Paddington Trailer (2015)

Trailer for Paddington.

From the beloved novels by Michael Bond and producer David Heyman (Harry Potter), Paddington tells the story of the comic misadventures of a young Peruvian bear (voiced by Firth) who travels to the city in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone, he begins to realize that city life is not all he had imagined - until he meets the kindly Brown family who read the label around his neck that says "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.

Playing the main villain of the film, Nicole Kidman learned knife throwing and twirling for her role. Unfortunately, her tricks were deemed too frightening and intense for a kids movie, so the scenes were cut.

Hugh Bonneville was wary of taking a role in the film because he "didn't want his childhood being messed with."

Original Paddington creator and author Michael Bond also had reservations about a movie being made, but was convinced after watching test footage. Bond's daughter later added that she thought the film got it "absolutely right."

Colin Firth was originally cast as the voice of Paddington, however, he departed the project after both he and director Paul King felt he wasn't the right fit. He was replaced by Ben Whishaw.

Emma Thompson did final polishing on the Paddington script, but is not listed as a scriptwriter. Rather, she receives a general thanks in the end credits of the movie.

When I first heard a Paddington movie was in the works, I was excited. Then I saw the first poster for the movie, and I was horrified by the sight of the bear. This was not the bear of my childhood. He was too animated, to bright, too....not right.

All that changed however, as more footage of the film became available. Many people, including myself, have grown up reading Paddington stories and watching the stop-motion and hand drawn TV series, and because Paddington is such a national treasure, we don't take kindly to him being altered in any way.

However, it seems Paul King has done the impossible; that is to say he's delivered a movie which successfully reinvigorates the much loved bear and ingratiates himself with audiences old and new. Paddington is a truly delightful movie, from start to finish. It's not at all as I was expecting and in fact, what makes it so great is that the film is not afraid to scare kids, or upset them.

That sounds bad, but it's really not. Think back to films like Goonies, Labyrinth, or E.T. These were marketed as kids movies but they weren't afraid to deliver adult themes of loss, terror, or fear. It makes a film that much more enjoyable both for kids, who are then even more satisfied by the inevitable happy ending, and adults, who appreciate a good piece of story telling.

As you can imagine, the Paddington trailer is only a hint at the many, many mishaps that befall Paddington throughout the film. You will laugh, you will cry, you will empathize with parents and kids and you will fall in love with an orphan bear, all the way from darkest Peru.