Rated G
Cast: Jim Cummings, Craig Ferguson, Tom Kenny, Travis Oates, Bud Luckey
Director: Don Hall
Disney's "Winnie the Pooh" rekindled in me a longing for innocence I had forgotten. Or maybe suppressed. Wherever and however that innocence left me, this trip back into A.A. Milne's Hundred Acre Wood was a pleasant reintroduction.
Movies today geared toward children cater to the demographic the way advertisers cater to potential consumers; by grasping at the attention rather than stirring the emotions. There's a whole lot of loud and a whole lot of shiny taking up residence in theatres each summer, and much of it comes devoid of an interesting story or even remotely interesting characters.
Top-notch entertainment does exist, most notably from the Disney Pixar and DreamWorks animation quarter. I greatly enjoy those films. They, too, work tirelessly to appeal to both younger and older moviegoers. Make no mistake about it... "Winnie the Pooh" is intended mostly for the little ones, though I suspect older viewers who don't mind a peregrination through a landscape dotted with wistful tokens of a simpler time will get something from the experience.
The movie has a leg up in that it involves characters we know well. Much of the joy comes in our remembrance of their endearing quirks. Voiced by Jim Cummings, Winnie the Pooh's sweet tooth is still in strong working order, evidenced in a scene where he tries to condition himself to NOT think about honey. (Even the sound of his grumbling stomach is unusually pronounced. It reminded me of the noise the Smoke Monster made in "Lost." Yeah, I see the weirdness of that analogy, but that's what came to mind.)
The sad, droopy but no less lovable Eeyore (Bud Luckey) is featured as well, always with a sour perspective at the ready. He's forever melancholic, but adorably patient. (One scene has his friends attempting to help him out of a jam using some pretty bizarre methods.) And the irrepressible Tigger (Cummings again) brings a bouncing jolt of exuberance to the proceedings. His zest for adventure knows no bounds, to the point where he conjures up a plan to convert Eeyore into "Tigger Two." I don't think I'm spoiling it if I say the plan doesn't... you know, go according to plan.
I won't offer up too many details of the plot, as part of the fun is watching their adventures unfold. The movie is presented in a kind of storybook format (narrated by John Cleese), and occasionally the scenes shift from full screen to being presented as though on the page of a book. The characters actually find themselves in physical interaction with the words themselves. The adventures don't feel like they came from the mind of a screenwriter, but from the imagination of young Christopher Robin (Jack Boulter) himself. With everything from Eeyore's slight appendage problem to a hunt for an imaginary monster to the unfortunate event that leads all but one of the characters into a deep ditch, and their only hope rests in the hands of (gasp!) Piglet (Travis Oates)... the film is cloaked in innocence and packaged for the young.
I don't know how much of an impact this film will have amidst the cacophony of summer movie mayhem. I found it to be a pleasant experience. It's mercifully short (clocking in at just over an hour) and poses nothing that would give parents reservations. Its charm lies in its innocence.
I read in an article once that it's a bad idea for parents to read to their children in bed, as that may cause them to associate reading with sleep, and could imbue in them an aversion to reading. There may be truth to this, yet some stories seem made for just before bedtime. They serve as a sweet reminder that we were once of an age when all seemed right with the world. Sure, we know better now, but accrued wisdom needn't free us from our memory of such an age, as those moments offered the most precious of childhood gifts... pleasant dreams.
* * * out of * * * * stars
Movies today geared toward children cater to the demographic the way advertisers cater to potential consumers; by grasping at the attention rather than stirring the emotions. There's a whole lot of loud and a whole lot of shiny taking up residence in theatres each summer, and much of it comes devoid of an interesting story or even remotely interesting characters.
Top-notch entertainment does exist, most notably from the Disney Pixar and DreamWorks animation quarter. I greatly enjoy those films. They, too, work tirelessly to appeal to both younger and older moviegoers. Make no mistake about it... "Winnie the Pooh" is intended mostly for the little ones, though I suspect older viewers who don't mind a peregrination through a landscape dotted with wistful tokens of a simpler time will get something from the experience.
The movie has a leg up in that it involves characters we know well. Much of the joy comes in our remembrance of their endearing quirks. Voiced by Jim Cummings, Winnie the Pooh's sweet tooth is still in strong working order, evidenced in a scene where he tries to condition himself to NOT think about honey. (Even the sound of his grumbling stomach is unusually pronounced. It reminded me of the noise the Smoke Monster made in "Lost." Yeah, I see the weirdness of that analogy, but that's what came to mind.)
The sad, droopy but no less lovable Eeyore (Bud Luckey) is featured as well, always with a sour perspective at the ready. He's forever melancholic, but adorably patient. (One scene has his friends attempting to help him out of a jam using some pretty bizarre methods.) And the irrepressible Tigger (Cummings again) brings a bouncing jolt of exuberance to the proceedings. His zest for adventure knows no bounds, to the point where he conjures up a plan to convert Eeyore into "Tigger Two." I don't think I'm spoiling it if I say the plan doesn't... you know, go according to plan.
I won't offer up too many details of the plot, as part of the fun is watching their adventures unfold. The movie is presented in a kind of storybook format (narrated by John Cleese), and occasionally the scenes shift from full screen to being presented as though on the page of a book. The characters actually find themselves in physical interaction with the words themselves. The adventures don't feel like they came from the mind of a screenwriter, but from the imagination of young Christopher Robin (Jack Boulter) himself. With everything from Eeyore's slight appendage problem to a hunt for an imaginary monster to the unfortunate event that leads all but one of the characters into a deep ditch, and their only hope rests in the hands of (gasp!) Piglet (Travis Oates)... the film is cloaked in innocence and packaged for the young.
I don't know how much of an impact this film will have amidst the cacophony of summer movie mayhem. I found it to be a pleasant experience. It's mercifully short (clocking in at just over an hour) and poses nothing that would give parents reservations. Its charm lies in its innocence.
I read in an article once that it's a bad idea for parents to read to their children in bed, as that may cause them to associate reading with sleep, and could imbue in them an aversion to reading. There may be truth to this, yet some stories seem made for just before bedtime. They serve as a sweet reminder that we were once of an age when all seemed right with the world. Sure, we know better now, but accrued wisdom needn't free us from our memory of such an age, as those moments offered the most precious of childhood gifts... pleasant dreams.
* * * out of * * * * stars
