Inside new Paddington in Peru movie filming - as author's daughter tours spectacular set

While the beloved prima of the children's publication whitethorn hail from darkest Peru, astir of the sets utilized successful filming the 3rd instalment of the Paddington movie bid were built successful deepest Hertfordshire

One time successful 2023, Karen Jankel was handed a lanyard with a sepia “tarjeta postal” bearing a Peruvian stamp, ushered aboard a jeep, and near the rolling arable fields of Hertfordshire acold down her.

Within seconds, she was plunged into cascading tropical plants and trees, thatched huts, a crumbling monastery and rivers zigzagged by enactment bridges. Not to notation signs for Aunt Lucy’s Home for Retired Bears.

She had been driven into the darkest Peru imagined by her father, Michael Bond, who died aged 91 successful 2017 . As his celebrated character, Paddington Bear, mightiness person advised, she stared – hard. “This was beyond what my begetter would person imagined,” she says. "It was extraordinary. My begetter ne'er adjacent went to Peru. He wasn’t a large instrumentality of flying. I fishy helium wouldn’t person imagined thing rather truthful exotic!”

Karen had been invited to walk a time down the scenes of filming for Paddington In Peru – the 3rd instalment successful the blockbuster series. She expected a colourful scene, having grown up with 1 paw successful different world. Paddington was similar a sibling to her; a quality she and her parents would often speech to astatine location arsenic if helium were with them.

This, though, was thing else. In the caller movie, Paddington and his adopted family, the Browns, question to his autochthonal Peru – due to the fact that Aunt Lucy is missing him badly. Several scenery scenes were changeable connected location, including immoderate astatine the majestic Machu Picchu.

But the formed – Hugh Bonneville arsenic Mr Brown, Emily Mortimer replacing Sally Hawkins arsenic Mrs Brown, Julie Walters arsenic housekeeper Mrs Bird, and caller arrivals Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas – did each their acting successful Britain. So Peru needed to travel to the Home Counties.

The determination was taken to commandeer acres of farmland and physique a monastery, thatched rainforest dwellings and a Peruvian village. They dug rivers for existent boats to bob in, planted wildflower meadows – including 1 conscionable for a azygous Sound of Music homage – and sourced thousands of authentic tropical Peruvian plants.

“They brought successful thing similar 50,000 trees, it was extraordinary,” says Karen, 66. “I person done acceptable visits connected each 3 films and this 1 was a truly immense measurement up. Often connected a movie acceptable a gathering is conscionable the facade, but they built the implicit Home for Retired Bears, everything was 3 dimensional, it was each beautifully done.

“The main surviving country was unfastened sided with a thatched roof. To get to Aunt Lucy’s cabin, you had to spell implicit a enactment span crossed a river. It was conscionable amazing, a full world.”

Inside the buildings, the attraction to item was minute. No facet of a retired bear’s beingness was ignored. Karen recalls: “There was a reception table successful the location piled with leaflets for activities similar carnivore bingo. The comic small puns would person amused my dada and impressed him too, helium had large attraction to detail.”

So immersed did she become, it was a daze erstwhile The Reverend Mother, played by The Crown prima Colman, began making calls connected her mobile. She chuckles: “Between takes, Olivia Colman was connected her telephone dealing with thing similar a plumber coming round. She’s successful her nun’s wont sorting retired immoderate home contented from the Home for Retired Bears!”

Production decorator Andrew Kelly travelled extensively successful some Peru and Colombia to get a consciousness for the landscape, buildings and section materials. The animated Paddington, voiced by Ben Wishaw, and different CGI characters volition beryllium added successful later. Actors successful brownish bodysuits stood successful connected acceptable portion the actors were filmed.

“I person ne'er done thing to that standard before,” Andrew admits. “We visited the workplace successful the dormant of wintertime – me, my creation manager and my dog! It was frozen, snowy onshore and america trying to ideate a beauteous Peruvian, sunny jungle there… It was fun.”

It was his archetypal clip applying for impermanent readying support to physique a set. He adds: “For the tropical trees and plants, we had tons of large mobile greenhouses connected the go. Around 90% of them were successful pots, you excavation a spread and enactment the cookware in, a batch of labour and emotion went into it. Every evening, the much susceptible plants were wrapped successful cloth.”

Separate from the Home For Retired Bears, Andrew’s squad built a Peruvian village. “We had 12 buildings there,” helium says. “We built a beauteous large histrion successful the mediate of the market, it was fiberglass sculpted. We besides did that successful the mediate of the Home for Retired Bears. They get coated successful a resin and painted.

“We built a 2nd stream successful the village, astir 100ft by 30ft but astir apt lone 4 oregon 5 ft deep. We had 14 boats. There were 150 extras who were Peruvian – they said successful parts it felt similar being there.”

No little attraction was paid to the interiors, which were bursting with props, galore sourced successful Peru. Andrew explains: “We sculpted small bears connected the apical of the chairs, we hid oranges successful a batch of the wood panels, determination were photographs of the bears’ winning croquet squad and drawings from the bears’ creation classes! The item was successful each nook and cranny.

“The effect was 1 of the calmest sets I’ve ever been on. Everyone who came said they’d emotion to discontinue there!”

• Paddington In Peru is successful cinemas from Friday, November 8.