To start off with, I have made no secret of loving Winnie the Pooh. It just seems so innocent and pure. Given that Pooh already has Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Valentine's Day, so an Easter special is a logical next step. In fact, I wanted to post this review on Easter but didn't have enough time. My one criticism is that the story feels a little rushed. It starts off very nicely with Roo excited about Easter and very nicely depicts his disappointment (and that of the others) when Rabbit declares it to be Spring Cleaning Day instead. Determined to get Rabbit to repent, the gang decides to clean up and decorate his house and we later see a flashback of how Rabbit acquired his dislike of Easter, which came from his experience of the previous Easter. My one criticism is that the story, which starts out very sweet, seems mostly to jump between the "Rabbit plot" (Rabbit's views on Easter and his redemption) and the "Roo plot" (Roo's excitement for the holiday), especially considering that I was expecting the plot to be focused around Roo given how he's featured so prominently on the box art and is named in the title. But that's a minor criticism. All in all, this is a sweet Easter story worthy of the Winnie the Pooh name.
... View Moreif you have a toddler and you are planning a Easter egg hunt, than this film will probably appeal to you. i like Easter (after all it is basically a religious holiday), but i'm not that into the whole toddler babyish thing, so i kind of prefer my kiddie movies to have a little more bite than this pacifying baby food mush. still, the animation was the usual top-notch quality you expect from Disney, even for the direct to DVD features.i thought Jimmy Bennet was good as Roo. i'm not saying it was some kind of Oscar worthy performance, but he was pretty good at sustaining the character for a full length role. something that must have been a little challenging since Roo is usually delegated to a one dimensional supporting role in most of the 'Pooh' films and features.my main problem with the 'Disneyized" Pooh, is that Disney has sort of run the whole 'Pooh' franchise into the ground and turned into something so commercial you can barley recognize it as the once gentle Hundred Acre Woods. now it seems like a bunch of loud mouthed self promotion half the time.this was a good entertainment for little kids at Easter and possibly for adults who don't have anything better to do on Easter morning and want to get in a holiday mood. otherwise, besides expert animation, the "baby factor" is through the roof on this stuff.
... View MoreWell, I'm not sure if the other person that commented on this movie watched the same one as myself. Granted, this film is geared toward children, however, it's message seems a bit off target, considering the subject matter.To say this movie was something the entire family can enjoy together is to assume the parents have an IQ not much higher than that of their child.But before I say anything, I'm not some religious nut.The movie is loosely adapted from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Had the central holiday in question in this movie been Christmas, it's message would have made more sense. However, it was Easter, and, according to the characters, Easter is the time of year when "we show our buddies that we care." Easter is about caring and sharing, not a religious holiday celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus. In effect, the movie makes it explicitly clear that Easter isn't a religious holiday at all, but a time to celebrate the coming of Spring. It seems to have been made in typical Disney fashion; sanitized and devoid of the true meaning behind the holiday, such as Christmas, which, as has been transformed over the years to be a celebration of Winter and, yet again, a time when "we show our buddies that we care", as opposed to its original context, that being a religious holiday to celebrate the birth of a particular religious figure. Had Disney done the same thing to a Muslim, Jewish, or even Hindu holiday, I dare say there'd be quite the backlash and protest. However, it's just a Christian holiday and who cares if a few "believers" are even slightly taken aback by the warped rendition and interpretation Disney gives to their holiest of days. Thankfully, my daughter is far to young to understand any of this and certainly too young to care. She just likes watching Winnie the Pooh bumble his way through life. However, with older children, I hate to sound conspiratorial, but honest to God, you really have to wonder: are the people who made this film trying to re-educate children? You can write it off as merely a fun movie for tots to sit and gawk at for an hour, but at the same time, you have to admit, children aren't entirely stupid. They understand a lot more than I think we normally give them credit. And I find it difficult to believe that of all the people who helped make this movie, from director to child psychologists, surely at least one of them had to have the same sense of it all as I did. If I were you, I'd probably just skip this title in favor of getting some of the old Warner Brothers cartoons.
... View MoreFor the first time in too long a time Disney has delivered a true family movie that all can enjoy. The movie brings back a technique formerly used with great success by Disney that brings the characters to life. They actually jump in and out of the book itself and from chapter to chapter. The moral of the story is shared through the eyes of Roo who, for the first time gets to stretch his range of emotions. We see how the tale unfolds through the tender, loving and unspoiled eyes of this "child" and immediately realize our own vulnerabilities with our real life relationships. The directors, writers, and producers really tug at the heart strings with this one. It's a keeper!
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