A bear Named Winnie Log Line
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| A Bear Named Winnie
Log Line This is the story, set in 1914, of the friendship between a Canadian soldier and a bear cub he named Winnie, a cub that eventually inspired the beloved AA Milne stories. Short Form Synopsis It is August 1914 and World War I has just begun. Lieutenant Harry Colebourn (Michael Fassbender), a veterinarian with the 34th Fort Garry Horse Division, is on his way from his home in Winnipeg when he buys a bear cub. When Harry’s regiment is sent to fight in France, the young vet knows Winnie cannot go any further. He finds a home for her at the London Zoo, and promises to return as soon as the war is over. Soon she is the star attraction at the zoo. She delights and comforts the children whose lives have been torn apart by war and ultimately she inspires the stories of AA Milne through which she lives on forever. Long Form Synopsis It is August 1914 and World War I has just begun. Canada is gripped by a patriotic frenzy. Troops gather from all parts of the country. Lieutenant Harry Colebourn (Michael Fassbender), a veterinarian with the 34th Fort Garry Horse Division, is on his way from his home in Winnipeg when he buys a bear cub. He thinks she will make a great company mascot. But his comrade, Macray (Jonathon Young), predicts trouble. And he’s right. Winnie, named after Winnipeg, quickly causes all kinds of problems, especially with the senior officer, Barret (Gil Bellows) who thinks mascots make the men soft. Luckily General Hallholland (David Suchet) disagrees and Winnie is allowed to stay with Harry and his regiment. But Winnie is a breath of fresh air for the soldiers faced with the prospect of war. She travels with them all the way to Salisbury Plain in England. When Harry’s regiment is sent to fight in France, the young vet knows Winnie cannot go any further. He finds a home for her at the London Zoo, and promises to return as soon as the war is over. At first, Protheroe, the Zookeeper (Stephen Fry), thinks Winnie will not survive locked up in cage torn away from the only family she ever knew. No one plays with her. She is downhearted and lifeless. But when a little girl falls and lies unconscious outside her zoo enclosure, the bear’s loving nature immediately surfaces. Soon she is the star attraction at the zoo. She delights and comforts the children whose lives have been torn apart by war and ultimately she inspires the stories of AA Milne through which she lives on forever. THE CAST MICHAEL FASSBENDER as Lieutenant Harry Colebourn GIL BELLOWS as Colonel John Barret STEPHEN FRY as Protheroe the Zookeeper DAVID SUCHET as General F. Walter Hallholland JONATHON YOUNG as Ian Macray TED ATHERTON as Captain John Elliot AARON ASHMORE as Corporal Randy Taylor ROBERT PICARD as Sargent Major Picard MICHAEL FASSBENDER as Lieutenant Harry Colebourn Michael portrays Lieutenant Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian with the 34th Fort Garry Horse Division. He’s a spontaneous, good-hearted young man, relaxed and comfortable under pressure. There is always a bit of mischief in his eyes. To prepare for this role as Harry, Michael was lucky to be able to study the diaries of the real Lieutenant Colebourn. “He kept journals while he was away, so I read all of his accounts of things, which gave me a nice insight into him,” said Michael. “The whole idea that he bought this bear on sort of a whim shows what kind of guy he was. He works on his instincts as opposed to thinking things through. I think that makes him quite an endearing character.” Michael arrived in Winnipeg to begin work on A BEAR NAMED WINNIE one week before shooting began. This allowed him time to slowly introduce himself to the five-month old bear cubs, Chester and Charlie, who would play the young Winnie. “It was great to have this time with the cubs. They’re such curious little animals,” said Michael. “You sit down on the ground and they’ll climb right on top of you. They love to play and they see you as just another body to wrestle with. They know they are at the top of the food chain so they have this sort of arrogance. They’re not really afraid of anything and they’ve got an attention span of about two seconds.” “Every day I got to roll around with little black bears,” Michael smiled. “That’s one of the real privileges of this job - I get to do crazy things.” His credits include a role in the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg mini series Band of Brothers (HBO), television movie Carla (ITV), the mini series Gunpowder, Treason and Plot (BBC), and guest appearances in the series Holby City (BBC) and NCS (BBC). He has also participated in the Oxford Stage Company’s production of The Three Sisters and has formed his own production company, Peanut Productions. Michael also produced, directed and performed in a stage version of Reservoir Dogs in his hometown of Killarney, Ireland. He now lives in London, England. The producers of A BEAR NAMED WINNIE were very happy with Michael’s portrayal of Harry. “Michael is an up and coming star who’s done some tremendous work. He was completely right for the part of Harry,” states Producer Simon Vaughan. “He had the humour and heroic sensibilities required for the part, but he still conveyed the everyman qualities that Harry Colebourn should have. He also had an amazing gentleness and warmth with the animals. In real life Michael has that too --- people warm to him, everybody likes him. He’s good natured and good fun and I think that has an impact on the kind of film you end up making.” GIL BELLOWS as Colonel John Barret Gil Bellows plays Colonel John Barret, a professional soldier who is the first “working class” Canadian to graduate at the top of his class at the Royal Military Academy. He is the Chief Veterinary Officer and the Director of Veterinary Services. He is extremely disciplined, physically fit, and very. He doesn’t care how things were done in the past, he has his own rules. Barret is Harry’s superior officer, and is determined on preparing his troops for the horrors of war. To him, the idea of carrying along a bear cub as a company mascot is ridiculous. When Gil Bellows first saw the script for A BEAR NAMED WINNIE he thought it was terrific, a great combination of a history and entertainment. He was especially excited that it was a film which his children, ages 5 and 2, would love. A BEAR NAMED WINNIE was the first time Gil had worked with bears, but he didn’t find it too daunting. “I got up close and