Paul King worked on the first Paddington film for five years. His wife said that the night after the premiere was the first time…

Paul King worked on the first Paddington film for five years. His wife said that the night after the premiere was the first time he had slept peacefully in three years. During development, a «Creepy Paddington» meme went viral after the first official image of the CGI bear was pasted into horror movie scenes. That was followed shortly after by the announcement that Colin Firth, who had already recorded much of his dialogue as Paddington, would no longer be voicing the character. Ben Whishaw replaced him. King described his creative touchstones for the films: «I tended to think of Wes Anderson’s formal angles for scenes where Paddington finds himself in very proper places where he feels out of place, and sweeping Max Ophuls tracks and pans when he feels more at home.» His greatest influence across both films was Frank Capra. He also wanted Paddington to be a love letter to London. «I also wanted to do a love letter to London, like Amelie felt like a love letter to Paris.» In the Ukrainian dub of the first film, Paddington is voiced by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, then a comedian, who was elected President of Ukraine in 2019. Film: The Paddington Series (2014, 2017, 2024)