Paddington (film)
Paddington is a 2014 live-action animated comedy film written and directed by Paul King from a story by King and Hamish McColl and produced by David Heyman. Based on the stories of the character Paddington Bear created by Michael Bond, the film stars Ben Whishaw as the voice of the title character, with Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, and Nicole Kidman in live-action roles. The film tells the story of the eponymous character Paddington, an anthropomorphic bear who migrates from the jungles of Peru to the streets of London, where he is adopted by the Brown family. Kidman plays the role of a taxidermist, who attempts to add him to her collection.
A British and French venture produced by StudioCanal UK, TF1 Films Production, and Heyday Films, principal photography began in September 2013, before wrapping in June 2014. Colin Firth was originally set to voice the role of Paddington, before dropping out in post-production and being replaced by Whishaw.
The film was released in the United Kingdom on 28 November 2014 to critical acclaim and grossed $268 million worldwide on a €38.5 million budget. The film received two nominations at the British Academy Film Awards: Best British Film and Best Adapted Screenplay. A sequel, titled Paddington 2, was released on 10 November 2017, with King returning as director and screenwriter.
Plot
In the deep jungles of Darkest Peru, a British geographer discovers a previously unknown species of bear. He is about to shoot it to take back a specimen to the United Kingdom when a second bear playfully takes his gun away and saves his life by removing a deadly scorpion from his jacket. He learns that this family of bears is intelligent and can learn English, and that they have a deep appetite for marmalade, and names them Lucy and Pastuzo. As he departs, he throws his hat to Pastuzo and tells the bears that they are always welcome should they wish to go to London.40 years later, the two bears are living in harmony with their orphaned nephew, until an earthquake destroys their home, forcing them to seek shelter underground. Uncle Pastuzo fails to reach the shelter in time and is killed by a falling tree; his nephew finds his hat the next morning. Aunt Lucy encourages her nephew to go and find solace in London by stowing away on a cargo ship, while she moves into the Home for Retired Bears.
The young bear arrives in London and eventually reaches Paddington Station, where he meets the Brown family, who take him home temporarily and name him after the station they found him in. Henry Brown, the father and a devoted risk analyst, does not believe Paddington's story, and is adamant that Paddington stay only one night while they find a place for him to live permanently, but his wife Mary, an illustrator, and their two children, Jonathan and Judy, find him endearing, as does family relative and housekeeper Mrs. Bird.
Paddington thinks he can find a home with the explorer who found Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pastuzo, but does not know his name. Since there seems to be no word of his expedition anywhere on the Internet, Mary takes Paddington to Samuel Gruber, an antique shop owner who discovers that the hat bears the stamp of the Geographers' Guild, but the Guild says that they never sent a member to explore Darkest Peru. With the help of Henry, Paddington infiltrates the Guild's archive and discovers an expedition to Peru was undertaken by the explorer, whose name is Montgomery Clyde.
Meanwhile, the hateful museum taxidermist Millicent Clyde captures, kills, and stuffs exotic animals to house in the Natural History Museum. When she becomes aware of Paddington, she immediately sets out to hunt him down. The Brown family departs for the day, leaving Paddington home alone. Scheming with the Browns' nosy next-door neighbour, Mr. Curry, Millicent sneaks in and attempts to capture Paddington; he manages to defend himself, but inadvertently starts a fire in the kitchen in the process. Disbelieving Paddington's statement of Millicent's capture attempt, Henry states that they must take him to the authorities as soon as possible and Mary reluctantly agrees.
Feeling unwanted, Paddington leaves and attempts to track down Montgomery Clyde himself, using the London phone book to track the addresses of every "M. Clyde" in London. He eventually finds Millicent's house, and learns that Montgomery Clyde, Millicent's father, died a long time ago. Millicent resents her father for losing his job and membership of the Guild, after he refused to bring a valuable Peruvian bear specimen home, even though it would have made his family wealthy, and subsequently opened a petting zoo. Millicent is determined to succeed where her father failed, by capturing and stuffing a Peruvian bear so she can become rich and famous herself. She tranquilizes Paddington and prepares to stuff him, but when Mr. Curry discovers her true intentions, he informs the Brown family and they rush to save Paddington. They rescue him, and Paddington subdues Millicent by throwing a marmalade sandwich at her. This attracts a huge flock of pigeons, distracting her, before Mrs. Bird opens a roof hatch, pushing her off the roof and trapping her on a flagpole.
In the aftermath, the Browns allow Paddington to move in with their family. Millicent is arrested and subsequently sentenced to community service at the petting zoo her father opened. Paddington writes to Aunt Lucy, saying he is happy and has finally found a home. He is later seen enjoying a snowball fight with the Browns, and throws one at the camera before the film ends.
Cast
- Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington Bear
- Hugh Bonneville as Henry Brown
- Sally Hawkins as Mary Brown
- Madeleine Harris as Judy Brown
- Samuel Joslin as Jonathan Brown
- Julie Walters as Mrs. Bird
- Nicole Kidman as Millicent Clyde
- * Lottie Steer as Young Millicent
- Peter Capaldi as Mr. Curry
- Jim Broadbent as Samuel Gruber
- Imelda Staunton as the voice of Aunt Lucy
- Michael Gambon as the voice of Uncle Pastuzo
- Tim Downie as Montgomery Clyde
- Simon Farnaby as Barry
- Matt Lucas as Joe
- Matt King as Andre the Thief
- Madeleine Worrall as Agatha Clyde
- Geoffrey Palmer as the head geographer
- Michael Bond as the kindly gentleman
Production
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 and animatronics.
