I love a story that brings out the "I" word: IMAGINATION. It is basically a biopic film about children's author and illustrator, Beatrix Potter. It combines stories from her own interesting life with animated sequences featuring characters from her stories, such as Peter Rabbit.
The film was director Chris Noonan's first in 10 years (since he made Babe), having waited for many years until he finally found a script that inspired him. Cate Blanchett, who originally suggested Noonan for the role of director, was at one point set to star at the film but apologetically left the project when one of her other films was green-lit before this one.
Actress Renee Zellweger ended up becoming an executive producer on the film because she was dis-satisfied with the script and wanted to get more involved. The film was first brought to Ewan McGregor's attention by Zellweger, who had kept in contact with him after collaborating on "Down with Love". McGregor described the film as having a somewhat similar appeal as that film, and noted that he was familiar with Beatrix Potter's illustrations and stories, which he said he reads to his children. To prepare for the role, McGregor studied photographs of Norman Warne and visited the modern-day Warne publishing house. Zellweger read actual letters between Beatrix Potter and Norman Warne and Millie to prepare for the role, but had difficulty with the accent, which she said was very different from Bridget Jones'. As there were no records of Beatrix Potter’s speaking voice, they had to guess; ultimately the voice was softened so as not to irritate contemporary audiences with the tight, high voice a woman of Beatrix Potter's standing at that time may have had. Zellweger said that she had read a few of Beatrix Potter's stories growing up, but that she had never known anything about the woman herself.
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