To this day this is the last traditionally animated Disney canon film. And as far as swan songs go, they could done a lot worse. It's definitely better than House on the Range, which held the same title for some years.In this film we return to the Hundred Acre Wood and its inhabitants. The whole films is a huge love letter to the original The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh and the whole world first imagined and created by A. A. Milne. And I like the homage a lot. The opening is spot on similar to the original, perfectly setting the tone, while the story telling is still very meta in that they speak to the narrator constantly and are perfectly aware that they're in a storybook. The book in question even works as a plot point as a literal object to be interacted with by the characters within, just like before. The art style is also eerily similar, which is impressive keeping in mind that the first film was made using the very cheap Xerox method, which resulted in a lot of scratchy lines and simple character designs, which in that case worked for the film's advantage. This time I suspect they had to work hard to achieve that same "bad" effect.However, it's not a perfect film. The stories, while pretty good and perfectly keeping in with the spirit of the characters and the original stories, are rather few in numbers and just don't have that same feel the originals had. This is mostly due to the fact that they had to replace pretty much all of the voice actors and some of them were radically different, which resulted in characters that don't feel familiar at all. Owl most noticeably. This new Owl is a maniac, a twitchy mess that always has to be right and is the driving force behind most of the plot. And... it just isn't right, simply said.It's not a bad film. But the original film is one of my all-time favourites among Disney classics. It's simple, heart-warming and utterly charming yet wise and thoughtful beyond its years. This has most of the charm and a good amount of the warmth, but it lacks the wisdom and even some of the simplicity.

Winnie the Pooh (2011): Dir: Stephen J. Anderson, Don Hall / Voices: Jim Cummings, Bud Luckey, Craig Ferguson, Travis Oates, John Cleese: What is a Pooh? It sounds like a stench. Why not Winnie the Bear? Isn't that what he is? I have a better idea. How about Winnie the Crap? This is a very stupid family film with the biggest brain dead characters. There are several subplots and none of them good. First of all we have the depressed donkey Eeyore who is in need of a tail and the quest to find a tail and achieve a jar of honey. Then we have Winnie's grumbling stomach that was no more near the grumbler that I was after seeing the film. Then we have boy owner Christopher Robin who leaves a note claiming that he is gone and will be back soon. Well, these idiot stuffed animals misread the note and believe that their owner has been captured by a monster. They conjure up what they believe the creature looks like and such bull. They even dig a pit for it to fall into. Well, these moron stuffed animals end up falling into the pit. What is even dumber is that Owl can fly yet it doesn't don on him or anyone else that he can escape and get help. While the animation is the same as the classic cartoon, the writing is kindergarten level intelligence. The cartoon from Disney delighted the imagination while this horrid piece of junk insults anyone who watches it. All of this talent, including John Cleese narrating went into this total dog show that might have been good had it examined some character origins or something. Instead we are left with a film that should be mauled by grizzly bears. Score: 1 / 10

Several years ago, there was a study that found that besides Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh was the most popular Disney character out there. I am not sure how true it holds today, because the marketing has definitely dropped in recent years in favor of some Pixar fare and more Princess fluff. So when the Winnie the Pooh movie was announced, I was excited as it would be the unofficial sequel to one of the greatest animated movies of all-time: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Made right before Disney's untimely death, the original film pretty much represents the world and imagination of Disney: fun, whimsical, innocent, creative, and very charming.However, the marketing for this movie was so subpar, was so subtle, so atrocious, you would have thought that was going directly to DVD as opposed to theaters. Enjoying an extremely small run, this film had no chance to make money and make noise to the likes of Cars 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2. And here's the thing: Winnie the Pooh outshines them both. This film has the magic, the beauty, and the imaginative content of the original short films—making it a delightful sequel. Although the running time is extremely short and the music isn't as catchy, this film is perfect for youngsters, and the young-at-heart.I may have griped about the running time, but I should probably commend the writers for being able to stretch a story about finding Eeyore's tail to an hour. That's essentially the story: Eeyore lost his tail and everyone is setting out to find it. Along the way the characters at the Hundred-Acre Wood also fear that a monster might be approaching the area. The script is void of any tension or drama, which is a massive rarity nowadays. With animation evolving into a serious art form, you get less and less movies that truly strive to entertain the kids without teaching them or scarring them. This film is very lightweight with its material, and trust me that is a good thing.The voice acting was incredible and with the exception of perhaps Rabbit (Tom Kenny did a fine job regardless) they sounded darn accurate and close to the original source. Jim Cummings had the tough job of voicing Pooh and TIgger, but did a phenomenal job delivering the lines and singing to some of the songs. John Cleese was delightful as the Narrator, I guess Morgan Freeman wasn't available (Bad joke, moving on). To me though, Bud Luckey as Eeyore stole the show as the depressed donkey had much more to say this time around, and says it with such droll and lack of enthusiasm you can't help but laugh.The animation was nearly flawless, as the colors were light, there was no computer-animation getting in the way, and best of all the animators were able to throw in plenty of visual humor. Some of the funniest moments in the original Pooh adventures involved the actual book and the words being part of the environment and in this case they play an even bigger role. How text plays a role in a film? Just watch and find out, but there are tons of moments when the narrator and the book toys around with Pooh and his friends.Bottom Line: If there is a gripe I have with this movie, is that the running time was extremely short. It could have been nice to throw in a second or third story to at least pass 75-80 minutes and really get your money's worth. Nonetheless, the hour-long drama of finding a tail was funny, very delightful, and delivers smiles all around without ever becoming boring. Winnie the Pooh is the type of warm animation that we just don't see anymore: perfect for the kids but also not mind-numbing to the adults. The music was fun, the voice acting was great, the humor is everywhere, and there isn't a dull moment to be found in the Hundred-Acre Wood. Honestly, this movie was 20 minutes away from becoming a near instant-classic. I recommend this flashback to your childhood, no matter how old you are.

It's a strange and sad little world we live in when trash like The Smurfs, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Cars 2 are so popular. Especially when there are wonderful alternatives such as this latest offering of Pooh. I would like to congratulate Disney on giving us such a funny and heartwarming family film. Not once do they devolve into pop-culture gags, thank god. Those types of jokes aren't funny and they actually make me angry. This film was hilarious. From Eeyore's assurance that Owl did sneeze, to Roo suggesting Piglet go down the pit "Send the pig!". Cleese narrates this series of adventures loosely strung together by Pooh's search for honey, and a replacement tail for Eeyore. There is also a monster known as the Bakson. The gang join together in their special ways and give us a series of songs that highlight the beauty of Pooh. Pooh is obviously struggling with a pretty serious addiction, whilst Eeyore faces the challenge of depression. The film is set out as a book. We see the characters breaking the fourth wall, and leaping over letters. Even using them as tools at times. The animation is traditional 2D and looks amazing. I loved the voice work, even with some of the classic voices being replaced. Fergusen makes a very know-it-all Owl, and Luckey has the perfect Eeyore voice. I was also surprised that they managed to capture the sweet essence of childhood, all the way to the final credits, where we see the truth to all the imagination. The only problem was at 60 mins, it didn't feel entirely complete. I hope this will be the film that parents show to their kids, rather than all the other crap that is out there.