In 1926, a British author by the name of
A. A. Milne began publishing a series of children’s books called the Winnie the
Pooh series, and were inspired by the imagination of his real-life son
Christopher Robin Milne. This series of books about a cute little teddy bear
going on fun little adventures have become beloved literary classics, and yet …
the characters true fame began when Disney brought him over to the West for his
many animated productions. In 1977 Walt Disney animated studios released their
22nd theatrical film titled “The Many Adventures of Winnie the
Pooh”, and that was just the beginning.
Winnie the Pooh has sense become one
of the most celebrated icons from Disney, and one of the most beloved
children’s characters of all time. I remember liking the movie “okay” as a kid,
but what I really loved was the 90’s TV show “The New Adventures of Winnie
the Pooh”. That’s where I really fell in love with all the characters of
the Hundred Acre Wood, and I just couldn't get enough of it. Heck, even as an adult,
that catchy theme song still sneaks its way into my head. Following after the
show’s success were several other Winnie the Pooh movies distributed by Disney
TV studios, some of which were actually released in the theater. However, there
wasn’t another movie distributed by Walt Disney studios until 2011, with the
release of their 51st animated classic simply titled “Winnie the Pooh”.
That title may be a little too simple for the films own good, but I’m getting
ahead of myself. More to the point, this film currently has the distinction of
being the very last traditionally hand drawn animated movie from Disney studios,
ending a mighty legacy of children’s entertainment. Did it close everything on
a high note, or something average to a fault … let’s step back into the Hundred
Acre Wood one last time to find out.
Now the strength of the Pooh franchise
comes from the charm or the emotional beats of an experience, rather than a
compelling narrative or layered story, which is why the 1977 movie worked so
well as an anthology picture. This 2011 sequel by contrast doesn’t follow an
anthology format, but it’s not exactly a flowing narrative either. It’s more
like a collection of charming little vignette’s strung together on a linear
thread. The movie begins with Pooh awakening to the narrator, and he claims that
Pooh has something very important to do. Being a bear with a one-track mind,
Pooh thinks the most important thing is filling his rumbly tummy with some
sweet honey. He’s unfortunately rather shorthanded with honey at the moment,
and goes off searching for more. Along the way, he comes across his gloomy
friend Eeyore, who’s currently missing his tail. Thus, the challenge is on for
Pooh to look past his single-minded obsession with honey, and help his friend
find what he lost. In the end, a message is learned about thinking of others
before yourself, which is absolutely perfect … for a ten-minuet episode of the TV
show. Yeah, for a theatrical movie that’s plainly titled “Winnie the Pooh”,
there’s really nothing special explored with his character. He has a fairly
basic arc, and a good lesion is learned, but nothing really deeper than that. Even
the original 1977 movie presented the character as an allegory for keeping your
childhood innocents alive while still growing-up, but no-such allegorical
subtext here.
The movie is also clearly trying to
recapture the laid-back tone and atmosphere of the first movie, but there’s one
big difference. That film was a collection of stories told over the course of a
year, whereas this film focuses on two events over the course of a single day,
and it’s hard to capture a feeling of “life and times” in such a short span of
time. There’s also kind of a randomly placed subplot, in which a mis-read
letter has everyone thinking the boy Christopher Robin was captured by a
monstrous creature called the Backson. Now everyone is up in arms to try capturing
this monster, and rescuing their friend. Even though this takes up a huge chunk
of the screen time, I still call this a subplot, because once everything gets
resolved … things just continue on like that never happened. It also had
absolutely no bearing on Winnie the Pooh’s arc, and no tie-in to the message.
Compare this to the TV movie titled "Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search
for Christopher Robin". That film took the concept of a missing
Christopher Robin, wove the entire experience around it, put a lot of emotional
focus on Pooh lamenting the absence of his friend, as well as learning that if he’s not
physically present, he’ll always be there in his heart, and it was a consistent
narrative. However, I once again have to point out that the strength of Pooh
Bear isn’t so much from a flowing narrative, but a charming experience. While
the script of the 2011 “Winnie the Pooh” is derivative to a fault, it’s
still unmistakably a pleasant experience with these lovable characters.
There may not be much depth or subtext to the character of Winnie the Pooh in this film, but he’s still affectionately lovable as a screen presence,
and he absolutely caries the film. I actually felt that Winnie the Pooh was
even more charming and lovable in this film than he was in the original movie,
and it was such a pleasant reminder as to why everyone loves this character so
much. He’s like the most purely innocent creature in existence, and he’s proven
the test of time quiet well. After nearly three decades, it’s such a joy to
hear Jim Cummings continuing to do the voice work for Winnie the Pooh. He
may not have been the first vocal talent to bring the character to life, but
he’s stuck with him the longest, and understands the character better than
anyone else alive right now. It’s also nice hearing him reprise his other
signature role of Tigger, but I feel his character gets less to do in the
movie, and fails to leave as big an impression ... which is unfortunate as he
was always my favorite character. Also, the character Gopher was another
childhood favorite of mine, and he’s completely absent … what’s up with that?
