The Tigger Movie

A standout children's DVD
Sitting on the couch with my 2 year old son, I've become something of a connoisseur of children's movies at this point. To be blunt, most of the modern "Pooh" films from Disney are pretty much garbage. The Piglet and Roo movies are especially painful, and got tossed out after about 1/2 a viewing each. In both of those, the characters are just being yanked and shoved through the motions by a giant, souless marketing machine that is determined to squeeze yet more cash out of them, even if it has to kill them in the process.

This "Tigger Movie" is different though. Again and again I found that it moved me to tears, and the story, animation and writing all hit home, almost like they were created by people who actually cared deeply about what they were doing. So far, it's the only one of the modern Pooh films I've seen that captures much of the original Disney/A.A. Milne magic. My son loves it too.

A fine addition to your Winnie the pooh DVD library
There have been so many Pooh-related feature films, direct-to-video films and television series that it's getting difficult to keep track of them (word is that there is another theatrical feature in the works). To the best of my recollection, "The Tigger Movie" was produced by the television division but was very successful in its theatrical release and was followed up with "Piglet's Big Movie."

This is actually quite a nice film. The amazing thing about these characters is how flexible they are for so many stories. The plot here revolves around Tigger's family background and his search for his "family tree." The animation, apparently done in Japan, is very fluid and suggestive of the earlier films -- and the domestic artists behind it are among the best in the business, including Floyd Norman and Toby Bluth.

John Fiedler, as Piglet, is the one remaining cast member from the original films, with Jim Cummings voicing Pooh and Tigger and none other than John Hurt...

A notch above DTV
When I first heard this movie was coming out, my main question was why a theatrical release instead of direct-to-video? Many Disney sequels have gone that route, including the last feature-length Winnie the Pooh film, The Search for Christopher Robin.

The simple fact of the matter is probably that Disney figured they could make more money with a theatrical release (it came out with absolutely no competition for its intended audience). Happily, it's also true that this movie was a step above the usual direct-to-video fare. Most of the animation was uninspired (it's easy to tell there are fewer frames per second than in major Disney theatrical releases), but the scripts and voice acting were actually quite good.

I've been a fan of the Winnie the Pooh stuff for what seems like forever, so it's hard for me NOT to enjoy any of it. But the simple, hearwarming story of Tigger's discovery of himself and how much his friends really care about him just works. Sure, it's a...

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