Psycho's Movie Reviews #390: Winnie The Pooh (2011)

Winnie the Pooh is a 2011 American animated musical adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures, based on the eponymous novel created by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard. The 51st animated film produced by the studio, it was directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Peter Del Vecho and Clark Spencer, and narrated by John Cleese. The film is a revival of Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise and the fifth theatrical Winnie the Pooh film released.

Jim Cummings reprises his voice roles as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, and Travis Oates reprises his voice role as Piglet, while newcomers Tom Kenny, Craig Ferguson, Bud Luckey, and Kristen Anderson-Lopez provide the voices of Rabbit, Owl, Eeyore, and Kanga, respectively. In the film, the aforementioned residents of the Hundred Acre Wood embark on a quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit while Pooh deals with a hunger for honey.

Production began in September 2008 with Walt Disney Animation Studios' chief creative officer John Lasseter announcing that Disney wanted to create a film that would "transcend generations". The film features six songs by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and a score composed by Henry Jackman, as well as a rendition of the Sherman Brothers' "Winnie the Pooh" theme song by actress and musician Zooey Deschanel. The film was released on April 6, 2011 in Europe and on July 15, 2011 in the United States. It grossed $50 million worldwide on a $30 million budget and received largely positive reviews from critics who praised its nostalgic feeling. Despite the lukewarm reception in general, Disney decided to let go of the idea of releasing one hand-drawn animated film every two years after the film's underperformance despite that it wasn't intentionally expected to be a blockbuster hit like previous works. To date, it is Disney's last traditionally animated theatrical film. However, in 2019, producer Peter Del Vecho and Frozen directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (who eventually became Chief Creative Officer of the animation studio) confirmed that there would be possibilities for other future hand-drawn projects at the studio.

Plot

Christopher Robin is a young boy whose story takes place inside a storybook, whose letters can be seen around many of the scenes. Winnie the Pooh wakes up one day to find that he is out of honey ("The Tummy Song"). While out searching for more, Pooh discovers that Eeyore has lost his tail. Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo come to the rescue ("A Very Important Thing To Do") while Tigger has his bouncing fun. Christopher Robin decides to hold a contest to see who can find a replacement for Eeyore's tail. The prize for the winner is a fresh pot of honey ("The Winner Song"). After everyone else's failed attempts to replace Eeyore's tail, Kanga suggests that they use a scarf. This is declared the winner, but it soon unravels.

The following day, Pooh still has not been able to find any honey. He goes to visit Christopher Robin, and finds a note that says "Gon Out Bizy Backson", a misspelling of "Gone Out, Busy, Back Soon". Pooh is unable to read the note, so he asks for Owl's help. Owl's poor reading comprehension skills lead Pooh and his friends to believe that Christopher Robin has been abducted by a ruthless and mischievous creature they call the "Backson" ("The Backson Song"). Rabbit plans to trap the Backson in a pit, which they think he will fall into after following a trail of items leading to it. Meanwhile, Tigger, who wants a sidekick to help him defeat the Backson, recruits a reluctant Eeyore to be a second Tigger ("It's Gonna Be Great"). He dresses up like the Backson and tries to teach Eeyore how to fight. Eeyore manages to escape from Tigger and hides underwater, where he discovers an anchor.

After a failed attempt to get honey from a bee hive, Pooh's imagination combined with his hunger get the better of him ("Everything is Honey"), and he ends up accidentally eating some mud and falling into the pit meant for the Backson. Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Owl, and Piglet use Eeyore's anchor "replacement tail" as a rope to try to get Pooh out, but everyone but Piglet falls in. Piglet tries to help them out, but consistently overinterprets Rabbit's instructions, leading to the destruction of the only rope he has with him. He goes to find more rope, but runs into Tigger, and mistakes his costume for the actual monster. Piglet flees from Tigger on a red balloon, which knocks some of the storybook's letters into the pit.

After the chase, Tigger and Piglet fall into the trap as well, where Eeyore reminds Tigger that he, being "the only one", is "the most wonderful thing about Tiggers." Eventually, Pooh figures out how to use the fallen letters to form a ladder, and his friends are able to escape the pit. They soon find Christopher Robin, and tell him about the Backson, but he clarifies by saying that he had been out at school and was meant to be "back soon". The honey pot prize is given to the red balloon from earlier, much to Pooh's dismay.

