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| “ | That's right. I'm going to stuff you, bear. | „ |
| ~ Millicent announcing her plans to Paddington. |
| “ | Millicent: I'm sorry. It's just that that creature means a great deal to me. Grant: Why? Is he endangered? (Millicent throws a knife to one of the photos of her desk) Millicent: He is now. |
„ |
| ~ Millicent saying Paddington is important to her collection. |
| “ | Let me tell you about my code. When somebody doesn't give me what I want, I remove their body parts. I start with the nasal hair. And then I move on to something juicy. That's my code and I always stick to it. Do you always stick to yours? | „ |
| ~ Millicent threatening the taxi driver who took Paddington and the Browns to their home last night. |
Millicent Clyde is the main antagonist of the 2014 family comedy film Paddington, the first installment in the film series of the same name.
She is an evil taxidermist who works for the British Natural History Museum and intends to stuff a bear named Paddington and place him in a museum to prove her father's discovery of Paddington's species.
She was portrayed by Nicole Kidman, who also played Marisa Coulter in The Golden Compass, Evelyn Stoker in Stoker, Suzanne Stone in To Die For and Gudrún in The Northman.
Biography[]
Background[]
Millicent was the daughter of Montgomery Clyde, a famous British explorer and member of the renowned Geographers’ Guild. About forty years before the story, Clyde set off on an expedition to the jungles of Darkest Peru, where he discovered a family of remarkably intelligent and kind bears. He named them Lucy and Pastuzo and gave them several gifts to thank them for saving his life.
When Clyde returned home, the Guild refused to believe his story because he had not brought back a specimen to prove it. They offered him a second chance to capture one, but he refused, unwilling to harm the bears. As a result, he was expelled from the Guild and forced to open a small petting zoo to support his family.
Millicent had been just a young girl at the time. Watching her father lose his reputation and their comfortable life left her bitter and resentful. She blamed him for throwing away what could have made him the greatest explorer in the world, and from that moment on, she vowed she would finish what he could not.
Paddington[]
Years later, following the death of her father, Millicent had a position at the British Natural History Museum as head of the Taxidermy Department; however, not content to watch over old-stuffed animals, she had living animals illegally imported to add to the collection including an innocent monkey. Upon learning that one of the intelligent bears named Paddington had arrived to London to find himself a new home and is temporarily residing with the Brown family, Millicent senses an opportunity and vows to hunt the bear down and stuff him for the museum in order to restore her father's former glory for herself.
Millicent conspires with their neighbor Mr. Curry to capture Paddington. The first attempt was a failure, though this results in half of the Brown's house to be burned. Upon seeing that the Browns won't believe his side of the story, Paddington leaves to find Montgomery Clyde himself. When he already locates the explorer's house, he soon learns of the explorer's death and that Millicent was his daughter. Expecting his arrival, Millicent tranquilizes Paddington and brings him to the museum, and prepares to have him stuffed.
However, Mr. Curry had a change of heart after realizing her true intentions, so he informs the Brown family of the events, and they manage to rescue Paddington from being stuffed. However, they are cornered on the roof by Millicent, who threatens to tranquilize and stuff them as well if they refuse to hand over Paddington, saying that she has no qualms of stuffing her own kind. Playing wisely on this, Paddington subdues Millicent by throwing a marmalade sandwich at her, which attracts a huge flock of pigeons to distract Millicent, allowing the Browns' maid Mrs. Bird to open a roof hatch, inadvertently causing Millicent to fall off the roof and dangle on a flagpole, much to her dismay. The Browns then decide to accept Paddington as a new member of their family, much to his delight.
In the end, Millicent is arrested for her crimes and sentenced to community service at a petting zoo (presumably the same one that her father founded), much to her distress. She is last seen scooping donkey manure before being buried in a pile of mulch by the same monkey that she tried to stuff earlier.
