A Film Called 'Paddington'

It has been the most trying couple of weeks in regards to the weather - winter struck back with a vengeance and we have huge amounts of snow encircling the house. So were pleased last Saturday to head to the cinema to see the big screen adaptation of Paddington Bear. If you grew up in the UK in the 1970's and 1980's you are likely to have seen the popular television adaptation of this marmalade loving bear from deepest, darkest Peru, who winds up at Paddington train station in London.
It's considered a classic of British children's television, voiced perfectly by Michael Hordern. It followed the mis-adventures of Paddington as he adapts to his new life and family in the modern world, always with a few marmalade sandwiches never far away.

So we were all looking forward to the film, and Charlie was coming for his first cinema adventure too - though we half expected one of us would be leaving to go for a walk when his limited patience ran out! This was also my first trip to the cinema with Raf - we've had some close calls before but it never happened for one reason or another. It was also at a cinema where they serve you food at your seat - so we loaded up with chips, popcorn and drinks.

The film was excellent, funny in a silly British way and also made us feel homesick. To our great surprise Charlie watched it intently throughout, and only towards the end when the food was finished did he become a bit restless. Raf enjoyed every minute especially when Paddington put his head down the toilet and used someones toothbrush to clean out his ears. It was a relief, despite some changes to update the story that the film was a great family film and did not dispense with the spirit of Michael Bond's original stories.

It was a lovely afternoon, and we hope to see many more films over the coming years with the kids - even a Paddington sequel wouldn't be a bad thing (perhaps)!