The London startup Yoto is doing brisk business, producing screen-free devices for children that allow them to listen to audiobooks and music. According to reports, Yoto nearly doubled its sales last year and is expected to become profitable this year. The story of Yoto and that of Paul McCartney cannot be separated, as the startup is backed by the former Beatle and others, like Mark Zuckerberg.

Yoto comes up with cards that can be inserted into its devices — Yoto Player and Yoto Mini — to listen to classics like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, along with music by Spice Girls, Elton John, the Beatles, and Paul McCartney. ‘Say Hello to Paul McCartney’ is an interesting card for many reasons.

The year 1984 was not the best of times for Paul McCartney. It had its good moments, like the rise of the late 1983 hit Say Say Say with Michael Jackson, and also Pipes of Peace (also from 1983).

But the rest of the year was forgettable. He and his wife, the late Linda McCartney, were in Barbados on holiday when, based on a tip-off, their villa was raided by the local police, and some marijuana was found on January 16, 1984. The couple had to cut short their vacation.

File picture of Paul McCartney reading a Rupert Bear comic book

If that wasn’t enough, his film project, Give My Regards to Broad Street, was a failure… in the US. In Britain, the story was slightly different because of the film accompanying the production. The 13-minute animated short film Rupert and the Frog Song — directed by Geoff Dunbar — featured the beloved British comic strip character (created by Mary Tourtel) that was popular since the 1920s. Rupert is a good-spirited bear.

Paul loved Rupert Bear since childhood. He bought the film rights to the character in 1970.

“I had wanted to make a Rupert feature film for a while but didn’t realise what a difficult task it actually was. I remember telling John Lennon about it and he encouraged me to have a go, which was great, but you need more than that to make a film. There were so many different things to think about, things like securing the rights. It was all too much. Eventually, I had the idea to make a short film with an animator I admired, Geoff Dunbar,” McCartney said.

In August 1980, Paul had demos for a song called We All Stand Together (which is part of the soundtrack) and there were numerous vocal overdubs. The main recording took place at George Martin’s AIR Studios, and it’s a brilliant arrangement. On the B-side was the humming version of the song.

The single was released in the UK in November 1984, credited to Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus. Children loved it, and it reached number three on the charts.

The film was fully restored in 4K a few years ago. It saw Paul voice the character of Rupert and featured the voices of the beloved British TV icons June Whitfield (as Rupert’s mother) and Windsor Davies (Father Frog). Released simultaneously with We All Stand Together, the film went on to become the biggest-selling video of 1985 in the UK earning Paul a Grammy nomination in the process, as well as seeing him win a revered Ivor Novello Award for Best Film Soundtrack and picking up a BAFTA for Best Animated Short Film.

The song was issued again in 2020 to celebrate Rupert’s hundredth birthday. A more recent appearance of the song was on ‘Say Hello to Paul McCartney’. It’s in the shape of a unique card and the song is accompanied by many other beautiful tracks, like Grandude Theme, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Nandude Theme.

The release came in the form of a card, meant to be played on the portable Yoto audio device. But you don’t need the player to listen to the songs. You can tap it on your phone to hear it through the Yoto app.