Later, Pooh visits Owl, and discovers that Owl, not recognizing what it is, has found Eeyore's tail and is using it as a bell pull. Owl offers Pooh some honey for lunch, but Pooh, ignoring his tummy's loud rumbling, hurries to give Eeyore his tail back. Christopher Robin is proud of Pooh's selflessness; as a reward for his kindness, Pooh is given a pot of honey twice as tall as he is. ("Pooh's Finale") The film ends with Christopher Robin and Pooh walking into the sunset as Pooh comments aside his tummy won't be rumbly for a long time.

In a post-credits scene, the Backson is revealed to really exist, but is actually very nice and gentle. He finds the items left for him, including the chalk drawing of himself, which he calls a "scary looking fella". Deciding to return the items to their owners, he starts picking them up but ends up falling into the hole.

Production

Walt Disney Animation Studios' chief creative officer John Lasseter first approached Stephen Anderson and Don Hall in November 2008 about making a new Winnie the Pooh film for theaters, with the two becoming enthusiastic at the idea and accepting the project. In 2009, Lasseter, Anderson and Hall viewed the classic Winnie the Pooh feature shorts and films to figure out how to make the title character culturally relevant.

Following a trip to Ashdown Forest in Sussex, South East England to explore the location of A. A. Milne's original stories, the filmmakers enlisted Burny Mattinson, a Disney veteran who worked as the key animator on the 1974 short Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, to serve as lead storyboard artist for the film, with Anderson and Hall directing. After seeing all the feature films about Winnie the Pooh, Mattinson thought he could use Milne's story "In which Eeyore loses his tail and Pooh finds one" as the basic idea for the plot. Mattinson's five-minute pitch for the sequence where Eeyore loses his tail is credited with convincing Disney executives to make the film a feature-length work instead of a featurette. Regarding the decision to use hand-drawn (traditional) animation in lieu of computer-generated imagery (CGI), Anderson stated that "If this were a fully CG-animated and rendered and lit Pooh, it just wouldn’t feel right. We would be doing the characters a real disservice." Many of the animation staff from The Princess and the Frog (2009) were brought in to work on Winnie the Pooh, as the two films involved traditional animation. The production would also use the same software utilized for Princess and the Frog, Toon Boom Animation's Harmony, to digitally ink and paint the drawings.

Originally, the film was supposed to feature five stories from the A. A. Milne books, but the final cut ended up drawing inspiration from three stories. Lasseter had also announced that Rabbit's friends and relatives would be in the film, but their scene was ultimately deleted.

Release/Reception/Box Office

The film was released on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 in Belgium; April 11 in Germany; and on April 15 in the United Kingdom. It was released on July 15, 2011, in the United States.

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 90% of 131 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Short, nostalgic, and gently whimsical, Winnie the Pooh offers young audiences—and their parents—a sweetly traditional family treat." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 26 critics, "generally favourable reviews". CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film an "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times says the film "proves a fitting tribute to one of the last century's most enduring children's tales." A. O. Scott of The New York Times praised the film for being able to charm children and parents alike. Roger Ebert, giving it 3 stars out of 4, wrote in his review, "In a time of shock-value 3-D animation and special effects, the look of the film is gentle and pleasing. It was hand-animated, I'm told, and the backgrounds use a subtle and reassuring watercolour style. It's a nightmare-proof experience for even the youngest viewers."

While Platform Online stated that Winnie the Pooh's "hand-drawn animation is such a welcome relief," it found the film's run-time length to be more of an issue, which it stated "At just 70 minutes, even aiming at kids this could have been longer – Pixar have been pushing films well over 90 minutes for years now, and it's clear the children can handle it. Just as you really get into the film it's over, and you're left wanting more."

In North America, Winnie the Pooh earned $7.8 million in its opening weekend from 2,405 single-screen locations, averaging about $3,267 per venue, and ranking sixth for the weekend. The film closed on September 22, 2011, with a final domestic gross of $26.7 million, with the opening weekend making up 29.44% of the final gross. Among its overseas grosses, Winnie the Pooh had its largest gross in Japan with $4.13 million; the country has had a long-standing affection for the character of Winnie the Pooh. Other international grosses include $1.33 million in Germany, $1.29 million in Poland, $1.18 million in the UK and $1.14 million in Russia. Overall, it made $23.4 million overseas, bringing the worldwide gross to $50.1 million over a budget of $30 million.

