Miss Potter: A Film Review

“There’s something delicious about writing those first few words of a story. You can never quite tell where they will take you. Mine took me here, where I belong.”-Beatrix Potter

The opening scene of a lush, beautiful, serene Lake District in England begins with this exceptional quote by Beatrix Potter. Potter, played by the beautiful, illustrious and ingenious actress Renée Zellweger, gave such gusto across the screen throughout the entire film, but also in real life. 

Helen Beatrix Potter was born to Rupert and Helen Potter in West Brompton, London, England. Her lifestyle was already set for her at birth. Her parents inherited a wealthy lifestyle due to their own parents being cotton merchants.  Having maintained such a rich and lavish lifestyle, Beatrix and her brother Walter Bertram were expected to maintain decorum, and the proper mannerism of their class. This was expected of them at such a young age. 

By the time she was 9, while living in Scotland, Beatrix began to develop a keen interest in making sketches of her animals, and her brother was quite interested in etymology. Beatrix and her brother didn’t have many friends so nature became their playground. They came to appreciate and learned to study nature and science. They would write detailed information on what they discovered and when they (the pet animals) expired, they used to boil them to learn about their bone structure. Her father considered Beatrix as his equal and took the task of teaching her about science and the modern ways. This is something that you wouldn’t expect a girl of her class to be involved in. In fact, her parents did not discourage education;  women in the Victorian Era were rarely seen in university, but they were privately educated. Beatrix thrived on knowledge and was a great storyteller at such a young age. 

Charlie McIntosh, a natural historian, was also an influence on Beatrix in 1892. She showed him her paintings and he became her mentor. She created microscopic paintings of mushrooms, and both she and McIntosh would have a creative collaboration mostly by post. She was the artist, and he the mentor of the sciences. She learned about the life of mushrooms and learned that books written about them were wrong. She wrote a paper on this and in order to be heard, one had to submit writing to the London’s Linear Society. However, in 1897  a woman with such vast knowledge as hers couldn’t enter inside such an intellectual establishment. Her paper was presented for her and the scientists collectively agreed it needed more work. She withdrew her paper and that ended her life in the sciences and we would have known about Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter. 

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Enough early history here. It’s time to see why these rabbits which were so dear to Beatrix became a focal point and an inspiration to so many children of its day.  In Miss Potter, the film does dive into the early life of Beatrix and her brother but as stated before she was held to a certain level of decorum once she became an adult. She was expected to attend every social gathering with her mother while still trying to become an author. Beatrix thrived on painting, and telling stories of her friends. Of course she had a chaperone, an elderly Miss Wiggins (Matyelok Gibbs) didn’t really appreciate her charge’s enthusiasm for breaking societal rules or becoming an author. Beatrix would rather spend her day away creating sketches and paintings of all her furry friends. It worried her parents that she did not focus on what was expected of her. That is to fulfill her duty, marry and produce offspring and be part of high society. 

Her former governess encouraged her to write books about Peter Rabbit. Beatrix first wrote Peter Rabbit to entertain her governess’s on through a series of letters.  She sent it to six publishers and they all rejected her. Beatrix was already not accepted into the scientific society. Would she fail at the literary world for children? She had so much to offer and share with the world. Beatrix had developed incredible details and personality for each character she created. Her artwork is impeccably and exquisitely designed. 

Beatrix managed to have several copies printed with her own money (not detailed in the film). However, it was still not impressive enough for the original six rejections. The 7th company, Frederick Warne and Company took her on. However, they had an interesting nickname called the bunny book. They didn’t realize just how well this bunny book would be a sleeper hit and outlast their lifetime and legacy. When Beatrix was ready to print, she knew exactly how she wanted everything laid out and made. She made a dummy homemade version of her book which measured everything to the smallest detail of how her book should be.

