To mark Beatrix Potter's 150th birthday, one of Britain's oldest pet charities- Blue Cross- found the perfect residents to bring some of the most iconic images by Beatrix Potter back to life.
Mulder the bunny
The rehoming centre in Burford allowed some of its furry friends to help recreate the most beloved images most of which are in The Tale of Peter Rabbit. A few well-known characters including the cat from The Tale of Benjamin Bunny and a real-life Mrs. Tittlemouse also had their moment in the limelight.
The animals were photographed at the allotment in the small animal unit in Oxfordshire and included:
Nina, the one-year-old Lop-Eared Harlequin, helped bring to life the famous passage from The Tale of Peter Rabbit:
"First he ate some lettuces and French beans; and then he ate some radishes…"
Nina features again in a scene where Peter is hiding from Mr McGregor:
"… he heard the noise of a hoe - scr-r-ritch scratch, scratch, scratch. Peter scuttered underneath the bushes."
Mulder, a one-year-old cross-breed, recreates a scene from The Tale of Peter Rabbit:
"Peter sat down to rest; he was out of breath and trembling with fright, and he had not the least idea where to go. Also he was very damp with sitting in that watering can."
Mulder was so confident in front of the camera he was in another scene from The Tale of Peter Rabbit:
"…And rushed into the tool-shed, and jumped into a can. It would have been a beautiful thing to hide in, if it had not had so much water in it."
From The Tale of Benjamin Bunny - a 10-year-old tabby called Bella stars as the cat who was trapped by Peter and Benjamin under a basket after they'd stolen vegetables from Mr McGregor's field.
Izzy the rat played the lead role in The Book of Mrs. Tittlemouse.
Jenna Martyn, Centre Manager at Blue Cross Burford comments: "With animals playing such an important part in the much loved Beatrix Potter books, we thought this shoot would be perfect way to celebrate what would have been her 150th year, and our pets were more than happy to oblige. We often use cats and dogs in our images, so it was great to see some of our smaller animals in the limelight.
Beatrix Potter's illustrations feature the antics of anthropomorphised pets who wear human clothes, including petticoats and bonnets and live in houses filled with furniture. The rabbits included in the shoot were used to being handled and many of them were one-take wonders; plus, they got to munch on some delicious vegetables so were very happy bunnies."
Peter Rabbit is often depicted eating onions that he's stolen from Mr McGregor's garden however this aspect was left out of the pictures as rabbits shouldn't eat onions, however radishes in moderation with their tops left on and lettuce is fine.
Each prop used throughout the shoot was carefully prepared, from the radishes and lettuces for the background and the snail featured on the famous watering can. The plants and flowers featured - from the variegated leaves of Peter's hiding place, to the juicy lettuces in Mr McGregor's vegetable patch - were selected and planted into the set to look as close to those featured in the illustration as possible.
Blue Cross helps over 40,000 dogs, cats, horses and small animals each year. To find out more visit www.bluecross.org.uk.
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