In Disney’s most recent animated feature Winnie the Pooh, viewers are taken back to the Hundred Acre Wood, the well-known and loved world that Christopher Robin invented for all of his stuffed animal friends. The endearingly silly toys embark on a new adventure when, after misreading a note left to them by Christopher Robin, they think their owner has been kidnapped by an evil and dangerous creature called a “Backson.”
While there have been several sequels to the 1966 Winnie the Pooh, this specific continuation seems to have been the most loyal to its origins in terms of story-telling. The movie starts with a slow-moving camera displaying Christopher Robin’s room. The characters are introduced by a revamped version of the classic “Winnie the Pooh” theme sung by Zooey Deschanel, and often interact with the narrator, John Cleese. While the characters and the dialogue seem to have been slightly updated for Disney’s 2011 audiences, the overall vision of the story is the same as it was 50 years ago.
The movie itself is cute and charming, though it admittedly gets a little slow toward the middle. For the most part it is enjoyable, and is definitely the best sequel Winnie the Pooh has seen so far, but nothing can compete with the original animation.
Winnie the Pooh (2011) is a great summer movie to take any little kid to see. So long as you are not expecting it to surpass the quality of the original movie, you won’t be disappointed!