THE TV TEDDY, THE BEST KNOWN FIGURE IN PUBLIC MEDIA, APPEARS ON A POSTAGE STAMP

The TV Teddy has expanded the joint stamp series of Magyar Posta and the Media Services Support and Trust Fund (MTVA) called Cartoon and Fairy Tale Heroes. Thanks to several years of cooperation, after the favourite characters of generations of children – Süsü the Dragon; Frakk the Terror of Cats; Kukori and Kotkoda; and Mazsola and Tádé –, the iconic figure from Bedtime Story is now featured on a special souvenir sheet.

8 June 2023

The TV Teddy, the teeth-cleaning, gargling, splashing, story-watching brown bear beloved by many, came into being 60 years ago based on the idea of Ágnes Bálint, the József Attila Prize-winning writer, editor and dramaturg, who created the genre of television story telling in Hungary. The current form of the protagonist of the opening and closing puppet sequence of Bedtime Story was created in 1982 by the puppet designer Ottó Foky. The sky really is the limit for the popularity of this character, who has travelled into space with the Hungarian cosmonaut Bertalan Farkas and will be travelling the world in the form of a postage stamp from 8 June.

“The TV Teddy is a defining figure of Hungarian television. The personality of the lovable bear binds generations and is an unforgettable part of childhood for many people,” said the CEO of the MTVA. Dániel Papp stressed that, like the characters appearing on the previous souvenir sheets, the TV Teddy is more than just a puppet: the bear is part of Hungarian television culture, and this is the heritage that public media is committed to continuing. “The Cartoon and Fairy Tale Heroes stamp series honours the traditions of Hungarian puppet filmmaking,” he added.

“Our mission is to commemorate on stamps the values important to Hungarian society, the memories and events of our past, and in this way to convey them to a wide social audience. For decades, the TV Teddy was part of the everyday life of Hungarian families and enjoyed enormous popularity, the bear’s photo being featured on toys and postcards of the time. The TV Teddy reminds us of the childhood of our grandparents and parents. Today, we have issued a special stamp of this character, and I hope that many people will buy it for their children or even for themselves as a keepsake,” said Sára Nemes Hegmanné, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Magyar Posta Zrt.

The souvenir sheet was designed by the graphic artist István Weisenburger and produced in 50,000 copies by Pénzjegynyomda Zrt. In the three denominations of the special souvenir sheet and in its frame as well as on the first day cover, the TV Teddy and Kasper are shown in characteristic situations. The main element in the imprint of the special postmark on the first day cover is the stylised portrait of the TV Teddy. Another special feature of the stamp is the QR code leading to the page which lists the titles published so far in the series and interesting facts about the tales presented and their creators.

Magyar Posta Zrt.