Paddington Pop-Up London, This Season’s Most Exciting Gift
My daughter and I were guests of Harper Collins, publisher of Paddington Pop-Up London, to a press premier of Paddington 2. Having endured a slew of mediocre children’s films where I had to restrain myself from taking out my phone to browse the papers, I accepted the invitation with a bit of reluctance. Paddington 2 is the farthest thing from mediocre - this is a visually gratifying film with an interesting plot, strong characters and hilarious dialogue. Apologies to all in attendance at the premier, that was my daughter and I laughing our heads off at the back of the cinema.
The film begins with a portrayal of Paddington’s established life with his Notting Hill neighbours. Hugh Grant quickly enters as the colourful villain Phoenix Buchanan, a washed up actor whose insatiable narcissism is a good part of the humour in the film. Jim Broadbent of Gruber’s Antique Store (which is Alices’ Antique Shop on Portobello Road) is in procession of a beautiful pop-up book that he shows to Paddington but it is soon stolen and Paddington is wrongly accused! We come to learn that the pop up book contains clues to where a secret treasure is hidden. I won’t give too much away, but should you be considering going to see Paddington 2, it is worth the effort. You and the children will thoroughly enjoy yourselves.
The film made such a strong impact on us I got to thinking about my nieces and nephews who will also be enjoying the film in the coming weeks and what I could get them to tie into the film for Christmas.
Harper Collins has published a beautiful pop-up book, Paddington Pop-up London, of great London landmarks that ties in perfectly with the film, some of the pages are nearly identical to those in the film. The detail in the pages is just enchanting.
One can easily become engrossed investigating the engineering and the minuscule effects on each page. The book would make an excellent seasonal gift for young children who might want to relive some of the magic of Paddington 2.
