this song with the famous Rupert Bear (better known to us as Bruintje Beer)?

We All Stand Together (1984)

Rupert Bear

Rupert Bear is an English children's comic character created by Herbert Tourtel and illustrated by his wife, the artist Mary Tourtel, who first appeared in the newspaper Daily Express on November 8, 1920. Rupert's original goal was to help the newspaper sell better than the rival Daily Mail and Daily Mirror. In 1935, the stories were taken over by Alfred Bestall, who had previously been an illustrator for Punch and magazines. Bestall proved successful in the field of children's literature and worked on Rupert's stories and artwork well into his nineties. More recently, various other artists and writers have continued the series. Approximately 50 million copies have been sold worldwide.

The comic strip is published daily in the Daily Express, many of whose stories are later printed in books, and a Rupert yearbook has also been released every year since 1936. Rupert Bear is part of children's culture in the United Kingdom and appears in four TV shows.

England (2020): PP 100 years Rupert Bear (1920 – 2020), back cover. Text about Rupert in Holland at the bottom.

Characters and story

Rupert is a bear who lives with his parents in a house in Nutwood, a fictional idyllic English village. He is depicted wearing a red sweater and bright yellow checkered trousers, with a matching yellow scarf. Originally depicted as a brown bear, his color soon changed to white to save on printing costs, although he remained brown on the covers of the yearbooks.

Engeland (1994): Greetings – Messages booklet.

Most other characters in the series are also anthropomorphic animals. They are all scaled to be approximately the same size as Rupert, regardless of species. Rupert’s animal friends are usually called his “buddies” or “pals.” Aside from his best friend Bill Badger, some of his most enduring friends are an elephant (Edward Trunk), a mouse (Willie), Pong-Ping the Pekingese, Algy Pug (who is actually older than Rupert), 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 friendly Wise Old Goat also lives in Nutwood and helps Rupert on some of his adventures. One of the most unusual and evocative characters is Raggety, a forest troll creature made of twigs, who is often very grumpy and annoying.

Guernsey (2020): 100 years of Rupert Bear (1920 – 2020)

In the 2006 television revival of the series, Raggety was transformed into a friendly elf with broken English. There is also a recurring country police officer who is an adult dog named PC Growler. There are also a few human characters in the stories, such as the Professor (who lives in a castle with his servant, Bodkin), Tiger Lily (a Chinese girl), her father “the Wizard”, and various less common characters such as Sailor Sam, Gaffer Jarge, Captain Binnacle, the Wise Man of Um (who is seen traveling in a magical upside-down umbrella), and Rollo, the gypsy boy. There is also a recurring Merboy. During his time as Rupert writer, Alfred Bestall added even more characters, such as the guides Beryl, Pauline, and Janet, with Beryl’s cat, Dinky. These characters were based on guides from Bestall’s own church who asked him in late 1947 if they could have their own adventure with Rupert. They are still part of the comic series.

The series often features fantastic and magical adventures in faraway lands. Each story begins in Nutwood, where Rupert usually sets out to run a quick errand for his mother or visit a friend, which then develops into an adventure to an exotic place such as King Frost's Castle, the Kingdom of the Birds, underground, or to the bottom of the sea. Sometimes, one of the Professor's inventions opens the door to one of Rupert's adventures. At the end of the story, Rupert returns to Nutwood, where everything is safe and sound, and where his parents seem completely optimistic about his adventures.