Michael Bond’s Paddington Bear has been digitised, modernised and cinematiced, which brought the little Peruvian emigre to the big screen at the end of 2014. The Paddington movie hit the box office in time for Christmas 2014 and with Nicole Kidman, Hugh Bonneville (The Monuments Men), Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent (Postman Pat The Movie) and Peter Capaldi making up the main portion of the cast in the film adaptation, it has a lot of big names backing it up.
Release date
Paddington had a release date in the UK on the 28th November 2014, followed closely afterwards on the 25th December in the United States. It had clearly set itself out to be a holiday season family movie, but there was a big question at the time as to whether or not it could manage to live up to the expectations of fans of the original, or help to get a whole new generation into the marmalade loving caniform. It combines live action performances and a CGI re-imagining of Paddington Bear to create the movie, so it’s a pretty significant departure from the Peggy Fortnum inspired original book illustration and subsequent TV show.
For anyone that missed it at the cinema, it went on to have its Blu-ray, digital download and DVD release date in the UK on the 23rd March 2015, before hitting the small screen in the US on the 28th April 2015.
Storyline
We’re pretty certain that the majority of you will be more than familiar with the storyline of Paddington Bear and the movie opted to follow it pretty closely. Essentially, a little bear finds himself alone at Paddington Station having travelled to Britain from deepest, darkest Peru, following a disaster in the forests in his native land. A little lost and struggling with the craziness of the city, he’s on the verge of giving up when the Brown family spot him and the label around his neck, which reads, ‘Please look after this bear. Thank you.’
Taking pity on the little guy, they agree to give him temporary accommodation at their home in North London, only to find out a little too late that this bear should also come with a “trouble” warning, despite his best intentions to try so hard to get things right. This aspect of the movie inter-threads with the appearance of Millicent, a pretty wicked museum taxidermist, who takes a liking to the lustre of the furry Peruvian wanderer’s pelt.
Cast
The voice of Paddington Bear had, for a long time during development, been planned to be Colin Firth (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)), but he bowed out late in the production as he felt he couldn’t find the right voice. In the end it fell to fellow British actor Ben Wishaw (SPECTRE) to take up the furry mantel. He was supported by Hugh Bonneville as Mr Brown, Sally Hawkins (Godzilla (2014)) as Mrs Brown, Julia Waters as Mrs Bird – the Brown’s slightly batty housekeeper – Jim Broadbent as the friendly antique shop owner Mr Gruber and Peter Capaldi (Dr Who) as the Brown family’s ill-tempered next-door neighbour Mr Curry.
Adding to that, on the darker side of the tracks, is Matt King (Starlings) as Andre the thief and more importantly, Nicole Kidman (Aquaman), who plays the nefarious Millicent, the main antagonist in the Paddington movie. Considering the fact that she has predominantly played more friendly characters in her previous films, it was interesting to see how she adapts to being the baddie, in a role that has shades of Cruella De Vil and you can find out how she did with our review notes below.
Production
The movie has been directed by British writer and director, Paul King, who’s better known for his previous work on TV comedies, The Mighty Boosh, Garth Merenghi’s Darkplace and Come Fly With Me. Paddington is only his second movie, following up on his 2009 self-written debut, Bunny and the Bull, so while he’s got a lot of experience in the comedy department, which stood him in good stead for the film, there wasn’t a huge track record in terms of adapting a much loved kids TV show into a big screen movie.
However, perhaps that side of things came more from the film’s producer, David Heyman, who’s had a lot of success as the producer of all eight of the Harry Potter film series, as well as recently picking up an Academy Award nomination for his work on Gravity. The screenplay has been written by both Paul King and Hamish McColl, who’s previous work includes Johnny English Reborn, and Erik Wilson was the director of photography.
Review
You can check out the official trailer to the movie below, but it’s hard to take too much from it. If we’re honest, having initially seen a few clips, we weren’t entirely convinced by the look and feel of the CGI incarnation of Paddington Bear, or the speed of his mannerisms. However, the film went on to impress more than expected, delivering a fun family adventure that does well enough in terms of its visual style, computer animation and cast performances. Read our Paddington DVD review for more details.
 release date and movie details from the film section of Tuppence Magazine, including info about the bear's DVD, Blu-ray and digital download.){kind=link}