Personality[]
Millicent lives possesses cold and ruthless demeanor, driven by sense of vengeance and control. She works at the Natural History Museum, but her official duties were never enough for her. Obsessed with rare and exotic creatures, she secretly imported, killed, and stuffed animals herself. This obsession, both immoral and illegal, instantly reveals her as someone dangerous and deeply corrupt.
She uses manipulation as easily as others use conversation, and shows that she is not above lying and blackmailing in order to get what she wants, even resorting to violence when she deems it necessary. To track down Paddington, she targets the cab driver who had taken him to Windsor Gardens. When he refuses to give up the bear’s address, she ties him up and threatens him until he talks. Even after she gets what she wants, she leaves him bound and helpless, allowing him to fall into the river, likely sealing his fate.
To get close enough to capture Paddington, Millicent recruited a naïve accomplice, Mr. Curry. She played on his bitterness and loneliness, pretending to share his interest in removing the bear from the neighborhood. Once he served his purpose, she discards him without hesitation, shutting down his advances with sharp cruelty.
At the core of Millicent’s cruelty is her lifelong desire to avenge her father’s disgrace. She believes the bears ruined his reputation, costing him everything he worked for and everything her family had. What she fails to see is that her father had long made peace with his past. Instead of directing her anger toward the Guild for exiling him, she became fixated on the bears. She sought to collect and stuff one of them not only to do what her father refused, but to also exact vengeance on the bears.
Quotes[]
| “ | You're going to make a fantastic edition to the collection. | „ |
| ~ Millicent watching a new weird species. |
| “ | Each of these men has been immortalised through his finds. But do you see anything from my father? No. Because when he met your oh-so-precious species, he refused to collect a specimen. | „ |
| ~ Millicent speaking to Paddington about her dark past. |
| “ | He could have been rich and famous, but instead he threw it all away and he opened a petting zoo. He put the happiness of a few furry creatures above his own flesh and blood. I vowed that one day I would finish the job my father never could. And now, at last, that day has come. | „ |
| ~ Millicent showing Paddington her true plans. |
| “ | Sabotage. | „ |
| ~ Millicent seeing water meaning the Browns came to rescue Paddington. |
| “ | Give up, bear! There's no way out. | „ |
| ~ Millicent trying to catch Paddington. |
| “ | Not so fast. Come on, hand over the bear. | „ |
| ~ Millicent threatening the Browns with a tranquilizer gun to Paddington's head. |
| “ | Millicent: OK, then. Henry Brown: When I say "all"... Millicent: I've never stuffed a human, but... |
„ |
| ~ Millicent accepting she will stuff the Browns if they don't give her Paddington. |
| “ | Yes. That's right. Come, come... | „ |
| ~ Millicent smiling to see Paddington about to come to her. |
| “ | Paddington: Erm, could I have one last request? Millicent: What is it? Paddington: I'd like a sandwich. There's one in my hat. Millicent: Go on, then. Paddington: Thank you. (Paddington throws the marmalade sandwich to Millicent and the pigeons go ahead to Millicent, who is about to fall off the roof, but she stops) Millicent: Nice try, bear! |
„ |
| ~ Millicent almost falling off the roof. |
| “ | Millicent: Hey, why didn't you look where you were going?! Mrs. Bird: Ah. shut your pie-hole! |
„ |
| ~ Millicent grabbing the flag pole of the top of the building after being knocked off the roof by Mrs. Bird. |
| “ | No, please! Anything! Anything but that! | „ |
| ~ Millicent's reaction to seeing the judge sentence her to community service in the petting zoo. |
| “ | Zoo worker: Get a move on, dung breath! Millicent: It's not my breath! |
„ |
| ~ Millicent's final line in the film before getting dumped and being buried by a pile of mulch. |
Trivia[]
- Unlike most characters in the Paddington franchise, Millicent Clyde never appeared in Michael Bond's original books as she is an original character created specifically for the film.
- The display case in Millicent's museum where she intends to put Paddington lists his species as "Ursa marmalada" (marmalade bear).
- To prepare for the role, Nicole Kidman dyed her hair blonde and performed some of her own stunts.