Paddington (film)

From the producer of Harry Potter, Paddington is a 2014 British family film based on the media of the same name and starring Ben Whishaw as the voice of the titular character and the sixteenth Paramount Animation film. A Peruvian bear with a passion for all things British, travels to London in search of a home. The film was produced by David Heyman and was released on November 28, 2014.

Plotedit | edit source
A grainy film shows a British explorer, Montgomery Clyde, who travels to Darkest Peru and discovers a new species of bear. Clyde befriends the two bears he finds and learns that they are able to grasp the English language. He leaves the country and goes back to his family in England, gifting his explorer's hat to the bear he has named Pastuzo.

Years later, a young bear in Darkest Peru announces that it is Marmalade Day. Him and his guardians, Lucy and Pastuzo, spend the day making marmalade. During the night, the three bears feel tremors and head towards an emergency bunker on the forest floor. Pastuzo doesn't make it, and the two other bears find his body in the morning, when the tremors have stopped. The younger bear is sent away on a cargo ship to London.

Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he begins to realize that city life is not all he had imagined - until he meets the kind Brown family, who read the label around his neck (which reads 'Please look after this bear. Thank you.') and offer him a temporary haven. It looks as though his luck has changed until this rarest of bears catches the eye of a museum taxidermist named Millicent Clyde.

Paddington, with the aid of Mrs. Mary Brown, searches for the explorer who came to Darkest Peru. He accidentally floods and sets fire to the Browns' house, and is criticised by Mr. Henry Brown, who thinks Paddington is a bad influence on Judy and Jonathan.

Paddington leaves in shame and looks for M. Clyde at every address that Mrs. Mary Brown could find. He finally finds Millicent Clyde, who says that the explorer was her father. She takes Paddington to the Natural History Museum, where she works as a taxidermist. She reveals to Paddington that she resents her father for not obtaining a specimen of Paddington's species when he went to Peru. Her family lost status and was relegated to a lower class in society. Millicent tells Paddington that she plans to correct her father's mistake and stuff Paddington so her father's discovery can be immortalised in the museum.

Mr. Curry warns the Browns of Millicent's plan, and they rush to the museum to save Paddington. They cause a power outage and help Paddington escape from Millicent's office. They meet on the roof where Millicent intercepts them. Paddington surrenders and asks for one last request - to eat a marmalade sandwich. Millicent grants his request and he throws the sandwich at Millicent, causing a flock of pigeons to fly at her and cause her to almost trip over the edge of the roof. Millicent regains her balance and prepares to tranquilize Paddington when Mrs. Bird, drunk on rum, bursts through a trapdoor which pushes Millicent off the roof. Hanging onto a flagpole far above the ground, Millicent is weaponless and defeated.

Paddington is welcomed into the Brown household as a new member of the family. Millicent is sentenced to community service at a petting zoo, her worst nightmare. Paddington writes to his Aunt Lucy, elated that he has finally found a home where he belongs.

Castedit | edit source

 * Ben Whishaw as Paddington Brown
 * Hugh Bonneville as Mr. Henry Brown
 * Sally Hawkins as Mrs. Mary Brown
 * Julie Walters as Mrs. Bird
 * Jim Broadbent as Mr. Gruber
 * Peter Capaldi as Mr. Curry
 * Madeleine Harris as Judy Brown
 * Samuel Joslin as Jonathan Brown
 * Tim Downie as Montgomery Clyde
 * Nicole Kidman as Millicent Clyde
 * Matt Lucas as Joe
 * Imelda Staunton as Aunt Lucy
 * Michael Gambon as Uncle Pastuzo

Productionedit | edit source
The film was first announced in September 2007, with David Heyman producing and Hamish McColl writing the screenplay. Further developments were not made until September 2013, when filming began and Heyman announced the casting of Colin Firth as Paddington. With a budget of €38.5 million ($50–55 million), Paddington is the most expensive film produced by the French production company StudioCanal. Principal photography and production began on 13 September 2013.

In June 2014, after principal photography had wrapped, Firth voluntarily dropped out of the film, after the studio decided his voice was not suitable for Paddington. The role was recast the following month, with Ben Whishaw signing on to voice the title role.

Paddington was created using a combination of computer-generated imagery (by the British company Framestore) and animatronics.

Triviaedit | edit source

 * The film adapts the stories 'Please Look After This Bear,' and 'A Bear In Hot Water.' The London Underground scene also references 'Paddington Goes Underground.' All three of these stories are from the book, A Bear Called Paddington.
 * The scene in which Paddington floods the bathroom, then Henry opens the door resulting in a wave going down the staircase is a reference to the 2011 film, Mr Popper's Penguins.
 * Colin Firth was originally set to voice the rule of Paddington, but was replaced by Ben Whishaw after his voice wasn't suitable for the marmalade loving bear.
 * This film marks the first and only appearance of Millicent Clyde to date.
 * The Brown family leaving Paddington alone in the house and Millicent sneaking in and attempting to capture Paddington, is a reference to the 1990 film, Home Alone, and could be a reference to the Fairytale, The Wolf and The Seven Little Kids.
 * The scene where Paddington escapes up the pipe from Millicent who tries to tranquilize and stuff him in the museum could possibly be a reference to the 1997 film, Mousehunt.
 * The scene where Paddington does his hard stare at Mr Brown is re-used in the TV series, His Dark Materials, where Lyra and Will are in the cinema watching a film.

Releaseedit | edit source
Paddington premiered in London on 24 November 2014.

The film was released on Blu-ray, DVD and streaming on 23 March 2015 in the UK, and on 28 April 2015 in the United States.