Miss Potter (DVD, 2007)

I'm willing to bet you will enjoy "Miss Potter" as much as I did... The film is about Beatrix Potter, (She wrote and illustrated "The Tale Of Peter Rabbit" and other children's books), and stars Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor .

In the movie, it shows Beatrix' tendency for whimsey in her studio, and an affection for her creations that I found very familiar. In one scene that I find most endearing, she just finishes painting the infamous blue jacket on Peter Rabbit when he suddenly comes to life and squirms out it. My interpretation of this scene is that Beatrix simply made a mistake; over-drew a line - and rather than getting irritated with herself, she imagines Peter's the culprit - the over-drawn line now his jacket on the ground, and she scolds him for wiggling around while she's trying to do her work. [Perhaps if I gently scolded my westies, cairns, and all for MY mistakes, my days will run a bit smoother around here.]

I began to feel a kinship with this incredible woman from long ago. She was a single, strong minded woman before it was "okay" with society to be so, but that's not why I found myself liking her so much...

It was the fact that she was a proactive, professional, and self-representing Artist in a time of such rigid domestic expectations for women; approaching publishers with her drawings and stories despite pressures to just get married and run a house as other women did.

And it was watching her oversee the first printings of her illustrations in the printhouse (something others of the time deemed highly inappropriate for a lady), and that she had no qualms in telling the men to test-print them again & again until the colors were perfect.

It was also because she was protective of her creations yet very determined that her book be affordable to any child. Had she been born in my generation, I think she would have joyfully embraced selling her art on eBay!

As a child, I loved my little green Peter Rabbit book, yet I've never really considered myself a Beatrix Potter fan. As a female artist of whimsey, however, I knew just minutes into the movie I was prepared to like her immensely! I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the life & mind of Miss Potter. I love this movie and will be adding it to my small collection of favorites.

The movie was scheduled for a Rental & Retail DVD release in the UK on April 23, 2007, but it just hit US theaters in the same month. With a US DVD release date of June 19, 2007, it can be pre-ordered on eBay now.

Kim Niles
Artist & Published Children's Book Illustrator (WESTIE THE DOG)
KiniArt Studios