Beatrix Potter will be ‘turning in her grave’ at sexed-up Peter Rabbit film
HIS sweet, vulnerable simplicity has charmed generations of young children.
But Peter Rabbit has been transformed into a rowdy, party-loving hooligan in a new Hollywood film that fans say would cause creator Beatrix Potter to turn in her grave.
Voiced by James Corden, the new, loutish interpretation of the family favourite is seen wiggling his bottom in a provocative ‘twerking’ dance to a pounding disco beat as woodland creatures throw a wild party that trashes the home of Mr McGregor.
The farmer is also no longer an old man, but played by Harry Potter star Domhnall Gleeson.
In another scene from the film, which mixes live action and animation, the delinquent bunny leaves several birds injured after he recklessly runs through them.
Potter’s relative, actress Nadine Hanwell, told the Irish Mail on Sunday that the film was ‘horrific’. She said: ‘Beatrix Potter would be turning in her grave. I hope parents don’t take their children to see the film. She would loathe this.’ Potter declined several offers to make a film version of Peter Rabbit, even rebuffing Walt Disney before her death in 1943. A trailer released by Sony Pictures has received more than 3,000 ‘dislikes’ on YouTube, with fans calling it ‘disrespectful’ and ‘disgraceful’. Rowena Godfrey, of the Beatrix Potter Society, said: ‘The book is such a marvellous story – this distortion of it is such a shame.’ Sony, which bought the rights from publisher Penguin Random House, declined to comment.