How involved were you in the animation?
"I think in terms of per screen minute, I've probably put as much time into the animated series as I did into the live action...the most important thing from my point of view is to be able to retain influence at every stage of the development of the character."
Were you surprised that Mr Bean was such an international success?
"I wasn't that surprised actually...I suppose I have always completely believed in Mr Bean in terms of his ability to entertain but perhaps that's just because I still find him an extremely amusing character."
Was it difficult to make the transition of the character from live action to cartoon?
"...we don't really have any lines, therefore the only way we can convey our comedy is through the way the pictures move and that is very tricky, it puts a huge burden on the animators to provide the comedy effectively and they met the challenge admirably."
How did the idea to do the animation come about?
"As a live action character he always had a cartoon-like quality and quite often when we were creating the original live action series... we [Atkinson and Robin Driscoll] always had a sort of cartoon visual in mind when discussing jokes."
How do you view the character after all this time?
"I have a huge faith and a huge liking of the character. I think he's fascinating and I still enjoy watching him and playing him. The essence of Mr Bean is that he's entirely selfish and self-centered and doesn't actually acknowledge the outside world."
How would you sum up Mr Bean's character?
"He's a peculiar combination of candid innocence and vindictiveness, a completely self-centered and yet rather sweet-natured character."
Meet the characters
Find out more about all your favourite Mr Bean characters Go »
Classic Clips
Watch all the classic clips from Mr Bean over the last 20 years and vote for your favourite ones! Go »