London Olympics burst into life with a humour-filled opening ceremony

The London Olympics burst into life on Friday with a humour-filled opening ceremony watched by 80,000 spectators and more than one billion TV viewers, says a report in Hindustan Times, adding that James Bond, David Beckham and even Mr Bean starred Friday as Britain welcomed the world to the Olympics in an eccentric opening ceremony

“Four years after Beijing's tightly choreographed spectacular wowed the world, Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle's "Isles of Wonder" show eschewed grandeur for a creative and chaotic approach packed with music and comedy,” says the report, adding that in front of about 80,000 VIPs and spectators, the Queen was depicted parachuting out of a helicopter with Bond actor Daniel Craig, Mr Bean played "Chariots of Fire" and children bounced on National Health Service beds. Soccer superstar Beckham was shown motorboating up the Thames holding the Olympic torch.

Meanwhile according to a report in The Times Of India, Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle said he had felt liberated rather than daunted by Beijing 2008's spectacular opening ceremony as his quirky but impressive show opened the London Games in style.  In front of 80,000 spectators and VIPs, women in smocks and bonnets shepherded sheep, geese and cows on landscaped grass in the "Isles of Wonder" vision dreamed up by Boyle as the ceremony got under way in a party atmosphere.

It featured jaw-dropping moments of drama and comic interludes, celebrating Britain's musical and cultural heritage and the cherished National Health Service. The "Slumdog Millionaire" director said it was impossible to do anything bigger than the show in Beijing, which stunned the world with its sheer scale.

"Beijing, in a way, was something that was great to follow. Up to Beijing you could look back and there's clearly an escalation. The shows get bigger and bigger and bigger, and you can't get bigger than Beijing. So that, in a way, kind of liberated us. We thought: 'Great. OK. Good. We'll try to do something different then'," Boyle said.

A DNA report says that the opening ceremony was fast, dynamic and on a huge scale, perhaps on such a big scale that some segments may have been hard to see, but to criticise too much would be nit-picking.

According to the report, Boyle said he had tried to reflect the values that "are honest and true", and nothing reflects that more than the British National Health service, which ensures everyone can receive free medical treatment no matter their class, wealth or status. A dance with nurses, who all work for the NHS reflected that wonderfully, while the "sick" children provided the stage to highlight children's literature.

A glimpse at some of the characters on view -- Lord Vordemort, the Queen of Hearts, Peter Pan, the Childcatcher and the savior of the hour, Mary Poppins, who descended in multitude to vanquish the bad guys gave just a glimpse of just how many of our loved personalities have come from these eyes.

Mr.Bean was also there, as was a homage to British cinema, British family life and a run through pop-culture. The final section of the ceremony celebrated digital communication and ran through some of the hits and TV shows of the 1960s, 70s and 80s up to the present.