Winnie the Pooh (2011) Reviews

• Winnie the Pooh is great fun

  mcoia2011-06-25

  I was able to see a special screening of this movie at the L.A. Film Festival and I was very excited for it. For starters, I'm a huge Winnie the Pooh fan and the 1977 animated movie is one of my favorites. However, even though I was very excited to see it I was a bit worried that this might be a disappointment because I heard the running time for the film was less than an hour. Well, while watching this movie my worries were pushed to the side. I loved everything about this movie and in the end I was quite pleased with the length of the film and when I thought about it I'm not sure why that was a worry for me. Winnie the Pooh isn't not something that can be stretched to 90 minutes without having some major filling and this movie had none. There have also been some talks about the animation and how it's in 2d and that is one of the reasons I was excited. Winnie the Pooh wouldn't work in any other type of animation and so Disney made the right choice in returning to the 2d for this movie. The characters all look great, especially Eeyore and Christopher Robin. Another thing that surprised me about the movie was how every character was well represented. I was worried that the story might not focus on all the characters and that some would be left out. However, that was not the case. Every character has their fair of great moments, from Eeyore's tail contest to Rabbit's silly antics later in the movie. I think another reason why this film succeeds is because of the story line. There is plenty of going on, but it doesn't get overstuffed and it doesn't drag. The movie starts off on the characters looking for a new tail for Eeyore and smoothly transitions into the characters trying to rescue Christopher Robin because they miss read the letter he left at his house. The voices for all the characters are great and it's another reason this film succeeds. Everyone involved adds something to each character and truly makes it their own, something a lot of other animated movies fail at. Lastly, the score for the movie was great and really added something special to the scenes that carried the movie and hearing Zooey Deschanel sing the Winnie the Pooh theme song was terrific. When I think back on it there was nothing that disappointed me in this movie and it was everything I could ever want from a Disney movie

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• Perfectly gentle movie for children

  derelict872011-07-16

  My little girl is 5 years old. I was afraid this would be an update of Pooh, an attempt to make him and his world more contemporary...try to compete with Transformers and Harry Potter. To my delight this is not the case. If you let your youngster watch this movie they are in for a gentle play date with old friends. Perfectly pitched silliness for my young one, she literally belly laughed twice. Never once trying to cross that line with "risque humor for adults". I was so happy they avoided the intensity of Toy Story 3. Winnie the Pooh is a small, quiet and perfect, like my little girl.

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• Back to the childhood innocence I know and love...

  TheLittleSongbird2011-04-16

  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 Bethany Cox

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• The Most Adorable Movie

  mary7162011-07-15

  I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was to see this movie. Winnie the Pooh has by far been the most important animated character in my whole life. As a kid, I had a Winnie the Pooh chair that I would sit in and I've had countless Winnie the Pooh pajamas and stuffed animals. I saw the preview and started tearing up because it looked so cute and it reminded me that I'm growing up. The movie was incredible. The animation, the voices, the story, and the good old Winnie the Pooh feeling, all mixed with the great songs and hilarious dialogue made this movie truly special. I walked out of the theater feeling sticky sweet like the "huny" Pooh loves so dearly. Truly my favorite Pooh movie. MUST SEE!!!!

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• Simply brilliant. If you have a heart, you'll love this

  tony-peacham2011-06-09

  I was waiting to see this for my 3 year old first visit to a cinema and I have to say that although I wasn't brought up on Winnie myself, my Daughter loved it and I have to say I was nothing but impressed with this wonderful piece of simplicity, light humor and pure joy of the film and it's characters. If you want to spend an hour or so just seeing life in it's simplest childhood joy as it should be for all children, then see this. My Daughter loved it and all she said at the end was " again, again! " while attempting to finish off all her popcorn! One of the best films of the year and in some time to boot.

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