Review: Disney’s Winnie The Pooh Movie

Winnie the Pooh

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

A simple teddy bear and his friends has captivated children and their parents for 85 years. Can you believe that Winnie-the-Pooh has been around for 85 years and yet still remains relevant for children. We have three copies of the complete stories of Winnie-the-Pooh and as coincidence would have it we’ve begun reading a chapter a night to Eva and we just received a copy of the new Disney’s Winnie The Pooh movie. Allison and Eva saw this movie in the theaters and I missed that event so I was glad to share the movie with them yesterday. Here are my impressions of that movie which comes out today.

I enjoyed this movie, it was cute. If you read the Winnie the Pooh stories you will recognize much of this movie because so many elements of each story are mashed up together into this new story. The central story is finding Eyeore’s tail but included within it are many other stories like Bizy Backsun and more. I think that all the stories put together in this way worked well for the movie. It is very old school animation too, a throwback to Disney animated movies of the past. There are also some new wonderful songs done by Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. It was an entertaining movie for both kids and parents. The voice talents were wonderful too. I especially liked Craig Ferguson as Owl and John Cleese as the narrator.

I have some videos from the movie as well as some downloadable and printable activities, masks and coloring pages after the jump.

Trailer

Tigger, Pooh & the Red Balloon

Relying on Piglet

Setting a Trap

Printable Winnie the Pooh Games and Activities

Download Printable Games and Activities!

Winnie the Pooh Coloring Pages

Download Printable Coloring Pages!

Printable Pooh and Tigger Play Masks.

Download Printable Play Masks!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALL THE BELOVED CHARACTERS FROM THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD ARE BACK! DELIGHTFUL ALL-NEW MOVIE COMES HOME TO BLU-RAY™, DVD AND MOVIE DOWNLOAD OCTOBER 25th

Includes an Exclusive Short, Sing-Along Option and Hours More
of Exciting Bonus Features!

Inspired by the beloved stories from A.A. Milne’s books and crafted in Disney’s classic style, “Winnie the Pooh,” is the most critically-acclaimed animated film of 2011*. It is narrated by the voice of John Cleese and features the vocal talents of legendary voice actor Jim Cummings(over 350 voices including Gnomeo & Juliet) and a host of other distinctive actors including Craig Ferguson(TV’s ‘The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson’), Tom Kenny (TV’s ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’), Bud Luckey (Toy Story 3) and musical performances by Zooey Deschanel (indie folk band “She & Him”).
* RottenTomatoes.com, as of 9/9/2011

The all-new “Winnie the Pooh” brings back to life the timeless charm,wit and whimsy of the original featurettes and characters. Sure to become a family favorite for every household, it is directed by Stephen Anderson (Meet The Robinsons) and Don Hall (The Princess and The Frog) and Executive Produced by John Lasseter.

Blu-ray ™Bonus Features:

  • Exclusive bonus short “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon” – In this charming short, Pooh comes up with a daring plan to get a hold of some honey by fooling a group of bees.
  • “The Ballad of Nessie” – The animated short film included in the theatrical release is the heartwarming tale of how Nessie found her new home in the Loch Ness.
  • “Winnie the Pooh and His Story Too” – A fun and informative behind-the-scenes look at the film, designed for the whole family. Hosted by John Cleese (narrator of the film), and with occasional help from Pooh himself, this featurette explores Winnie the Pooh’s history from his beginnings as a character in a book, to his continued life in the movies. The filmmakers reveal how they worked to keep the look of the characters and settings in this movie consistent with their first appearances on-screen in1966. Pooh, being a bear of very little mind, finds much of this confusing, but the Narrator and the filmmakers make it all clear to Pooh – and you!
  • Deleted Scenes introduced by directors, Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 5 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “”Rabbit’s Friends and Relations,” “Original Eeyore Intro,” “Original Tigger Intro” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail”
  • Sing-Along with the Movie – Follow the red balloon and changing word colors to seven song lyrics featured in the film.
  • Disney Song Selection – “Winnie the Pooh Theme Song,” “The Tummy Song, “A Very Important Thing To Do,” “The Backson Song,” “It’s Gonna Be Great,” “Everything is Honey” and “The Winner Song Finale”

DVD Bonus Features:

  • “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon”
  • “The Ballad of Nessie”
  • Deleted scenes introduced by directors, Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 3 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “”Rabbit’s Friends and Relations” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail”

Movie Download Bonus Features:

  • “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon”
  • “The Ballad of Nessie”
  • Deleted Scenes introduced directors. Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 3 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “Rabbit’s Friends and Relations” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail”

Stay connected with the latest news and information on Winnie The Pooh.

