Paddington (2014)

[Brian G Turner]

I really didn't want to watch this film. The trailer made it look like it was all twee sentimentality about rich Londoners.

However, my sister-in-law wanted it for her birthday, and passed it over for our kids to watch. So we made it our Sunday lunch viewing.

And I was very pleasantly surprised - this is a fast-paced story, full of off-beat gags.

If you haven't watched it already, this is a very good all-round family entertainment film, with some interesting supporting actors.

Not sure how well it'll travel across the pond, though...

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I'm looking forward to seeing Paddington -- I have all the books, from when I was a kid, and I used to read them over and over. Did they transfer well to the big screen?

 

[Brian G Turner]

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the books, I just remember the old animated series. It's a somewhat modern interpretation, that I suspect aims to keep to the spirit of the originals.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Shame, shame. Go forth and read the books, immediately!

(I didn't know there was an animated series -- perhaps it wasn't here.)

 

[Vladd67]

Dusty you will find it here
http://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLWJa48pm3noa-CVm1nZMEZUHcQTH795Pm&v=hdVPymvBCm8

 

[HareBrain]

Right, the thread's already been derailed to the old series, there's no point fighting it, let's talk about that.

1. How come I remember lyrics to the theme? (Though not enough to Google them successfully.) Was there a single released?

2. Have there been any more examples of that combination of animation techniques since? (Or before?) It's brilliant.

3. Wasn't Michael Hordern great? I imagine it was Paddington that got him his knighthood.

4. It never struck me before that Mr Brown doesn't ask the bear for his name, but just gives him one himself. How very odd.

 

[The Ace]

No, HB, Paddington's real name is only pronounceable in Bear ("Mr Brown ! That was very rude.)

Fans have waited 60 years to see the brilliant books translated to the big screen, and this one thinks it was worth the wait (the series was constrained by its 5-minute format).

Mr Curry is still a complete tw*t, Mr Gruber is still the very nice antique dealer (although the hint of his back-story probably wouldn't have gone down well with the books' intended audience, it adds substance to his character in the film), and Nicole Kidman's gloriously OTT villain really makes the piece.

I always had my suspicions about Mrs Bird, and I loved the Brown's mural.

Oh, and there's a link to some cartoon with American accents - it's not worth the effort.

 

[The Ace]

Neil Curry (hopefully no relation) gives his take;

 

[Delfilm]

I loved the animated series and have the DVD box set including the BAFTA winning Singin' In The Rain special. I too was very worried about the feature film version. It seemed to be in production for ages and raised suspicion. However when I took my daughter to see it I was pleasantly surprised. It will never be a classic but it worked - which is quite an achievement bearing in mind what has come before it. A friend of mine in VFX later revealed that they had a lot of problems in post, partly due to a poorly planned shoot in the opening scenes. I think it could have very easily been a disaster.