Easter Movie Reviews: The Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh

THERE’S A RETURN to the multifarious charms of 1977 animated classic The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh – only these days, Christopher Robin has a pair of Hunter wellies strategically product-placed outside his bedroom door. But the rest of the gang are as ever they were: Pooh as the honey-loving bear, the exuberant Tigger, nervous Piglet, the ever-gloomy Eeyore et al.
Like the original, the movie makes a playful reference to AA Milne’s original books, with the text appearing on screen, and the narrator-cum pedagogue (voiced by John Cleese) offering a wise and reasoned tone to all proceedings. This time, it is Eeyore who takes centre stage as he loses his tail and his friends offer a host of inappropriate substitutes – all of which somehow fail spectacularly, to the disappointment of the doleful donkey. There are a few scary moments when the gang manage to work themselves into a frenzy about the terrible “Backson” (from Christopher’s misspelt message that his return will be imminent), followed by a heart-warming finale and the tale ends with a tail. Aficionados of the original movie (and the later, rather more scary Winnie's The Pooh's Most Grand Adventure) might find the storyline a little predictable (in the Most Grand Adventure, for instance, the animals mistake CR's note that he has gone for "school” as "skull”, and get themselves in a right old tizz), but the antics are all so mild-mannered and the characters ooze such eternal appeal that it overcomes any criticism, certainly from its primary audience of preschoolers. Sweet, playful fun: even Eyeore manages a smile. Well, almost.
Winnie The Pooh (cert U) is out on April 15.