The film Miss Potter: movie about the life of Beatrix Potter

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< Up	Britain / Films / Miss Potter
The film Miss Potter, about the life of Beatrix Potter


Sections:	Introduction
	Miss Potter
	Peter Rabbit books
	Beatrix Potter's life
	Beatrix Potter attractions
	Herdwick sheep
	Further information
	Links

INTRODUCTION

This page provides an introduction to the film Miss Potter, and information related to the life and work of Beatrix Potter.

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MISS POTTER

The film "Miss Potter" presents the story of Beatrix Potter's life, concentrating in particular on her relationships with Millie and Norman Warne. It was released in the UK on 5 January 2007. It lasts about 90 minutes and is rated PG (parental guidance: this means that some scenes may be unsuitable for young children). It was filmed in London, Scotland, Whitehaven and the Lake District.

Miss Potter opened in the UK in January 2007

The film includes beautiful scenery from the Lake District

Beatrix Potter at Yew Tree Farm (Coniston)

Millie and Norman Warne

The film's director is the Australian Chris Noonan, who is best-known as the director of the film about a pig called "Babe".

The main actors and actresses are as follows:
Renée Zellweger - Beatrix Potter (as an adult): http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000250
(an American actress who starred as Bridget in "Bridget Jones' Diary", and won an Oscar for best supporting actress in "Climbing Cold Mountain")
Ewan McGregor - Norman Warne: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000191
(a Scottish actor whose other leading roles have included the young writer Christian in "Moulin Rouge!", and Renton in "Trainspotting")
Emily Watson - Millie Warne: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001833
(an English actress who played leading roles as Jacqueline du Pré in "Hilary and Jackie" and as Angela in "Angela's Ashes")

Miss Potter: The Novel
Author: Richard Maltby
Publisher: Frederick Warne
Date: November 2006

The Making of Miss Potter
Author: Garth Pearce
Publisher: Frederick Warne
Date: December 2006

The main song in the film is "When You Taught Me How to Dance", performed by Katie Melua (the music is by Nigel Westlake and Mike Batt, and the lyrics are by Mike Batt and Richard Maltby Junior). The words are shown below:

When You Taught Me How To Dance

When you taught me how to dance
Years ago, with misty eyes
Every step and silent glance
Every move, a sweet surprise
Someone must have taught you well
To beguile and to entrance
For that night you cast your spell
And you taught me how to dance

Like reflections in a lake
I recall what went before
As I give, I'll learn to take
And will be alone no more
Other lights may light my way
I may even find romance
But I won't forget that night
When you taught me how to dance

Cold winds blow
But on those hills you'll find me
And I know
You're walking right behind me

When you taught me how to dance
Years ago, with misty eyes
Every step and silent glance
Every move, a sweet surprise
Someone must have taught you well
To beguile and to entrance
For that night you cast your spell
And you taught me how to dance

Miss Potter [Soundtrack]
Artists: Original Soundtrack
Label: Dramatico
Date: 9 January 2007

PETER RABBIT BOOKS

In total 23 books by Beatrix Potter were published. The characters in the earlier books are perhaps the most famous, including Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and Jemima Puddle-Duck. The first two sentences from "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" are particularly well-known: "Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and there names were - Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter. They lived with their Mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big fir-tree."

If you click on the links beneath the book cover illustrations below you can see the details of the editions which were published in 2002, 100 years after the original Peter Rabbit book:

The Tale of Peter Rabbit
(1902)

The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
(1903)

The Tailor of Gloucester
(1903)

The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
(1904)

The Tale of Two Bad Mice
(1904)

The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle
(1905)

The Tale of the Pie
and the Patty-pan (1905)

The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
(1905)

The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit
(1906)

The Story of Miss Moppet
(1906)

The Tale of Tom Kitten
(1907)

The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
(1908)

The Tale of Samuel Whiskers,
or the Roly-poly Pudding (1908)

The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
(1909)

The Tale of Ginger and Pickles
(1909)

The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse
(1910)

The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes
(1911)

The Tale of Mr. Tod
(1912)

The Tale of Pigling Bland
(1913)

The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse
(1918)

The Tale of Little Pig Robinson
(1930)

Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes
(1917)

Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes
(1922)

	The World of Peter Rabbit Author: Beatrix Potter Publisher: Frederick Warne Date: March 2002		Beatrix Potter Complete Tales Author: Beatrix Potter Publisher: Frederick Warne Date: September 2002
	Favourite Beatrix Potter Tales (audio CD) (4 stories read by the stars of the Miss Potter film) Publisher: Frederick Warne Date: November 2006		The Tale of Peter Rabbit (special edition with a silver jacket) Author: Beatrix Potter Publisher: Frederick Warne Date: December 2006

BEATRIX POTTER'S LIFE

Beatrix Potter was born in 1866 in Bolton Gardens, Kensington (in London, near Earl's Court: map). Her parents both came from families which had become wealthy from the Lancashire cotton mills during the Industrial Revolution. Her father was a barrister, but spent a lot of time at his gentleman's club. Beatrix and her brother Bertram (who was six years younger than her) were both educated at home by governesses. During the summers her father would rent a large house either in Scotland or in the Lake District (in north-west England), giving Beatrix the chance to see plants and animals in the countryside.

