WINNIE THE POOH Is Like a Warm, Soft Blanket For The Young'uns (Blu-Ray Review)

Directors Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall's Winnie The Pooh is decidedly for all the younger viewers out there, and not so much for you and me--that is, unless you're a Zooey Deschanel completist and absolutely need to hear the songs she supplies the fluffy-as-a-feather-you-almost-don't-think-about-it soundtrack. If you have very young children--we're talking five and under, here--I imagine the reaction to the movie in your household will be something like this:

You: "That was sweet. What's next?"

The little one: "Play it again!"

The standard for this kind of movie is maybe a bit softer because of the nature of the material. I think the goal here was to bring one of Winnie The Pooh creator A.A. Milne's stories to the screen (in this case, it was actually five, but at only 63 minutes, it feels like the writers skimmed the material for the best bits). There are actually two plot points holding the story together, framed by the soothing narration of John Cleese (absent the sharp, satirical tone I'm used to in his voice, I almost didn't recognize him): the perpetually forlorn stuffed Donkey Eeyore's (Bud Luckey, frequent Disney animator and sometime voice actor) tail goes missing and it's up to the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood to find it--or at least a suitable replacement. Then, schoolboy Christopher Robin (Jack Boulter) goes missing, and Craig Feguson's Owl misinterprets a note saying their friend will be "back soon," thinking that Christopher Robin has been snatched by something nefarious called the "Backson."

And that's pretty much it--the characters wander around for a while, getting into non-perilous adventures based on a minor misunderstanding, and then (spoilers) Christopher Robin shows up to set things straight. As an adult, there might not be a lot of grab onto, save for the sweetly engaging voice work of the cast (Ferguson as Owl and Jim Cummings and Pooh/Tigger are standouts), and the lovely animation. But absent anything as complicated as a theme or moral. If it sounds like I'm slagging the movie, I'm not--it's simply a very very young experience, and I'm well outside of the target demographic. But I imagine that if you do show it to the very little ones for which it's intended, their eyes will light up, and they'll remain engaged for the brisk, barely over an hour running time.