Silly Old Bear

Christopher Robin will take you back to your childhood. Much like Hook, Disney considered making a movie about an adult Christopher Robin as far back as 2003. The project stalled when several other Winnie the Pooh films became a priority. As soon as live-action Disney remakes became popular, Christopher Robin was back in development. Not to be confused with Goodbye Christopher Robin released the previous year. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about a live-action Winnie the Pooh when traditional animation suits him so well. Nevertheless, the teaser warmed my heart the moment I heard Pooh speak. Christopher Robin begins with a book illustration in the classic A. A. Milne style. The young Christopher Robin spends time in the Hundred Acre Wood with all of his friends. Until the day he has to leave for boarding school. Christopher Robin rightfully earned an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects.

Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga & Roo are all very convincing stuffed animals. Rabbit and Owl are of course living animals that look as good as most CGI animals. Pooh looks exactly like the cartoon with cuddly yellow fur and a red shirt. I’m so happy Jim Cummings continued to voice Pooh. He’s simply irreplaceable, but Chris O’Dowd nearly voiced Tigger until they realized Cummings is the only one. Tigger has the same shape and bounce despite looking a bit faded. Brad Garrett also returns as the depressed Eeyore after voicing him in video games. Eeyore remains unaltered, but Piglet has a green button up jumper and red scarf. The rest of the cast are very different with British voice actors. Nick Mohammed is the timid Piglet, Peter Capaldi is the high-strung Rabbit, Toby Jones is the long-winded Owl, Sophie Okonedo is the motherly Kanga, and Sara Sheen is her son Roo. Most of Pooh’s simple conversations with Christopher are lifted from the book. Christopher Robin says goodbye, attends boarding school, and fights in World War II. I think it’s the only reason this Winnie the Pooh movie is PG.

I’m just glad Ewan McGregor had a career resurgence after playing Lumière in Beauty and the Beast (2017). Hayley Atwell continued working for Disney by playing Christopher’s wife Evelyn. Like Hook, Christopher Robin is far too concerned with working and neglects his family. Bronte Carmichael is their daughter Madeline who studies to make her father happy. Christopher works at a luggage company for his snooty boss Giles Winslow Jr. played by Mark Gatiss. The rest of his co-workers aren’t important, but he is forced to make cuts over the weekend. As a result, his wife and daughter leave for the Countryside without him. A familiar tune can be heard when Pooh wakes up to do his exercises and can’t find his friends. He enters Christopher Robin’s tree and finds him all grown up in London. Giving them plenty of time to catch up and eat honey. Though Christopher is too focused on the work in his briefcase, Pooh gives him many important lessons to consider. He reluctantly takes Pooh back to Sussex on a train, but not before buying a red balloon. They return to a gloomy Hundred Acre Wood where Christopher snaps.

He’s nearly washed away by adulthood, but Christopher finally starts to play again when he finds Eeyore. He finds everyone else and pretends to defeat a horde of Heffalumps. Pooh waits for him at their favorite spot and their reunion is enough to make a satisfying conclusion. The movie keeps going when Christopher rushes back to work. Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore try to help by returning the papers he left behind. Madeline sees them and the third act climax is her taking them all the way to London. Evelyn is not far behind, but she doesn’t believe her husband until she sees them for herself. Christopher and his friends call Winslow a woozle. Oliver Ford Davies is Winslow’s much softer father who agrees with his job proposal to do nothing. Since nothing often leads to the best something. Christopher and his family spend time in the Hundred Acre Wood and the former has one last moment with his silly old bear. An easy to miss mid-credit scene shows Richard M. Sherman himself singing “Busy Doing Nothing” as Pooh and friends relax on the beach. Christopher Robin is just as heartwarming in real life as it is in animation.

Winnie the Pooh comforts Christopher Robin