Budget $30 million

Box office $50.1 million

My Review

Winnie the Pooh is a marvellous and innocent adventure that has been anticipated by me since its trailer debut. Every time I see the trailer, equipped with the wonderful song "Somewhere Only We Know," I break down. There is not a thing sad in the trailer, but just the soft melody of the song, combined with warm and vibrant characters from my younger years just puts me in tears. It's cute, innocent, and just the way I wanted it.

I am beyond grateful that this didn't support the 3D epidemic sweeping our nation these past years. Winnie the Pooh is made up of hand-drawn animation that gives itself a water-colour sort of look. It's truly a throwback, and is a nice break from all the CGI animation that, while nice to look at, can't match the feel of classic animation. I couldn't imagine Winnie the Pooh in CGI anyway.

There is a lot of singing in the film. Lots of well composed songs are in here, my favourite being "The Backson Song." I wasn't under the impression this was a musical, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. The target audience for this is most likely between 4-8. So to put in a lot of soft and melodic songs in it was a good idea.

Winnie the Pooh is perhaps the most gentle film I can remember. Even the "scariest" scenes won't freak out the little ones, and everything is so calm, so tender, and so unobtrusive it's wonderful. Growing up with Winnie the Pooh, this film was everything I wanted it to be. I wanted it to be nostalgic, warm, and inspiring.

During moments of this film, my eyes watered. I can't answer if someone asked me "Why?" I think it was because the film was so joyful and very sweet. Plus, these are characters that I've known since my childhood. I was grateful they didn't play the song "Somewhere Only We Know" from the trailer. I would've broke down in front of everyone.

The voice acting is beautiful. The film doesn't market its actors either. There is no grade-A "Brad Pitt," "Ellen DeGeneres," "Johnny Depp" marketing scheme here. The actors who voice the characters were chosen because they were fit to voice whoever they were able to. They weren't picked because their names look good on a poster.

I have always been a fan of AA Milne's charming and whimsical stories since an early age. The 1977 movie The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh epitomised the childhood innocence that made the stories so wonderful, as did the TV series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I also liked a vast majority of the various film and TV incarnations that were made between then and now.

Ever since hearing of this movie I knew I wanted to see it. Part of me knew it would work, and for me when I saw it last night it did. My only complaint of Winnie the Pooh is the length, at barely an hour (exluding the credits and the short) the film is too short. Otherwise it is a wonderful movie that like the 1977 movie and TV series captures perfectly the childhood innocence that I know and love. Not only that, it is also a welcome return to the traditional animation style as seen with the original movie.

Speaking of the animation it is great. I always felt The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh along with The Rescuers was the best looking of the 1970s Disney movies, it had an elegant and warm feeling to it. Winnie the Pooh maintains that elegant and warm feeling with colourful backgrounds, cutely drawn characters and ravishing colours. The songs and music heard in the movie aren't quite classic status perhaps, but they are very memorable in the melodies and sweet in the lyrics.

The dialogue is delightfully droll, with a lot for children and adults to enjoy. The story is structurally thin somewhat, but it is never dull thanks to the bright and breezy pace and the familiar yet absolutely delightful story lines including Pooh hunting for honey, Eeyore hunting for his tail and the search for the creature that Owl thinks has carried off Christopher Robin. The characters are engaging and wonderfully whimsical, Pooh is still endearing, Tigger is very funny and Piglet is cute.

The voice acting is terrific really. These are not the original voice actors, and most of the voice actors(excepting Jim Cummings) in the likes of Tigger Movie, Pooh's Heffalump Movie and Piglet's Big Movie don't return, but the new voice actors do make an effort to not sound too different. Jim Cummings still does a wonderful job as Pooh and Tigger, and John Cleese for me is the most thoughtful narrator of any Winnie the Pooh film since Sebastian Cabot. I wasn't so sure though about Tom Kenny at first as Rabbit, but he being a very talented voice actor is also good.

Overall, delightful, charming and a lovely nostalgic trip down memory lane, if only it wasn't so short. 9/10