“The Tale of Peter Rabbit” is a children’s book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, published in 1901. In February 2018, director Will Gluck transformed the tale into Peter Rabbit, a CGI live-action family film. The original story is about a brave, young rabbit named Peter who recklessly steals from Mr. McGregor’s garden in order to feed himself, his three younger sisters (Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail), and their mother. One day, he becomes trapped with the threat of being baked in a pie, so he has to outsmart McGregor in order to escape and come home to his family. The story itself is quite short, so Peter Rabbit takes a few creative liberties, expanding the story to include more of an arc for our human and woodland creature characters. In my opinion, the screenwriters did a very good job in doing so.

Peter Rabbit’s plot takes place presumably after the contents of the book, with McGregor’s nephew, Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson), a persnickety Londoner, inheriting the mansion and its garden. Peter Rabbit (voiced by James Corden) and his friends are faced with this new McGregor after just getting rid of the old one. Their troubles grow when their caretaker, an artist named Bea (Rose Byrne), becomes involved with Thomas. The rabbits scheme to oust Thomas so that they can keep the garden – and Bea – for themselves.

Despite the change of pace, there were details in the movie that paid a wonderful respect to the book that I really enjoyed. I liked Bea and Thomas’ roles in the story. Peter, his sisters (Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki, Daisy Ridley, respectively), and their distant cousin, Benjamin (Colin Moody), were also very lovable adaptations of their illustrated counterparts. Peter Rabbit is an adorably quirky family film. Even though the comedy sometimes felt forced, the movie was incredibly charming. Watching it for the second time made me remember how funny the movie was as a whole.

There were quite a few dumb, one-off bits that made me laugh a lot more than I was expecting. Too, true to its storybook origin, Peter Rabbit was an overwhelmingly cute movie. The sequel, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, is slated to come out July 2. It had a two- month delay from its original release date in early May since its trailer came out. I, myself, am pretty excited to see how it turns out. When it comes out in theaters – as the production team has stated they intend to do – make sure to see it as safely as possible with your area’s safety regulations. Before you do, though, Peter Rabbit is available to watch currently on Hulu. Happy streaming!

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Rabbit_(film)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Peter_Rabbit
• https://www.thewrap.com/sony-pushes-peter-rabbit-2-the-runaway-back-2-months-to-july/