So, I am and have always been a very faithful Winnie the Pooh fan (Tigger is my favorite ^_^). I have seen The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Pooh's Grand Adventure, and The Tigger Movie several times over throughout my life, and they are some of my favorite movies. So when Disney announced that they would be making a new Pooh movie last year, I was at first quite excited, but then I became very very nervous. After I saw the trailer, I was downright terrified. I worried that this new movie would ruin my opinion of the Hundred Acre Wood, and I vowed not to see it (it was released on the same day as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, so that wasn't really a problem). After reading several glowing reviews about the movie, though, I quickly changed my mind and decided I wanted to see it after all. I have just now had the opportunity to watch it, and I have decided to make this my first film review for this blog.
Overall, I have to say I was quite underwhelmed with this movie. I have a very high opinion of Pooh's Grand Adventure, and I imagined this film being the same sort of emotional journey that that film was. It's not. It's a silly cartoon that, while it's quite humorous and entertaining, was pretty much just an excuse for Disney to use these beloved characters again to hopefully make a dime. Honestly, it really is a cute movie. Several scenes and lines are very funny, and it was nice to see my favorite characters again. I just was left feeling like I didn't really watch a film at all, just a collection of events that didn't really fit well together. I also didn't really care for the way certain characters were portrayed. Tigger was a bit too rambunctious and energetic. I have never before found him annoying, but I kinda did in this movie, which really bothered me since he's my favorite. Pooh and several other characters were portrayed as just dumb sometimes, something the other movies managed to avoid excellently by showing that the characters just lived a simple kind of life. Pooh didn't know how to read, not because he was an idiot but because he just never learned how and never needed to. He should be cute and adorable all the time, and also be a very caring friend. If he thought that Christopher Robin had been kidnapped, the real Pooh would have been extremely upset and concerned with getting him back, not worried about honey. Sure, Pooh likes honey. Who doesn't (Tigger, that's who! Tiggers do not like honey!)? But there is so much more to Pooh than honey and being comic relief in a story with nothing deeper than humor already. Pooh is extremely loyal, sweet, and adorably simple. Tigger is energetic, but he's supposed to be fun and adorable, not annoying. Roo is supposed to be a cute kid, and should NEVER use sarcasm >_<. Kanga is supposed to be the mom of the Hundred Acre Wood. She's not vain or ditzy at all!!! She's warm, sweet, and motherly to everyone, especially Roo. Rabbit wasn't TOO far off the mark, but I feel like he should have been a bit more uptight, less silly, more serious, and a bit smarter. Eeyore is supposed to be a bit gloomy, not clinically depressed! Owl should have been much more boring and self-consumed and less energetic. Piglet was alright, but there should be a bit more to his character than being frightened. He's supposed to be a very loyal friend as well. Christopher Robin was also okay, but I didn't like how much this kid differed in both looks and voice from the original. In fact, except for Jim Cummings' voicing of Pooh, I was uncomfortable with all the characters' voices. They were all way too different! Tigger's voice should have been fine, but there was something about it I didn't like (which doesn't make sense, since Jim Cummings voiced both him and Pooh in this film as well as Pooh's Grand Adventure). Christopher Robin, Piglet, Kanga, Owl, and Eeyore all had voices that sounded NOTHING like the original, and that drove me insane. I know that it shouldn't matter so much, but the originals were so distinctive and characterizing that without them, it didn't feel like the same characters at all. Rabbit, Tigger, and Roo had voices that were similar enough that I could get over it. Jim Cummings, for the most part, did an excellent job with Pooh, and I have no complaints there (except for the one involving the fact that I adore Sterling Holloway, the original Pooh, and I wish he were still around to voice him). Ok, now I'll let the characters go and get on to the actual MOVIE.