Soundtrack
Nick Urata composed the film's soundtrack. Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams were commissioned to write a song for the film's American release, which turned into "Shine".Release
Video game
A video game based on the film, titled Paddington: Adventures in London, was released on 11 August 2015 for Nintendo 3DS and is published by Humongous Entertainment through their Kids' Mania label.Home media
Paddington was released on Blu-ray, DVD and streaming on 23 March 2015 in the UK, and on 28 April 2015 in the United States.Reception
Classification
In November 2014 the British Board of Film Classification gave the film a PG certificate for its UK release and advised parents that the film contained "dangerous behaviour, mild threat, mild sex references mild bad language." Paul King, the film's director, told BBC reporter Tim Muffett: "I'm not surprised about that but I don't think it's a PG for sexiness. That I would find very odd." Paddington's creator, Michael Bond, said he was "totally amazed" at the BBFC's advice. After the film's distributor challenged the certification, the BBFC revised the wording of its parental guidance, replacing "mild sex references" with "innuendo." It also further qualified the "mild bad language" as "infrequent", saying it referred to "a single mumbled use of 'bloody'."Box office
Paddington was released on 28 November 2014 in the United Kingdom, where it took in $8 million on its opening weekend, and topped the box office for two weeks. It was StudioCanal's highest opening and the second-highest 2014 family film debut in the country behind The Lego Movie. For the week ending 9 December 2014 it topped the box office in France. For the week ending 24 December 2014 it topped the box office in Australia.The film was released in the United States by TWC-Dimension on 16 January 2015. The film opened to third place in its first weekend, earning $19.0 million, behind American Sniper and The Wedding Ringer, and closed with a total of $76.3 million.
It opened at no.1 at the Japan box office in January 2016 with $1.1 million and went on to gross $5.7 million.
Critical response
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes sampled 158 reviews and judged 97% of them to be positive, with an average rating of 7.84/10. The site states that "Paddington brings a beloved children's character into the 21st century without sacrificing his essential charm, delivering a family-friendly adventure as irresistibly cuddly as its star." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating generally favourable reviews. According to CinemaScore, audiences gave the film a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.Upon its UK release, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film four out of five stars, saying: "the new CGI-live-action Paddington Bear could easily have been another garish, cheapo Brit-movie. Instead, writer-director Paul King ... and co-writer Hamish McColl have created a charming and sweet-natured family film, full of wit and fun, skewed towards young children but cheekily speckled with sly gags pitched at the older audience." Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent called it a "film of considerable charm but one undermined by a very bitty and flimsy screenplay. Writer-director Paul King has more flair for comic set-pieces than he does for sustained narrative."
Indiewire said critics were "pleasantly surprised" and that the film was "hailed for its warm-heartedness and playful sense of humor ... and Whishaw's charming performance". Guy Lodge of Variety praised it for "honouring the everyday quirks of Bond's stories, while subtly updating their middle-class London milieu". Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, saying: "It's a relief to report that the final film is actually quite charming, thoughtful and as cuddly as a plush toy, albeit one with a few modern gizmos thrown in." Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club gave the film a B, saying: "If the film seems head-and-shoulders above the average effects-driven family-matinee flick, it's because it never gives the impression that it's trying to be anything more than good-natured and fun to watch." Jason Clark of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A-, saying: "A gloriously whimsical big-screen debut that's closer to the madcap spirit of the Muppets and the lovingly rendered style of a Wes Anderson film than to standard multiplex family fodder." Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film three out of four stars, saying: "Paddington's journey from South America to London is just droll enough for adults – qualifying as a gentle parable about xenophobia – and exuberant enough for the youngest viewers." Moira MacDonald of The Seattle Times gave the film three out of five stars, saying: "Paddington is, ultimately, about how a newcomer can become part of a family, and about how good manners and marmalade can get you out of any tricky situation – delightful messages, at any age." Bruce Demara of the Toronto Star gave the film three out of four stars, saying: "It's a relief to say that – as films based on fictional animals go – Paddington is better than merely bearable."
Barbara VanDenburgh of The Arizona Republic gave the film three and a half stars out of five, saying: "Paddington is a mostly smart update loaded with charm, and it preserves enough of the fuzzy feelings for purists to walk away with a smile." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film four out of five stars, saying: "An irresistible charmbomb. The in-jokes are verbal and visual, managing to reference themes as diverse as immigration and insider trading. It's all very droll and quietly, memorably dazzling." Sandie Angulo Chen of The Washington Post gave the film three out of four stars, saying: "Because of its adorable protagonist, laugh-out-loud gags and touching premise, Paddington succeeds in a way most CGI/live-action hybrids do not." Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review, saying: "Artfully and cleverly, the sweet spirit of that young bear from darkest Peru and his many London misadventures materializes brilliantly on screen in the very good hands of writer-director-conjurer Paul King."
Mary Houlihan of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying: "This is a charming film whose underlying message of tolerance and acceptance strikes a palpable chord in today's world – both for children and adults." Jocelyn Noveck of the Associated Press gave the film a positive review, saying: "For parents looking for a film that'll please them and their kids in equal measure, Paddington is—as Goldilocks would say in that other bear story—just right." Tom Long of The Detroit News gave the film a B+, saying: "Paddington is an absolute delight, visually inventive, thoroughly goofy and goosed by a mix of dry British wit and pratfall shenanigans."
Two years after the film’s release, in 2016, Empire magazine ranked Paddington 81st on their list of the 100 best British films, with their entry stating, “A great big hug of a movie, Paddington charmed the public and critics alike in one of the nicest surprises of 2014, adding itself to the canon of beloved Christmas movies.”