One of the persons participating said that the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee skit with Paddington Bear was “a perfectly timed comedy performance.”
The two-and-a-half minute short film had already gained popularity since its June premiere, but it started to be extensively shared again when people all over the globe responded to the news of her passing on Thursday at the age of 96.
The song, titled “Ma’amalade Sandwich Your Majesty?,” was a total surprise to the British audience and was issued to commemorate her 70 years in power.
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the author, commended her comedic acting abilities in a BBC interview. The Queen had to give her lines to a stand-in since Paddington was produced using CGI, he said.
He was quoted by Variety as telling the BBC, “That wasn’t an easy assignment. Paddington is not actually there.” Technically, it was a wonderful performance; it was a hilarious performance that was well timed.
Paddington, the kind and kind but clumsy bear, joins the Queen for tea at Buckingham Palace in the film. She doesn’t flinch when Paddington consumes tea straight from the teapot, almost destroys it, and unintentionally crushes a cream cake.
The Queen graciously declines Paddington’s offer of a marmalade sandwich from inside his hat—one of his most recognisable habits—and pulls out her own lunch from her purse.
The Queen then begins to tap her teacup to the beat of Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” which Cottrell-Boyce had thought would be too out of character. The image then turns to throngs outside the palace getting ready for her Jubilee festivities.
He told the BBC, “I was extremely keen that we shouldn’t conclude with her tapping the cup in those writing sessions. “She’ll never be able to pull it off, I reasoned; it’s too much to expect.
“She succeeds beautifully, however. Isn’t she radiant at that precise moment? ”
He said that the movie’s inspiration “came from the palace.”
He remarked, “Paddington reflects so many of the ideals she stood for “Kindness, tolerance, being friendly to strangers, and manners are all major themes in Paddington.
And since she lived her life upholding those ideals, we are feeling particularly depressed tonight.
“I believe that’s why it resonated so much—it wasn’t just a nice thing to do. It was meaningful.”
According to Cottrell-Boyce, the Queen could have even regarded the film as a goodbye.
According to Cottrell-Boyce, “She was reaching the end of her life, she knew she was, and this is a sign-off.”
The Paddington films have received praise as contemporary classics, and “Paddington 2” momentarily dethroned “Citizen Kane” as the most popular movie on Rotten Tomatoes.