The studio behind the Paddington movies it taking a podcast spoof to court, with StudioCanal suing Spitting Image creators Avalon for copyright infringement.
The Paddington movie trilogy has been a huge money-spinner for StudioCanal, with Paddington, Paddington 2, and Paddington in Peru grossing nearly $600 million worldwide.
So it’s no surprise that the film company is fiercely protective of their beloved bear, who was created by author Michael Bond in the 1950s, then made the leap from page to TV screen in the 1970s, before becoming a movie star in 2014.
But thanks to a podcast parody that appeared on YouTube over the summer, we’ve now got the unedifying prospect of Paddington vs Paddington in court…
StudioCanal is suing Spitting Image over Paddington spoof
According to Deadline, “StudioCanal, which produces the Paddington movies, and Paddington Bear’s rights holders are suing Avalon after the British producer’s Spitting Image series on YouTube depicted Paddington as a foul-mouthed podcast host.”
Spitting Image was a satirical staple of the 1980s, in which puppets parodied politicians and celebrities on a show that was broadcast on ITV on Sunday nights in the UK, where it was watched by up to 15 million people.
More recently Avalon has posted short-form Spitting Image sketches on YouTube, and the spoof in question (which can be viewed above) is a parody of ‘The Rest is Politics’ podcast, in which puppet versions of Prince Harry and Paddington Bear replace Alistair Campbell and Rory Stewart.
Titled ‘The Rest is Bulls*!t,’ the sketch has been received more than 500,000 views, and features a sweary Paddington claiming he played ‘Pablo Escobear’ in Narcos, and interviewing a puppet version of Elon Musk.
While the specifics of the lawsuit have not been revealed, the complaint is for “copyright and design right concerns,” and has been filed in the UK’s High Court.
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