the coffers this time around, King has been able
to ask a little more of the pixelated Paddington.
“When he’s window-cleaning and covered in suds
or walks into a window, that kind of thing can
happen now in a way that was prohibitively
difficult and expensive last time.” In truth, the
most serious upgrade to Paddington took place
relatively late in the day on the first film, when
Colin Firth stepped aside as the voice of the bear
to be replaced by the more youthful, optimistic
tones of Ben Whishaw. “Ben being on from the
off changed things enormously,” admits King.
“You can use him to bring it to life much earlier
in the process.” So King wasn’t tempted to go all
Hollywood and replace Whishaw with, say, The
Rock? “That’s Paddington 3. Or Paddington 7,
realistically, when we have run out of ideas.”THE MARMALADE
Paddington was possibly cinema’s most
heartwarming movie about substance abuse, with
the bear mainlining marmalade like there was no
tomorrow, or no such thing as type 2 diabetes.
That thread has been amped up. “It’s fair to say
that marmalade has a fairly key role in the film,”
says King. “There are also cakes and sticky buns.
Fans of sweet treats will be satisfied.” The streets
will be paved with yummy gold.THE MESSAGE
One of the sweetest surprises to come from an
already sweet surprise was Paddington’s wa r m
and welcome themes of inclusivity and tolerance
of others. With a clear pro-immigration stance
(Kidman’s character and Peter Capaldi’s nosy
neighbour, Mr Curry, were decidedly Nigel
Faragey), the film also functioned as a doe-eyed
love letter to London and the very concept of
Britishness itself. Much has changed, of course,
since the first film came out. “There’s been a
worldwide collective fail to learn the lessons of the
first Paddington,” notes King, ruefully. “Hopefully
those themes of kindness and seeing the good in
people and understanding are universal and, sadly,
universally needed throughout time.” So those
themes are reinforced this time around. “It’s
pretty much a long, intensive debate about the
merits of Article 50,” laughs King.THE BIG BANG
It is a truth universally acknowledged that you
can’t call yourself a sequel unless you have an
explosion. Preferably multiple explosions. Ideally
with the hero walking away from said explosion(s)
in slow motion. Sadly, this is one area on which
King didn’t get the memo, it seems. “There is no
explosion,” he says. “There’s an explosion of
joy?” Metaphors aren’t allowed. Sorry. “Oh
bugger. I’ll get on the phone to [VFX house]
Framestore now. We’ll get one in for you.” You’ve
heard of Bayhem — now prepare for Bearhem.PADDINGTON 2 IS IN CINEMAS FROM 21 DECEMBERClockwise from left:
Mary Brown (Sally
Hawkins) and Jonathan
Brown (Samuel Joslin)
find themselves in
a spot of bother on
a Pullman train; The
Brown Family: Henry
(Hugh Bonneville),
Jonathan, Mary,
housekeeper Mrs Bird
(Julie Walters) and Judy
(Madeleine Harris) are
hanging on the
telephone; Paddington
makes himself useful;
Director Paul King
shares a laugh with
Paddington creator, the
late Michael Bond, while
on set.