Beatrix was keen on art and drawing. She started to sell her pictures of animals as greeting cards and book illustrations. When she was on holiday she sent letters to the children of one of her former governesses. In 1893 she sent a special letter to cheer up one of the children who had been ill: a story about her pet rabbit Peter. Several years later she decided to turn the story into a little book called "The Tale of Peter Rabbit". She couldn't find a commercial printer, so she published a small number of copies by herself in black and white. The book was popular with her friends and relations, so she tried again to find a printing company that would accept it. This time (in 1902) Frederick Warne & Co agreed to publish it, using colour illustrations. The company was run by three brothers (the sons of the founder). The youngest brother Norman became her editor, and she became a good friend of their sister Millie. Beatrix created other similar books, and all of them were very successful. She used some of the money which she received to buy a farm in the Lake District called Hill Top. Beatrix and Norman grew close and became engaged, but he died soon afterwards from leukemia.

Beatrix decided to spend more time at Hill Top. In 1913 she married a local solicitor called William Heelis and started living permanently in the Lake District. She managed her sheep farm, and also worked closely with an organisation called the National Trust to help to protect the countryside. She bought other neighbouring farms and owned 4,000 acres of land by the time that she died in 1943 (aged 77). She didn't have any children, and chose to leave her land and property to the National Trust, which still manages these for the benefit of the nation.

Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature
Author: Linda Lear
Publisher: Allen Lane
Date: December 2006

BEATRIX POTTER ATTRACTIONS

The film or the books may inspire you to want to visit the Lake District. You can find photos and visitor information on the following pages of this website:
Travel/Tours/England/Windermere
Travel/Tours/England/Keswick

There are several attractions connected with Beatrix Potter in the area where she lived, which is close to Windermere. The most famous of these is Hill Top, the house in which Beatrix created many of the illustrations for her books. You can visit here as part of a tour, or you can take a chain ferry across Lake Windermere from Bowness and either catch a connecting bus or, if the weather is fine, enjoy the 30-minute walk to Near Sawrey. The stories of Jemima Puddle-Duck, Mr Tod, Tom Kitten, Samuel Whiskers, Ribby and Duchess (from "The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-pan"), Pigling Bland and Ginger and Pickles are all set in Hill Top and the surrounding area.

The Beatrix Potter Gallery in Hawkshead displays some of Beatrix's original water colour illustrations. The display changes each year, showing pictures from different stories.

The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction in Bowness (close to Windermere) recreates many of the characters and scenes from the books, and will appeal to children as well as to adults.

Hill Top (in Near Sawrey)

Beatrix Potter Gallery (in Hawkshead)

The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction
(in Bowness-on-Windermere)

Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle
does the washing

Jemima Puddle-Duck meets a
"polite gentleman with sandy whiskers"

Beatrix Potter's Lake District
Author: Gilly Cameron Cooper
Publisher: Frederick Warne
Date: March 2007

HERDWICK SHEEP

After Beatrix Potter moved to live in the Lake District she bought several farms and was keen to preserve the landscape and local traditions. She was particularly interested in raising Herdwick sheep. She won awards for her sheep at Lakeland agricultural shows, and some of the cups are on display at Hill Top. For many years she continued to appear at the shows as a judge and to give out prizes.

Adult Herdwicks have grey coats and white faces and legs, while the lambs are born with dark brown coats. They are well-adapted to the local conditions and can live outside throughout the year, eating berries and leaves as well as grass. They help to keep the land clear, because by grazing they prevent the spread of heather, scrub and bracken. Although they wander widely through the fells, one special characteristic of Herdwicks is that they always return to the area where they were raised by their mothers. The wool is hard wearing and is used to make a variety of local products including rugs, throws and clothes. They are not as profitable for farmers as other types of sheep because they grow more slowly and produce less meat. You can help to support the Herdwick farmers and help to preserve the Lakeland environment if you buy their local products.

Herdwick sheep

FURTHER INFORMATION

Miss Potter film website: http://www.misspottermovie.co.uk
Visit Miss Potter website: http://www.visitmisspotter.com
Peter Rabbit and friends: http://www.peterrabbit.com
Cumbria Tourist Board: http://www.golakes.co.uk
Hill Top (Near Sawrey): http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-hilltop
Beatrix Potter Gallery (Hawkshead): http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-beatrixpottergallery.htm
Yew Tree Farm: http://www.yewtree-farm.com
The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction (Bowness): http://www.hop-skip-jump.com
Wedgwood's Peter Rabbit microsite: http://www.wedgwoodpeterrabbit.com
The National Trust: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Herdwick Sheep Breeders' Association: http://www.herdwick-sheep.com

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LINKS

Windermere: Travel/Tours/England/Windermere
Keswick and the northern Lakes: Travel/Tours/England/Keswick

British films: Britain/Films
Photos of the UK: Britain/Photos
English literature: English/Reading/Literature

Home page: Home

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