If I had to summarize this movie, it wouldn't take me long at all. Almost nothing happened. All the events were clustered oddly, there were too many potential storylines involved that never actually played out much, and the whole thing felt like a confused mess. I spent half the movie trying to figure out which plot line was supposed to be the main one. Was the film focusing on finding Eeyore's tail, or was it supposed to be about saving Christopher Robin? I couldn't tell. Actually, though, even for those two plot lines, there wasn't much in the way of actual plot. Eeyore lost his tail. Alright, nothing new, this happens all the time. Have a contest to see who can find the best substitute tail? Well...I guess, but why not just look for the real one? Meanwhile, Pooh keeps searching for honey (oh wait, did I say 2 plot lines? I forgot Pooh's search for lunch.), and the whole gang discovers that Christopher Robin has been captured by the Backson! Alright, we have a real problem now, even though the characters don't even seem to care very much. They kinda just stand and say, "Oh dear. We should probably do something about this, shouldn't we?" and show very little in the way of emotion at learning something has happened to one of their best friends. Anyways, so what do these characters do? They set objects in a path all around a pit to lure the Backson to his doom. Dull. They don't even leave their own backyards to try to find Christopher Robin, they just sit and wait for the Backson to come to them. Even THAT doesn't work; Pooh, who is so hungry that he's at the point of delusions and hallucinations, leads everyone to fall into the pit and get stuck. Piglet, the only one left not in the pit (besides Tigger, who is out searching for "Tigger Two" aka Eeyore, while dressed up like the Backson), must now find a way to get the rest of the gang out. So he takes off through some scary woods, runs into Backson Tigger, and after a wild chase-type scene where they knock the letters of the book into the pit, they both end up in there with everyone else. Pooh, hungry, builds a ladder with the letters to what he believes to be a honey pot, allowing everyone to climb safely out. Then Christopher Robin walks up and tells everyone he was at school (you'd have thought they would have learned this back in the last movie). Pooh finds Eeyore's tail, giving up his honey in the process, and the film ends with everyone rewarding Pooh with a giant honey pot for helping his friend.
Ok, wait...what? That's so dull! That's not a plot! The filmmakers should have A) narrowed the story down to ONE storyline rather than three, B) given the story actual events, and C) had a better lesson than "friends are more important than honey" if they were going to teach a lesson. Really, the biggest problem the characters actually solved was getting out of a hole in the ground, which Pooh solved for them. Christopher Robin came back by himself, and Pooh found Eeyore's tail on Owl's door, both of which were hardly exciting or interesting. Overall, I felt like this movie had little in the way of plot: no real introduction, no rising action leading to some sort of climax (also nonexistent), and absolutely zero denouement. The story kinda just stopped. The problems were quite simple, so the solution was no big deal at all. It certainly didn't feel like an ending; there was no sense of accomplishment, of finishing anything or having done or even tried something important.
I didn't much care for the music in the film either. Most of the songs were annoying rather than endearing (and I'd like to take this moment to mention that I have LOVED all the songs from previous Pooh movies). Even Kanga thought the winning the honey pot song was annoying. I like Zoey Deschanel, so hearing her sing the classic "Winnie the Pooh" song was alright. I could get on board with that. I also thought it was cute how they included Tigger in the song (he wasn't included in the original because he was introduced as a new character in the actual movie, therefore he was not a part of Christopher Robin's original group of friends named in the song). So, props for that. Otherwise, mediocre. I certainly won't be buying the soundtrack.
I know I'm being harsh, but Winnie the Pooh is something beloved to me, and I feel like I have every right to be dissatisfied with this film. There was little of the charm I have come to associate with Winnie the Pooh, and I was quite disappointed since that's what I loved so much about it. I felt like this film was made plot-wise for small children and character-wise for the parents to laugh. All the other Pooh movies have managed to appeal to the children while keeping the adults entertained by charming wordplay or deeper meanings, things this film not only lacked but completely shunned. I was quite disappointed with this film, which, while it was cute, was very shallow. Winnie the Pooh is not supposed to be shallow, it's supposed to be simple. They are not the same thing, and clearly the filmmakers did not know this.
If you'd like a good chuckle or a really easy watch, go ahead and see the film. If you'd like a little something more, you should probably avoid this film and instead enjoy one of the lovely other Pooh films from the past.
To sum it all up:
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Several shorts about day-to-day problems in the Hundred Acre Wood, riddled with charming and warm characters, often witty yet simple dialogue, and adorable yet funny situations and problems
Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin: A touching story about Pooh and his friends' overcoming their fears and believed shortcomings in order to try to rescue Pooh's very best friend who he can't bear to live without
The Tigger Movie: The story of Tigger being the "only one;" his search and longing for a real family for him to belong to, and his discovery that he's had one surrounding and loving him all along
Winnie the Pooh (2011): Movie about finding Eeyore's tail, Pooh being hungry and looking for lunch, and everyone getting stuck in a pit while Christopher Robin is off at school
You be the judge of which ones you want to watch.
Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate comments offering anyone else's opinion on this movie, Winnie the Pooh, or my blog post in general. I'm always looking to improve :).
TTFN!
Victoria
PS: "You never can tell with bees."
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