Banksy’s mural The Mild Mild West first appeared in Bristol in 1999.
The mural depicts a teddy bear throwing a Molotov cocktail toward three riot police officers. Banksy painted it on the side of a building in Bristol’s Stokes Croft area, a neighborhood closely associated with the city’s independent music and street-art culture.
The title echoes the song “The Wild Wild West” while changing “wild” to “mild,” creating an ironic contrast with the image of confrontation. The mural became one of Banksy’s best-known early Bristol works and helped cement his connection with the city.
Because the mural has been repainted and preserved over time, photographs from different periods can look slightly different. Its original appearance is generally dated to 1999, before Banksy became internationally famous through exhibitions, books and films.