Miss Potter
Beatrix Potter with Benjamin Bunny from a bunny blog and, of course, Peter Rabbit, from another bunny blog
I finally finished my Beatrix Potter biography! I really enjoyed the Rene Zellweger biopic Miss Potter! It was so whimsical and sweet, but also sad. I have to admit though, whenever I see a biographical film, I wonder how accurate it was. I read like 4 biographies after we went to see "Becoming Jane" ... which was NOT very accurate, by the by, but still cute. :P
So! Miss Potter was fairly accurate! How nice. :) But! I think, they made her a little less stubborn and less financially aware than she was in real life. (In the film, it's a shock that her little books have made her huge amounts of money. In the book, she seemed to have death grip on her career and her money.) Maybe they thought that gentler/cuter portrayal was a more likable character. :P
Renee Zellweger as Beatrix Potter from IMDB, with Ewan McGreggor from the composer's website
One of the things I found most admirable about Beatrix Potter, besides her sticking to her guns about EVERYTHING, was how willingly she worked for things she cared about or that meant a lot to her. She was politically active all through her life, working for everything from farmers' rights to getting an airplane factory site moved. I think her land donations to the National Trust are pretty common knowledge, but I didn't know that she actively sought out land that the Trust wanted but couldn't afford and bought it FOR them.
The lovely Lake District from a UK hiking tourism site
Also, I think it's pretty cool that she married a younger man at like 40 in a age when probably being 25 made you seem like an old maid. :P Gives me hope~~ Not that I'm into younger guys >.>
And one last factoid. :) In her will, she stipulated that part of her donation to the Trust be set aside as a memorial to World War 1 veterans. I think that's very touching, especially since it goes a little against type. (Veterans don't equal bunny rabbits or sheep ... She raised award winning sheep, by the way. Another factoid for you~)
Potter's favorite breed: the Herdwick sheep with a little lamb, native to the Lake District
from an agricultural blog
All this Peter Rabbit/Beatrix Potter talk makes me want to start that Peter Rabbit embroidery kit I bought in Tokyo .... :)