Winnie the Pooh (2011)

"Winnie the Pooh" is exactly what we hoped it would be, the same ol' willy nilly silly old bear, which manages to capture the original innocence of A.A. Milne's stories. With so many movies for children today that are computer-generated, fast paced and full of 3-D CGI magic, it's a fantastic change of pace for the younger children in your family and those outside of the teenage years who will appreciate everything that Pooh has to offer.

For those of you that are older fans of Pooh, you will appreciate the voice work of Jim Cummings who has been the voice of Pooh since the late 1980's. It's the one voice in the film that sounds so familiar, but some of the other voices could have been better. Mind you, they weren't terrible, but they were just different. For example, we didn't care for Eeyore's voice at all. Mr. Cummings does double-duty and agains excels with his work as Tigger. With voice acting talent so plentiful, we would have liked to to have seen some better performances from those outside of Mr. Cummings.

Trailer:

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"Winnie the Pooh" doesn't have the most original story, but it isn't really necessary for a movie geared towards preschool aged children. Pooh, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Tigger and Owl are in a quest to locate Eeyor's missing tail, a common plot in the old books and Pooh films. It's predictable, and still enjoyable. The friends mistakenly believe that Christopher Robin is missing when Owl, as he is known to do, misreads a note that Christoper Robin left for them telling them he would be "back soon". Owl, reads this as if Christopher Robin was abducted by an imaginary character called a "Backson". They work for most of the remaining movie trying to trap the "Backson" to get Christopher Robin back from the creature. In the end, they of course discover that Christopher Robin was just fine and Pooh accidentally uncovers the location of the missing tail.

The history of the characters, and the amazing beauty of hand-drawn animation, is what makes "Winnie the Pooh" so incredibly enjoyable. Some of the interesting sequences included the characters literally walking across the pages and interacting with the narrator (John Cleese). The original and classic songs, performed by actress and singer Zooey Deschanel, fit in perfectly with the story and makes for an exceptional soundtrack. "Winnie the Pooh" is extremely short at only 63 minutes, but it is a great length for the short attention spans of the intended audience. This is sure to be another Disney Classic, and we'll look forward to the Blu-Ray/DVD's to be available to add to our collection.