One big family

> Director Will Gluck not only put his love for Peter Rabbit into his latest movie but also added his father and children in it

IT’S BECOME a family tradition for Will Gluck ( below, right) to include his dad in a cameo role in his movies, and with Peter Rabbit, the filmmaker is paying his heartfelt respects to the father who introduced him to the muchadored Beatrix Potter books when he was a child.

“It’s interesting because he read me Peter Rabbit as a kid,” explains Gluck. “I have very vivid memories of being read those books by my dad, and my own kids are here on set, too – they also have a little scene – and I’ve read the books to them.

“I always put my dad in my movies and this time it’s really special.”

Gluck senior – his first name is Peter, fittingly enough – plays a shopper at Harrods, the iconic London store that features in the film.

“He’s got a line, too,” laughs his son. “He’s great. He’s my dad!”

Gluck’s Peter Rabbit is, then, a labour of love; a lasting and treasured legacy from his childhood that he has passed on to his own daughters and, in turn, to a new generation of children and their families via this film.

“You don’t need to have read Peter Rabbit,” he says. “But I know the kids are going to love it and I’m certain that adults will too.”

Gluck has been captivated by the stories of a lovable but mischievous rabbit all his life, and when the idea to finally bring them to the big screen was put to him, he was instantly on board.

“These stories mean a lot to me,” he says. “Peter Rabbit is a little mischievous. And I loved that when I was growing up.”

Gluck wrote the screenplay, and recruited a stellar cast with Domhnall Gleeson playing Young McGregor who inherits a house in the English countryside from his uncle, Old McGregor (Sam Neill), when he passes away.

Young McGregor, who works in the Harrods’ toy department, plans on renovating the property and selling it to fund his dream of opening his own toyshop.

But first he must deal with Peter Rabbit and his furry friends who live in the cottage’s garden.

And Peter (voiced by James Corden) and his pals are not about to give up their land – and its vegetable patch full of juicy carrots – without a fight.

A hilarious battle commences, and the director promises that the action – and there’s plenty of it – will be hugely entertaining.

“There’s nothing cartoonish about the action at all,” he says. “We have more stunts in this movie than in any movie I’ve ever done. They are all real stunts, and even when we have the ultimate battle between the rabbits and Young McGregor, it’s shot like a war movie.

“The only difference is that a lot of it is down on the ground, so you get a whole new perspective.”

Living next door to the McGregor cottage is the beautiful Bea, played by Rose Byrne, who loves the rabbits and other animals that roam free nearby.

And as Young McGregor finds himself falling in love with Bea, that complicates things even more.

Gluck’s film also harnesses cutting-edge cinematic computer technology to bring the rabbits to life.

The director agrees that the CGI available – masterminded by Australian wizards Animal Logic – now means that he can bring his vision to the screen in a way that wasn’t possible even a few years ago.

“The effects are incredible and the rabbits will look like real rabbits,” says Gluck. “And that’s definitely part of it.”

But he stresses, too, that at the heart of the story is a powerful, very contemporary message – the need to share our world and learn to live with one another. – Sony Pictures Entertainment Malaysia

Peter Rabbit Modern Family