He may not have been in the book, but he was in the 1977 movie, and a regular
character on the TV show, so why hasn’t he had a life beyond that?
Another thing that took me out a little
is despite the return of all these familiar characters like Piglet, Kanga, Roo
and so forth, all their voices are different … not bad, but a little
distracting, and some of the personalities didn’t match. For example, Owl this
time around is voiced by Craig Ferguson, who’s a great talent, but the
character acts far nuttier than before, and I just find that an odd choice. The
character animation by contrast is consistently strong, and I love watching how
they all move about on screen.
Rabbit for example never did anything for me,
but the way he’s animated, his facial reactions and his energized movements
have me chuckling every time he’s on screen. I also like that they touched up
Christopher Robins design by giving him full human eyes as opposed to the dot
eyes, which I never liked. Another great talent I have to mention is John
Cleese as the narrator, who captures the spirit of the original, while also
bringing his own trade mark style of comedy. John Cleese has always been one of
my favorite British comedians, and he hits that note of being funny, without
going too far. At last, I really like that we have a new imaginative threat in
the form of the Backson. I especially love the post credit scene showing that
the creature really exists, and he’s just a clumsy goof that collects things
lying around. I should also note that it was the final role for Huell Howser
before he sadly passed away. Also, while the Backson probably won’t be
remembered among Disney’s rouges, “The Backson Song”
should have a secure spot among the best villain numbers. It’s bursting with
energy, the lyrics are clever, and the whole sequence is presented in this unique
chalk drawn animation style.
On that note, the music by Henry
Jackman is perfect in every way, and the songs are actually quite good when
jugged by their standards.
These songs were written by Robert Lopez and his
wife Kristen Lopez, who are also credible for writing the songs from “Avenue
Q” and “Book of Mormon”.
While I typically don’t hold Pooh Bear songs in the same high standards
of other Disney animation … these are exceptionally good, and leave me feeling
all warm and cheerful. For example, Pooh is introduced singing “The Tummy Song”, which
doesn’t sound too special on paper, yet Jim Cummings high spirited vocals laced
with an upscale musical tempo makes this a highly delightful song number. One of
the funnier musical numbers is titled “It’s
Gonna Be Great”, which puts the spot light on Tigger as he tries to
liven up Eeyore. Just giving Tigger a goofy song number is a plus in of itself,
and is one of the characters only real highlights in the film. The majority of
the remaining songs aren’t exactly memorable, but their charming within the
moment. I really love the call backs to the first film, especially the opening
“Winnie the Pooh” song sequence,
which is a loving recreation of the original … but this time they remembered to
include Tigger, which was great. I also love the end titles, witch feature
funny sill photo backdrops, and have the characters playing around with the
rolling credits. My absolute favorite song number by far is titled “Everything is Honey”, which features Pooh lost
in a day-dream about a world made of honey. Not only is this song upbeat and
catchy, but the animation and visuals on display are wonderful. One little
nit-pick is that I would have liked Keane’s "Somewhere Only We Know"
to be somewhere in the film, as it was in the trailers, and it would have been
the icing on the cake.
Aside from the cheerful music and lovable
characters, there’s just something about the presentation that just feels whimsical
… in a way that I feel is lacking from most current animated movies. It’s great
to return back to traditional 2D animation, as opposed to all those CGI flicks that
get released all the time, but there’s also this magic touch to the color pallet
and forest design that just carries this absorbing atmosphere. The backgrounds
are traditionally sketchy, but there’s also just the right amount of digital
effects added in to give it a contemporary look. Once again like in the first
movie, there’s no shortage of visual gags and forth wall jokes revolving around
the chapter book they’re in, like when the characters run into the letters or
get lost in a paragraph. The whole third act focuses on our characters getting
stuck in a deep pit, and I’m not going to lie … this scene produced some genuinely
big laughs. Just when you think the joke runs out, something else happens in
this situation that makes it even funnier. This is exactly the kind of climax appropriate
for Winnie the Pooh standards, as it’s just a silly situation, and we see how
everyone reacts to it in their own distinctly amusing way.
In
the end, “Winnie the Pooh” is a movie clearly aimed at little kids, but
adults can also enjoy watching it with them, and find it delightful on some
nostalgic level. It’s funny, the songs are really nice, it’s warmly cheerful,
has a decent enough message, and in many respects, I find this the most “fun”
of the Winnie the Pooh films. Was this a perfect high note to close Disney’s traditionally
hand drawn animation films on … no, not even close … but at least it was something
sweet, and enjoyable. I have to admit that the film is kind of simplistic to a
fault, as again it’s called “Winnie the Pooh”, but doesn’t really do
much with him, at least nothing more then what a single episode of the TV show
might have done. While this movie is unmistakably charming to watch, it also doesn’t
stick with me after words, nor is it something I need to watch again. Unless you’re
a little kid, or have a lot of fondness for the character, it’s really nothing
demanding. Still, when jugged by its own standards, I can’t help but like this
film for what it is, and I would love to share it with the next generation of
kids to come.
Thanks for reading my review of Disney’s
2011 animated classic “Winnie the Pooh” … and continue to enjoy the movies you love!
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