Mr Benn is a character created by David McKee who appears in several children's books, and an animated television series of the same name transmitted by the BBC in 1971 and 1972. Whether in a book, or on television,
Mr Benn's adventures take on a similar pattern.
Mr Benn, a businessman wearing a black suit and bowler hat, visits a fancy-dress shop where he is invited by the moustachioed, fez-wearing shopkeeper to try on a particular outfit. He leaves the shop through a magic door at the back of the changing room and enters a world appropriate to his costume, where he has an adventure (which usually contains a moral) before the shopkeeper re-appears, and the story comes to an end.
Mr Benn returns to his normal life as a businessman, but is left with a small souvenir of his magical adventure.
Mr Benn and the Magic ShopkeeperAdditionally, scenes before and after his adventure usually have some connection to it, such as the games the children are playing in the street as he passes.
Mr Benn Happy Birthday The character
Mr Benn was based on a picture taken by photographer Micaela Mitchell called The Business Man. This is a constant theme through the whole series.
Mr Benn lives in London at 52 Festive Road, which was inspired by Festing Road in Putney where David McKee used to live. Many posters and t-shirts have been made with the image of the shopkeeper or
Mr Benn, or bearing the famous phrase: "As if by magic, the Shopkeeper appeared...". Recent toys made include beanies of the shopkeeper and Mr Benn in his suit, and dressed as a spaceman and wizard.