Film Synopsis
Disney returns to the Hundred Acre Wood with “Winnie the Pooh.” Featuring the timeless charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical “bear of very little brain” and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo – and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail. “Ever have one of those days where you just can’t win, Eeyore?” asks Pooh. Owl sends the whole gang on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply set out to find some honey. Disney’s all-new “Winnie the Pooh” movie is inspired by three stories from A.A. Milne’s books in Disney’s classic, hand-drawn art.

About The Filmmakers:
Directed by Stephen Anderson (Meet The Robinsons, The Emperor’s New Groove) and Don Hall (The Princess and the Frog, Meet The Robinsons), the film was supported by a variety of industry and highly-creative Disney veterans including Producers Peter Del Vecho (The Princess and the Frog, Chicken Little) and Clark Spencer (Bolt, Meet The Robinsons), Executive Producer and two-time Academy Award®-winning director John Lasseter (Toy Story franchise, WALL●E, Bolt) and senior story artist Burny Mattinson (Academy Award®-nominee for Best Animated Short Film, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, 1983 and key animator on the 1974 Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!).

About The English Language Voice Talent:
The “Winnie The Pooh” movie is narrated by funnyman John Cleese (Shrek Forever After, A Fish Called Wanda) and voiced by the talents of Jim Cummings (Gnomeo & Juliet, The Princess and the Frog, Shrek) as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Craig Ferguson (TV’s ‘The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson’) as Owl, Tom Kenny (TV’s ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’) as Rabbit, Travis Oates (TV’s ‘My Friends Tigger & Pooh,’ ‘Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too’) as Piglet, Bud Luckey (Toy Story 3) as Eeyore, Kristen Anderson-Lopez (TV’s ‘The Wonder Pets,’ Off-Broadway’s ‘In Transit’) as Kanga, Wyatt Hall (seven-year-old son of director Don Hall) as Roo and Huell Howser (this was his first role as an actor) as Backson and Jack Boulter (this was his first role as an actor) as Christopher Robin.

About The Music:
The amazing musical scores featured throughout the film were created by Tony® Award-winning songwriter Bobby Lopez, and his wife Kristen, who wrote all of the six spirited new songs for Pooh and his pals, including “The Tummy Song,” “A Very Important Thing To Do,” “Everything Is Honey,” “The Winner Song,” “The Backson Song,” and “It’s Gonna Be Great.” Lopez is behind the Broadway hits “Book of Mormon” and “Avenue Q” and together they’ve written for Nickelodeon and Disney, including the stage version of “Finding Nemo” and composed songs for several episodes of “The Wonder of Pets,” which earned him two Daytime Emmy® Awards in 2006 for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition.

The original score, a special rendition of the beloved “Winnie the Pooh” theme song for the film was composed by Henry Jackman (“The Da Vinci Code,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “Monsters vs. Aliens”) and sung by actress, musician, singer and songwriter, Zooey Deschanel (Indie folk band, “She & Him”). Deschanel also provided vocals for “A Very Important Thing To Do” and “So Long.”

About Disney Blu-ray Combo Packs:
To provide consumers with unprecedented quality, value and portability of their favorite Disney classics, in 2008 Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment pioneered the Combo Pack – a Blu-ray Disc plus a DVD and in some cases plus a Digital Copy of the movie in a single package. To date, the company has released almost all their films as Combo Packs. Recent Disney titles released as Combo Packs include Tangled, Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Bambi, Santa Paws, Beauty and the Beast and Fantasia.

About The Walt Disney Studios:
For more than 85 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which TheWalt Disney Company (DIS: NYSE) was built. Today, the Studio brings qualitymovies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under four banners: Walt Disney Pictures, which includes Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, Disneynature, Touchstone Pictures and Marvel. Through the Home Entertainment division, innovative distribution methods provide access to creative content across multiple platforms. Original music and motion picture soundtracks are produced underWalt Disney Records and Hollywood Records, while Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Broadway theatrical productions, Disney on Ice and Disney LIVE! For more information, please visit www.disney.com.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the movie on DVD and Blu-Ray. I enjoyed the movie and my opinions about the movie are 100% mine.

3 thoughts on “Review: Disney’s Winnie The Pooh Movie”

  1. I watched this a few months ago at the cinema and I absolutely loved it. I’ve always enjoyed watching Winnie the Pooh, even thought I’m a fully grown adult, and it’s something great to watch with the kids!

  2. I have a niece that has her room decorated in Winnie The Poor. I think printing the coloring pages would be great so she could hang them on her wall. I can’t wait to get the movie too and watch it with the children. 🙂

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