'Christopher Robin': Darker, Grittier Winnie the Pooh
This review may contain spoilers.
Disney’s “Christopher Robin” is a darker, grittier Winnie the Pooh story than any other. It’s not the bear himself, or any of the other Hundred Acre Woods characters are darker; it’s the world they’re introduced to. This film is sad, frightening, scary, slow, happy and cute. It made me cry twice. (We sell stuffed penguins. If any of our penguins are able to do for a child what Pooh and his friends did for Christopher Robin, we will have achieved success beyond our wildest dreams.) Somewhere, there’s a film student with a minor in psychology waiting to dive into how the Hundred Acre Wood really represents Christopher Robin’s mind.
I’m going to be honest. I liked this film. It hits a lot of Disney tropes and pounds on the same villains as seen in "Mary Poppins" and a host of other live action Disney films: the people who look to profit off of others or who see gain as the only goal in life, especially if they don’t have to do anything to get it. Life is about love, friends and family. If that isn’t a message you can appreciate, there is little this film has to offer you. (It also offers up a nice conspiracy theory waiting to happen, but I don’t want to give away any spoilers.)
I don’t see how “Christopher Robin” is going to make any money at the theater. It seems like it doesn’t know what it wants to be. I wouldn’t classify it as a children’s movie, and it certainly isn’t “TED.” It’s stuck somewhere in between. It’s like the filmmakers didn’t trust the Pooh stories to be good enough for modern sensibilities. Given their track record with characters like Baymax and Olaf, that’s too bad. Ewan McGregor does an outstanding job as does Hayley Atwell. Just don’t expect a blockbuster or an ordinary visit to the Hundred Acre Wood, and you’ll enjoy this film for what it is -- a very tiny step outside of Disney’s comfort zone with a heavy toy tie-in possibility.
Disney’s “Christopher Robin” is a darker, grittier Winnie the Pooh story than any other. It’s not the bear himself, or any of the other Hundred Acre Woods characters are darker; it’s the world they’re introduced to. This film is sad, frightening, scary, slow, happy and cute. It made me cry twice. (We sell stuffed penguins. If any of our penguins are able to do for a child what Pooh and his friends did for Christopher Robin, we will have achieved success beyond our wildest dreams.) Somewhere, there’s a film student with a minor in psychology waiting to dive into how the Hundred Acre Wood really represents Christopher Robin’s mind.
I’m going to be honest. I liked this film. It hits a lot of Disney tropes and pounds on the same villains as seen in "Mary Poppins" and a host of other live action Disney films: the people who look to profit off of others or who see gain as the only goal in life, especially if they don’t have to do anything to get it. Life is about love, friends and family. If that isn’t a message you can appreciate, there is little this film has to offer you. (It also offers up a nice conspiracy theory waiting to happen, but I don’t want to give away any spoilers.)
I don’t see how “Christopher Robin” is going to make any money at the theater. It seems like it doesn’t know what it wants to be. I wouldn’t classify it as a children’s movie, and it certainly isn’t “TED.” It’s stuck somewhere in between. It’s like the filmmakers didn’t trust the Pooh stories to be good enough for modern sensibilities. Given their track record with characters like Baymax and Olaf, that’s too bad. Ewan McGregor does an outstanding job as does Hayley Atwell. Just don’t expect a blockbuster or an ordinary visit to the Hundred Acre Wood, and you’ll enjoy this film for what it is -- a very tiny step outside of Disney’s comfort zone with a heavy toy tie-in possibility.