personal with Bonkers, the 600 pound adult bear who played the grown-up Winnie, on my first day. He sniffed both sides of me and apparently I passed his test,” joked Gil. “I had observed him for a few hours when I first arrived on set and I could see he was extremely well-trained and very people-friendly, so I wasn’t really worried.” Working on a ‘period’ film wasn’t new to Gil, but it did make a difference in how he approached his character. He felt his entire manner became a bit more formal once he got into his military uniform, “It provided me with much of the austerity required for his role”. Gil made his film debut in The First Season for the National Film Board of Canada, but it was his breakthrough role in feature film The Shawshank Redemption (Columbia) that propelled his career. Other film credits include Love and a .45 (Trimark), Miami Rhapsody (Buena Vista), Dinner at Fred’s (Imperial Entertainment), Beautiful Joe (Columbia TriStar), Chasing Sleep (Trimark), Blind Horizon (Lions Gate) and Childstar (TVA/Rhombus). Gil is perhaps best known for his role of Billy on the mega-hit TV series Ally McBeal, but his other television credits include The Agency (CBS), The Practice (ABC) and the television movies Radiant City (ABC), Courage to Love (CBS), Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story (Showtime), Second String (TNT), 1st to Die (NBC), Fast Food High (CTV) and Zeyda and the Hitman (CTV). Gil grew up in Canada, but has spent almost half his life living in Los Angeles, California. STEPHEN FRY as Protheroe the Zookeeper In A BEAR NAMED WINNIE, England’s Stephen Fry portrays Protheroe, the cranky keeper at the London Zoo who reluctantly accepts the young Winnie as a temporary guest. For Stephen, the thought of working on A BEAR NAMED WINNIE was very exciting. “As I child I had a big collection of bears, and still have some of them. I eagerly read this script when it arrived because it had the word “bear” in the title and I thought it was absolutely delightful --- a charming little fable,” enthused Stephen. Stephen Fry loves bears. In fact, he has set up his own charity called Bear Rescue to save them from inhumane conditions in private zoos and circuses. This came about after a trip he made to Peru wile working on another film project on yet another world famous bear, Paddington. The Producers of A BEAR NAMED WINNIE intend to contribute some of the proceeds from the film’s video sales to Bear Rescue. “We are very delighted to accept their gift, because a little goes a very long way in Peru,” said Stephen. “I’ve been back twice since the first time and am hoping to get back again soon. I’m very fond of bears. They’re just wonderful creatures!” Stephen is a actor, writer and director with numerous television and film credits. His most popular television projects include the series A Bit of Fry and Laurie (BBC), Jeeves and Wooster (ITV), Blackadder (BBC), Absolute Power (BBC) and “Fortysomething” (ITV). Other television credits include The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (HBO), Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali (BBC) and Tom Brown’s School Days (ITV). His film credits include The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (HBO Films) with Geoffrey Rush and Charlize Theron, Gosford Park (USA Films) with Maggie Smith and Kristin Thomas Scott, the title role in Wilde (BBC/Sony) opposite Jude Law and Vanessa Redgrave, as well as Le Divorce (20th Century Fox), Spice World (Columbia) and A Fish Called Wanda (MGM). Stephen also produced, wrote, directed and appeared in Bright Young Things (Think Film Inc), an adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s novel Vile Bodies. Stephen is also the author of the best-selling novels The Liar, The Hippopotamus, Making History and The Stars’ Tennis Balls, as well as the highly acclaimed autobiography Moab is my Washpot. Of Stephen Fry, Director John Kent Harrison simply states ““Stephen is learned on every subject there is in the universe and is a great deal of fun to be with. He’s easy to work with and brings life to every part he plays. We were very fortunate to have him.” DAVID SUCHET as General F. Walter Hallholland David Suchet is General Hallholland, the senior officer at the Valcartier Camp where Harry and his company are completing their training. Hallholland is stuffy and unpredictable. He is a veteran of the Boar War, and loves to regale ‘his troops’ with stories of past glory. He loves good food, good brandy and good shooting, and leaves most of his dirty work to others. David Suchet had a lot of fun with his character. “He’s a nutter --- a great eccentric English nutter,” smiled David. “He believes in the old way of doing things and thinks his way is the best. He’s wonderful, off the wall, very in-the-moment and you don’t really know what he’s going to do next.” David had no idea A.A. Milne’s character was based on a real bear named after the Canadian city of Winnipeg. “That’s one of the things that interested me so much,” said David. “It was a true story and my character actually existed. I was delighted to take part in the film.” David is an actor known to millions as Agatha’s Christie’s Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. The Poirot (ITV) series is broadcast in dozens of countries around the world and David’s work as Poirot has dominated his career for most of the past 15 years. His other credits include the television movies A Tale of Two Cities (CBS), The Last Innocent Man (HBO), The Secret Agent (BBC), Deadly Voyage (HBO), Moses (TNT), RKO 281 (HBO), the BBC mini series The Way We Live Now and Freud and the series NCS Manhunt (BBC). His film credits include The Little Drummer Girl (Warner Bros), Harry and the Hendersons (Universal), Executive Decision (Warner Bros), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (CBS/Columbia TriStar), Trenchcoat (Buena Vista), A Perfect Murder (Warner Bros) and Foolproof (Alliance Atlantis/Odeon). David began his career with the Royal Shakespeare Company in London. He won a 1985 Royal Television Society award for Best Male Actor for A Song for Europe (Ind) and was appointed an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 2002 by Queen Elizabeth II. The award honours civilians and service personnel for public service or an outstanding contribution to society. “In the few short days David was with us on set we became quite good friends,” comments Director John Kent Harrison. “His comic timing is absolutely splendid! I look forward to working with him again.” |