Winnie the Pooh Reviews

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since it has a solid reputation and since I try to watch all the Disney animated classics, I still wanted to check it out. Well, even though it was certainly not bad at all, I still didn't care much for the damned thing, I'm afraid. Basically, the main issue I had was that, even as a kid, I never really understood the appeal of Winnie the Pooh and it certainly didn't change when I became a grown-up. Furthermore, is it me or are they constantly recycling the same stories and ideas with these characters? Anyway, basically, there was a very specific target audience for this movie, the kids between 3 and 7 years old, but I can't imagine anyone older really having a blast with this. Still, at least, the animation was really neat and it shows that Disney should focus more on hand-drawn animation since they are such masters in this art and leave the CGI animation to Pixar. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn't really work for me, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you want to entertain some very young kids. 

I’ve never quite figured it out, but Disney and A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh stories merge together pretty wonderfully. There’s a quiet, gentle humor, a slower pace, and endearing characters, all great ingredients for a solid Disney film, and the studio never flounders when adapting this particular property.

 

This version of Winnie the Pooh is another solid, commendable adaptation, but there’s nothing here that we haven’t seen before. Some of it feels like a retread of parts of the prior The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, yet it does all of it exceptionally well. It breezes along, perhaps too fast for my taste as the film is only a little over an hour.

 

You know, growing up I had only the slightest of interest in Milne’s world and characters. I watched a VHS about the gang celebrating Eeyore’s birthday quite a bit, but didn’t spend more time gathering up the various shorts, TV shows, toys, and games. In re-visiting and diving into the entirety of the Disney studio’s output, I’ve come to enjoy the Hundred Acre Woods and its various denizens.

 

Watching these films is a lot like wrapping yourself up in a comfortable and warm blanket. There’s a gentleness here that is quite pleasing. So many animated films have turned into frantic things which beat you over the head with needless celebrity stunt-casting, action scenes, and empty pop-culture references in place of humor. I suppose what attracts me to this film is its old-fashioned movie-making.

 

If I ever had a kid, either my own or as an uncle/godparent, this is the kind of film I would use to introduce them to the magic of the movies. Not only is a good indicator of what “all ages” fun can be, but it’s actually pretty pleasing and smart in the ways in which it dares to be different. Much like the 1977 original, this Winnie the Pooh interacts with the text of the children’s book, breaking the fourth wall to speak with the narrator (John Cleese, he’s wonderful), and two musical numbers which break away from the rest of the film.

 

“The Backson Song” is a moving series of chalkboard illustrations, filled with imaginative bursts as the ensemble decides what the creature is, what it wants, and how to catch it. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t immediately put a smile upon my face. The other is “Everything is Honey,” which sees Pooh’s hunger pangs turn into a fantasia of honey dripping everywhere, and objects turning into honey pots. It’s always a great moment whenever the animators were allowed off the leash and go crazy.

 

If the only major problem I can find with this film is a too brief running time and an over familiarity with the plot construction, I think we are on solid ground. It’s a classic storybook entertainment, and it feels displaced from an older era in the studio’s oeuvre. It’s a damn shame that this movie, much like The Princess and the Frog, didn’t find a larger audience at the box office. Something tells me that one-two punch caused the studio to rethink hand-drawn animation. I hope they return to the format one day.

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Winnie The Pooh. And if it was, it's not any more. So believe me when I say that the latest adaption is one of the very best.

The newest installment in the beloved series of Winnie The Pooh films is about, both a search for Eeyore's tale, and a plot to trap a creature that has supposedly captured Christopher Robin.

All the charm and fun of the rest of the Winnie The Pooh films are present here. Short songs and nostalgia help as well.

The voice cast performs well, though some of the new voices may bother you at first. Jim Cummings plays Pooh and Tigger, and Bud Luckey (who you'll recognize as Chuckles from Toy Story 3, among other Pixar films) has been cast as the ever depressed Eeyore. The other cast members shine as well, once you get used to them that is.

The animation is simple and beautiful, but during one musical number, where everything appears to be turning to honey, the animation grows much more detailed. CGI and motion capture are great, but nothing beats the traditional stuff.

The music is wonderful as well, and the Winnie The Pooh theme song at the beginning revived many glorious memories.

The characters may not be quite as you remembered them, though. Piglet is a bit more chipper. Owl shows a lot of emotion in his eyes. And Rabbit, while still acting superior to the rest, seems to have lost some of his crankiness. Also, Christopher Robin has changed his wardrobe and his eyes are no longer little specks. This, to me, was the change I liked the least, but I didn't mind. Too much.

The film is also surprisingly funny. This is easily the most humorous of all the Winnie The Pooh adaptions, and it made me laugh much more than other so called "comedies" out there.

