Pooh’s Grand Adventure

Normally, I’m a big fan of Disney’s forays into the Hundred Acre Wood, but The Search for Christopher Robin feels like a great short film that’s been stretched too far. Grand Adventure? Hardly. It just keeps going and going, and while it is initially adorable that Pooh and the gang discover the concept of school, what’s not so cute is how a natural endpoint for the adventure just keeps rolling on. There’s too much padding and not enough actual story to justify the running time, but the direct-to-video franchise market was still a new concept and territory for Disney in 1997. Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin is the nadir in a franchise that tends to be above average, if not great in its simple sweetness. I suppose on tedious transgression is forgivable.