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However, Beatrix Potter did not expect to have her life changed vastly because of her bunny book. The Warne brothers (Anton Lesser and David Bamber) decided that their brother Norman (Leading Man, Ewan McGregor) would be tasked to publish her book. It would keep him out of their hair and perhaps give him something to do. No one expected Beatrix and Norman to not only collaborate and publish spectacular childrens’ stories that have lasted a lifetime; but no one could have dreamed of them falling in love with one another. She found him while searching for freedom and independence. A woman of her era and standing at her age 30s was expected to be married or seeking a husband and not idling away at creation. Her mother most especially was not happy that he was in trade. Yet Beatrix reminded her parents Rupert (Bill Paterson) and Helen (Barbara Flynn) sternly that their money was from trade. 

While enjoying the fruits of her labor and getting to know Norman more, Beatrix was introduced to his sister Millie (Emily Watson) and they became the best of friends. Millie was a suffragist and stood her own ground. She encouraged Beatrix to go after what she dreamed and to love Norman with all her heart. Between Norman and Millie encouraging Beatrix to be more independent and striving to break the molds of society; Beatrix bloomed. Her little bunny book was a sensation and as time went on she wrote more classic books. 

I won’t delve further into what happened, but just know by the time Beatrix Potter had decided to retire to the quiet life. She went back to what she knew. Nature. She loved it so much that she made enough money to provide for herself and moved back into the country. Despite her parents’ opposition, most especially her mother, Beatrix was famous and set out to do her own bidding. Gone was the shy girl in her 30s who would just do what she was told on a whim. Here was a seasoned woman who was ready to take on the world. She moved back to the Lake District and made it thrive.

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Beatrix had become one of the first reservists and helped expand the National Trust at the Lake District. She saved over 4,000 acres of land. She used her sales of her first five books to buy her property, and slowly but surely began to buy more. She became the first person in her time and age to market her stories. She did it possibly before Walt Disney!  She designed and patented the first Peter Rabbit doll actually out of rabbit pelt. She marketed everything from her writing. Each time she created and sold, not only did people enjoy it, but the Lake District benefited.

Beatrix lived the rest of her life working the farms besides writing. In fact, her later works were based on the background of the Lake District. Here was a woman who defied all the odds and cherished every moment in the print shop or on the land. It was something delicious about writing that set her on her path in her early life. Without this vivacious, entertaining, and enterprising woman, we would not have grown up with such classic stories as Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Tom Kitten, and other wonderful stories. 

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Without Beatrix Potter, the Lake District would not have thrived into the National Trust as it is today. You can take a tour and walk along the same paths as she did. See her inspirations for her other books. You may end up learning to love nature just as she did. There is something about nature and all that it offers to the world to enjoy and share. Beatrix made sure that this land was protected and not put into development of properties.

The New Yorker provides a rich detail into Beatrix’s life and her journals that most would have never known to have existed. You will also discover a vast array of behind the scenes of how her characters came to life. 

The Beatrix Potter Society gives you a breathtaking look into her life, the home she retired to in the Lake District. This site showcases Beatrix Potter events and you are more than welcome to purchase merchandise. Without Potter, where would we be without merchandising ones celebrated works?  Did you know there was a TV series produced in the 1990s entitled The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends? This series showcased Beatrix stories but also animated cartoons of her wonderful creations.

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I thoroughly enjoyed two documentaries on Youtube about Beatrix Potter. They gave me greater insight to this famed author who will be known through the sands of time. Or should I say through the grains of Mr. McGregor’s garden! Timelines: The Paradise Inspiration of Beatrix Potter: The Secrets of the National Trust gives you a vivid cinematographer’s dream of seeing the Lake District in all its splendor.

Who was Beatrix Potter? Patricia Routledge on Beatrix Potter-Timeline was an excellent documentary with Patricia Routledge. She once did plays based on Potter’s life and as she made her personal journey to see the woman she portrayed, it was a serene and joyful experience to watch.

If you wish to purchase the biography of this extraordinary pioneering woman, you can do so at Bookshop.org. There you will also find her classic books in a gift set entitled, Peter Rabbit, Naturally Better Classic Gift Set. These include great stories I grew up reading such as The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, The Tale of Jeremy Fisher, The Tale of Tom Kitten and of course the one that started it all, Peter Rabbit. 

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