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How ‘Paddington in Peru’ Harnessed the Power of Queen Elizabeth II, a First-Time Director and Olivia Colman for the Beloved Bear’s Big-Screen Comeback
Olivia Colman, Hugh Bonneville, director Dougal Wilson and more discuss honoring Paddington Bear's legacy in his new film.
As the title suggests, where the previous films in the live-action/CGI “Paddington” franchise — both from writer-director Paul King — followed the gentle-natured and naïvely curious bear as he settled in London with his adoptive family the Browns, in the threequel he’s heading back to his homeland (where, alongside Colman he meets fellow newbie Antonio Banderas). First dreamed up by the late author Michael Bond and partially inspired by the sight of refugee children arriving in the U.K. during WWII, the mishap-prone yet endlessly polite and kind-hearted furball (who also has a “hard stare” reserved for those that might not follow his own strict moral code) was already among the country’s most adored residents. With Paddington painstakingly created and animated in CGI by Framestore, voiced by Ben Whishaw and starring alongside a Who’s Who of U.K. acting royalty — including Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Imelda Staunton and Jim Broadbent — the film proved to be an unexpected phenomenon, praised for taking all the charming elements of the books and lovingly blending them into a mix of sweet-natured warmth and Charlie Chaplin-esque slapstick.
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