My only real complaint about Winnie The Pooh is it's run time: An all too short 63 minutes. I know that kids don't have the longest attention span, but this trip down memory lane felt a little short.

Winnie The Pooh is just as wonderful as ever, and I do hope this film is only the beginning of another league of movies from our friends at the Hundred Acre Wood.

The reputation from Walt Disney Pictures at making animated family feature films was dying after Tarzan was release, but now after Disney have released The Princess And The Frog, Tangled and now Winnie The Pooh, it has been rebooted and resurrected. The idea of a new Winnie The Pooh feature film was perhaps a bad idea to start off especially by trying to get the accuracy of the voices from the original actors, but after seeing it it truly is an absolutely fantastic family treasure that will warm your heart from start to finish and greatly honored the original cartoons.


There are many key reasons why this new Winnie The Pooh is so special. Thankfully they bought Christopher Robin back, they had a narrator telling the story again and the bond between him and the characters within and the fact that Disney decided not to go from 3D animation (like a lot of films we have seen in the past decade) but went back to original 2D animation. The effects were absolutely splendid and stuck to the effects in the older Disney films very well. There are uncertainties of whether Winnie The Pooh is classed as a musical or not seeing as it does involve songs, but like the films in The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh, the songs within don't flow with the events that go on or are going to happen within the film so, I perhaps would say that it is a musical.


During an ordinary day in Hundred Acre Wood, Winnie the Pooh sets out to find some honey. Misinterpreting a note from Christopher Robin, Pooh convinces Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, Roo and Eeyore that their friend has been captured by a creature named "Backson" so they set out to save him.


The biggest risk in my opinion making this new Winnie The Pooh film was finding actors who aren't only able to pull off voices that sound almost exactly like the actors in the originals, but also having said that, managing to still feel the magic and beauty within the characters. Jim Cummings had the honors of taking the leading role by not only providing the voice of Winnie the Pooh, but also the voice of Tigger. His voice portrayal of Pooh was perhaps the most accurate an actor could possibly pull off in comparison to Starling Holloway as Pooh as the original character. Due to this, Cummings pulled it off really well and despite knowing it is a different actor's voice and after over 30 years, it is an honor to say that the magic within the character is still there. Therefore, it still feels the same cute and innocent character we saw from The Honey Tree, Blustery Day and Tigger Too. However, Cummings' role as Tigger wasn't entirely convincing because the great and late Paul Winchell's portrayal of Tigger really is timeless and is the only actor who could have pulled off the voice of Tigger and expressing his character so perfectly. Cummings' role wasn't a bad attempt at all seeing as it is quite a trick to try and get the uniqueness of Winchell's Tigger voice so accurately. So, it was still a satisfactory attempt.


I felt more than thrilled to find out that Christopher Robin was returning and despite that the animation of the character and voice was very different, he somehow seemed a lot younger. However, he was still that adorable, innocent and friendly little boy from the films years ago. Like Paul Winchell and Sterling Holloway, John Fiedler's voice role of Piglet perhaps felt like only he could pull it off, but despite new voice of Piglet: Travis Oates wasn't as convincing as Jim Cummings's role as Pooh, it wasn't a bad attempt at it at all (like Cummings' as Tigger). Bud Luckey's role tallies second most accurate voice portrayal (after Cummings as Pooh) in the film as he provides the voice of Eeyore. He still expresses the old gloomy, depressed and pessimistic donkey so brilliantly. Therefore, all critical acclaim is rightfully deserved towards the actors and their attempted voice portrayals in the film.


Steve Anderson has worked in Walt Disney feature Animation since 1995 and has only provided us with one film during that time: Meet The Robinsons, as well as providing voices in a few other recent Disney projects. He was chosen to work alongside Don Hall to direct this reboot so to speak, and because the Winnie the Pooh Disney adaptations are some of the pieces of Disney's backbone, Anderson and Hall had plenty of weight on their shoulders. Together, they made this into a masterpiece from generations aimed for generations to come. The main reason why this is such a special film is that it is a film that mixes two generations and provides Disney's true colours and what they are all about. So, due to that I don't think there has been or will be a more innocent story than Winnie The Pooh for a very long time. The script was sublime and due to the very simple story, it at the same time made it feel like a great film for adults to enjoy as well as kids. In fact, teenagers and adults who grew up with the older cartoons would get more pleasure out of this than kids of this generation!


Overall, Winnie The Pooh is truly an enchanting and both visually and emotionally magical treasure from Disney that is my pick for Best Animated Feature at the 84th Academy Awards. It is more of a trip down memory lane than another breakthrough for Disney, although in ways it is just like both. Shamefully, a few people will not watch this due to its innocent story that is aimed towards kids more than adults, but it is truly a magical film that demonstrates what Disney is all about and it is a very easy film to fall in love with.