Winnie the Pooh (2011)

Good concept, poorly executed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

It had been an awfully long time since Disney had done anything with the beloved 'Winnie the Pooh' characters originally written by A.A Milne on the big screen, so it was lovely to see them return for this film.Using the style of story book tales coming alive this is a sweet natured film, with some lovely hand-drawn animation and some nice voice acting (though many of the voices are different to those who had appeared in other 'Pooh' films sadly), along with a few sprightly new songs.It is however a rather short film at around 63 minutes, and while I appreciate that it was aimed at younger audiences, it is rather short.A nice film though.

Winnie the Pooh is one fabulous way to send off the Disney that we grew up with, a company that despite some hardships, never stopped to take a break from animated films that needed to be drawn by hand. In this case, the humor strikes (I actually laughed more than in The Many Adventures of WtP), the animation is comparable to the finer CGI films of 2011 (if still short of the remarkable Adventures of Tintin), the songs are engaging if not also delightful, and despite how I have grown up from the last anthology, this film made me a child again and I have no regrets about seeing it on TV. As it is a continuation of the WtP series, however, I did find plenty of flaws, though they're ones that you will also find in other Winnie the Pooh movies/shorts (such as the fantastic nature of the 100 Acre Wood, which is its intention but just not my preferred cup of tea), and should not subtract from your experience. Check it out and relive the Disney that we knew for 74 years but would be sent to the TV from 2011 onwards (and even then, it's more Flash type animation).

In recent years many movies, including Lilo & Stitch and The Princess and the Frog, promised to be a "return to the classic Disney feel", but Winnie the Pooh is the one that really did it. The new film successfully embodies the sweet innocence of classic Disney and of the original Pooh stories, and makes for one of the best true children's films in recent years - one that's truly innocent in a way rarely seen these days, and that's lots of fun for the adults too. The very naturalistic animation is also a real pleasure, and the original songs - some of them by indie favorites She & Him - also feel like they were dragged right out of the original Disney films.My only complaint about Winnie the Pooh would be that it's too short; though interestingly, in a way it's the first real feature length film to focus on Pooh himself - "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" was really a collection of three short films. Following several movies that deviated greatly from the source material - like the Piglet and Tigger movies - the 2011 version returns to the original Pooh stories, and creates a single plot combined from several of the short stories. It works fantastically well, and rest assured that there's little reason for even the most vehement Pooh fan to be concerned about the treatment of the wonderful original books.

Several years ago, there was a study that found that besides Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh was the most popular Disney character out there. I am not sure how true it holds today, because the marketing has definitely dropped in recent years in favor of some Pixar fare and more Princess fluff. So when the Winnie the Pooh movie was announced, I was excited as it would be the unofficial sequel to one of the greatest animated movies of all-time: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Made right before Disney's untimely death, the original film pretty much represents the world and imagination of Disney: fun, whimsical, innocent, creative, and very charming.However, the marketing for this movie was so subpar, was so subtle, so atrocious, you would have thought that was going directly to DVD as opposed to theaters. Enjoying an extremely small run, this film had no chance to make money and make noise to the likes of Cars 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2. And here's the thing: Winnie the Pooh outshines them both. This film has the magic, the beauty, and the imaginative content of the original short films—making it a delightful sequel. Although the running time is extremely short and the music isn't as catchy, this film is perfect for youngsters, and the young-at-heart.I may have griped about the running time, but I should probably commend the writers for being able to stretch a story about finding Eeyore's tail to an hour. That's essentially the story: Eeyore lost his tail and everyone is setting out to find it. Along the way the characters at the Hundred-Acre Wood also fear that a monster might be approaching the area. The script is void of any tension or drama, which is a massive rarity nowadays. With animation evolving into a serious art form, you get less and less movies that truly strive to entertain the kids without teaching them or scarring them. This film is very lightweight with its material, and trust me that is a good thing.The voice acting was incredible and with the exception of perhaps Rabbit (Tom Kenny did a fine job regardless) they sounded darn accurate and close to the original source. Jim Cummings had the tough job of voicing Pooh and TIgger, but did a phenomenal job delivering the lines and singing to some of the songs. John Cleese was delightful as the Narrator, I guess Morgan Freeman wasn't available (Bad joke, moving on). To me though, Bud Luckey as Eeyore stole the show as the depressed donkey had much more to say this time around, and says it with such droll and lack of enthusiasm you can't help but laugh.The animation was nearly flawless, as the colors were light, there was no computer-animation getting in the way, and best of all the animators were able to throw in plenty of visual humor. Some of the funniest moments in the original Pooh adventures involved the actual book and the words being part of the environment and in this case they play an even bigger role. How text plays a role in a film? Just watch and find out, but there are tons of moments when the narrator and the book toys around with Pooh and his friends.Bottom Line: If there is a gripe I have with this movie, is that the running time was extremely short. It could have been nice to throw in a second or third story to at least pass 75-80 minutes and really get your money's worth. Nonetheless, the hour-long drama of finding a tail was funny, very delightful, and delivers smiles all around without ever becoming boring. Winnie the Pooh is the type of warm animation that we just don't see anymore: perfect for the kids but also not mind-numbing to the adults. The music was fun, the voice acting was great, the humor is everywhere, and there isn't a dull moment to be found in the Hundred-Acre Wood. Honestly, this movie was 20 minutes away from becoming a near instant-classic. I recommend this flashback to your childhood, no matter how old you are.