I have been looking forward to this movie for a while, but am disappointed that they are (apparently - I haven't seen it yet) avoiding a very interesting aspect of her professional life. She was (as another letter-writer points out) an accomplished botanist. She was investigating one of the great botanical mysteries of her day, namely, the nature of lichen. It was she who worked out that they are composed of a fungus and an alga in a symbiotic relationship. She brought her paper to the Royal Society, but they refused to present it. Later, one of the gentlemen who rejected the paper, presented the information as his own. That is when she decided to go into childrens' books.

I will see the movie, and then I'll try to rent the Masterpiece Theater version. Sounds a lot better.

We saw a sneak preview of "Miss Potter" at Thanksgiving. It was the most enjoyable movie I've seen in ages, in part because of the beautiful Lake District scenery, but also for the whimsical relationship between the artist and her drawings. It was great to see a movie with a strong female character, and although I think Renee Zellweger is quite good in her role, there were a few times when her pursed expression reminded me of Bridget Jones. Emily Watson was fantastic as the maiden sister, and Ewan McGregor was excellent as always.

Strange, but even though I thought Ms Zellweger was brilliant in Bridget Jones Diary, I found her choice for Miss Potter to be strange. I can't wait to see the movie & let her acting (always brilliant) change my mind.

I have come to realize it was the Masterpiece Theater version of the Potter story that made Renee seem oddly cast. The MT version in addition to showing her relationship with her controlling parents, illuminated another part of Potter's life - how she was a brilliant biologist but was ignored in her biological discoveries and nearly overlooked for her exquisite artwork of mushrooms and such. To think I had only thought her a brilliant story teller and writer of the book my mother wisely only doled out to me when I was a very good girl (talk about your controlling parents!).

This is the only movie I'm even vaguely interested in seeing this Christmas season because I have been in love with Peter Rabbit and his friends forever, and I'm 55. One of the best things about having a child 20 years ago was being able to buy beautiful editions of Miss Potter's books because they were classics,and it's important to have books around to encourage reading in the child, correct? Oh, and the cute little Peter Rabbit child's place setting with bowl, cup, plate, fork, and spoon - what an ideal 2rd birthday gift! The exquisite hand painted Christmas ornaments and figurines? I'll take them all!