I'm not sure if it's a generational thing or not but Paddington Bear was one of the first stories read to kids since 1958 when it was first published. The well mannered, sharp dressed teddy bear come to life sat just next to Curious George on countless children's bookshelves. With that in mind I suppose it was kind of a given that there would be a big-screen adaptation, actually I'm kind of surprised it took this long. The film, which comes out December 12th, stars Colin Firth and, of course, that sharp dressed little ball of fur. The thing is, and I may be fuzzy in my recollections of Mr. Bear, this movie doesn't resemble at all the Paddington Bear I remember. First, he's an actual bear...I could be wrong but I always assumed he was a teddy bear. Second, there's no sign of his signature blue jacket anywhere, obviously this could come in later. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, he doesn't appear to talk, at least not in the trailer. Just a series of grunts and silly situations...you can't have Paddington without his overly polite British accesnt. Still, I'm sure they have their ducks in a row and all of these qualms will undoubtedly be cleared up in the next trailer. At a minimum we can surely expect a harmless family romp.
