It’s something of a cliché to say that a film is good for the whole family, but every now and then one comes along that actually fills that bill. Hugo is one. Toy Story is another. Paddington, a British film based on the character Paddington Bear created by Michael Bond, is right at home in their august company. The film offers a good-hearted story with enough silly pleasures to please children, and sufficient good spirits and innocent fun to charm adults as well. There are even some highbrow jokes for those sharp enough to catch them, and well-done special effects that complement rather than overwhelm the story.
In case you’re not familiar with the children’s books in which Paddington Bear first appeared, here’s a quick recap. Paddington is one of a race of intelligent and anthropomorphized bears from “darkest Peru”; here one must note that this term, used repeatedly in the film, is used to emphasize that Paddington’s understanding of British culture is founded in the Victorian era, whose racial politics are far outmoded from the present day. Following an earthquake that destroys his home, he ventures to London — Paddington Station, to be specific — where he is taken in, at first somewhat reluctantly, by the Brown family.
Paddington, animated by voiced by Ben Whishaw and animated by the British effects house Framestore, is the star of the show, but he has an able supporting cast of humans, and the animation and live action is blended so well that you can easily forget that he’s not real. As is often the case in children’s films, the human characters are all types, but not obnoxiously so.
Mr. Brown (Hugh Bonneville) wants everything just so, and has no place in his well-ordered world for a disruptive presence like Paddington. Mrs. Brown (Sally Hawkins), on the other hand, is ruled by her heart rather than her head, and insists that they lend a helping hand to a bear in need.
These attitudes are reversed in the Brown children: the somewhat older Judy (Madeleine Harris) is only concerned with what’s cool, and doesn’t think a friendship with a bear will win her any popularity points at school, while the younger Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) is immediately charmed both by Paddington himself and by all the disorder he brings to their rather stuffy household. Their housekeeper, Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters) is on the side of the angels, although she’s also smart enough to know when to keep her mouth shut.
Tim Downie has only a few minutes of screen time as the eccentric explorer Montgomery Clyde, during which he must provide backstory for Paddington’s hat, knowledge of London, and fondness for marmalade, but he manages it all while also providing a sharp characterization. Among the voices for animated characters, Imelda Staunton and Michael Gambon show a similar talent for creating a memorable characterization in a short time as the voices of Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pastuzo. The main antagonist in the story is Millicent Clyde (Nicole Kidman), a taxidermist whose over-the-top performance seems to be channeling Cruella de Vil. Clyde schemes to capture Paddington and stuff him for display in the Natural History Museum. Lending a helping hand, while all the time hoping to worm his way into her affections, is the Browns’ curmudgeonly neighbor Mr. Curry (Peter Capaldi).
The ruling assumption in Paddington is that, with one key exception, no one ever perceives to him as a bear. Instead, they perceive him as they might a human who doesn’t quite fit into the dominant social order; perhaps a beggar or a tramp, or an undocumented immigrant. Some people thus want nothing to do with him, or don’t even seem to perceive his existence, while others are willing to offer temporary shelter or a bite to eat, no questions asked. Director Paul King does not harp on this theme, fortunately, but it’s always there in the background as he presents London as a welcoming place with a few bad players within it.
Paddington is crammed full of delights. The sight of Hugh Bonneville (the patriarch from Downton Abbey, among other things) passing as a charwoman is worth the price of admission by itself. The film also has ample slapstick sequences (co-writer Hamish McColl also wrote the screenplays for Mr. Bean’s Holiday and Johnny English Reborn), one involving bathtub surfing down a staircase, to keep the kids’ attention focused on the screen. Throughout, the jokes come fast and furious, so if one doesn’t land, you hardly have time to notice, and a lively soundtrack featuring lots of calypso both keeps things moving and underlines the story’s message of diversity and tolerance.
The extras package on the disc is skimpy, although perhaps predictably so for a new release of an extremely popular movie. The extras on the DVD include a series of featurettes on the human characters (two minutes), the eponymous bear (two minutes), adapting the books (three minutes), a sing-along music video of “Shine” (1:30), and a making-of video about the song and music video featuring Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams (four minutes).