Disney's Christopher Robin - Review

Yet again, as I’m an avid Disney fan, I saw their latest film, Christopher Robin, on the day of its UK release in cinemas styled in my new Pooh t-shirt as a tribute to the lovable bear. I was super excited to see this film as I absolutely love Winnie-the-Pooh and I teared up at the trailers for the film, so I couldn’t not go and see it really!

If I’m completely honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this film. I mean I knew it was a CGI version of Pooh and his friends with a grown-up Christopher Robin, but that’s about it. Therefore, I was quite (pleasantly) shocked to find that, rather than it be a typical children’s film, it played upon some real troubling adult issues making it a more mature film. With references to WW2, Christopher Robin’s work and family troubles, it was refreshing to see Disney take a different stance on their films whilst including some of the most loved characters in unexpected situations… in London!

Although the idea of the plot sounded promising, I didn’t think it was executed as well as it could’ve been. That’s why my favourite parts of this film were (not surprisingly) the heartfelt moments between Pooh, his friends and Christopher Robin throughout this film. Hearing Jim Cummings reprise his role as Pooh made the film so much more nostalgic, especially when Pooh is trying his best to please Christopher Robin and do what’s best for him. Instead he falls back into his clumsy and childish self, at first infuriating Christopher Robin, but eventually making him realise how much he needed to switch off and learn to spend quality time with his family. Pooh’s childlike behaviour is what I love the most about him and I couldn’t help thinking how much we’re alike in personality – every time Pooh said something silly, Eddie and my mum would look at me and say ‘that’s something you’d say’. I mean who can blame me for being such a child at heart?!

Also, I would just like to say my favourite part of the ENTIRE film was when Tigger starting singing ‘The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers’. I was 100% not expecting that and all my childhood memories of watching and loving the Winnie-the-Pooh stories and films came flooding back.

I did really enjoy this film and its morals, but I particularly loved how adorable Winnie-the-Pooh looked in this film! To be honest, I wasn’t sure I liked his appearance at first when I saw the trailers and the advertising posters (because obviously he’s not animated) but I couldn’t help but fall in love with Pooh every time he came on screen – I just wanted to give him the biggest hug whenever I saw him! *Side note: I will most likely have to find a physical stuffed teddy version of this Pooh in the Disney Store because I am OBSESSED*.

Aside from Pooh, I thought that the CGI of some characters was a bit off-putting. In particular, the appearance of Rabbit and Owl were completely different to those of Pooh, Tigger and Piglet. They weren’t reminiscent of teddy bear figures at all, and instead they were pretty much just CGI versions of the real animal and it was pretty disappointing. I just didn’t think it fit in well with the theme of them all being loved teddies from Christopher Robin’s childhood and instead, it made me question why Disney didn’t design them all in the same way, especially because they aren’t the only animal-esque teddies in the film, as both Kanga and Roo are in the same style as Pooh and Piglet.

vs

= me baffled

I would say that my main criticism of this film (besides the appearance of Owl and Rabbit) was that the ending felt a bit rushed. I mean, you can pretty much guess the outcome at the end of the film before it even happens. Granted, this isn’t always a bad thing because you know that pretty much all of the time it’s going to be a happy ending for somebody – it is a Disney film after all. It’s just that after a certain point (when the characters left the Hundred Acre Wood and entered the real world), I think the plot is driven too quickly, whereas the leading up to Christopher Robin’s return to the Hundred Acre Wood at the beginning of the film was far too drawn out. At the end of the film, I thought the directors/animators missed out way too many chances to create more content and laughs from the lovable characters being in London – but that might just be my thinking.

Anyway, it may seem like I didn’t enjoy the film as I had a few criticisms, but I seriously did!

I think the main thing to take from this film is that everybody is a child at heart and no matter how hard you work, your family is one of the most important things in your life and you should never take that for granted – which is such a key thing to remember.

I hope you enjoyed this review, let me know if you’ve seen it and what your thoughts were!

Thanks for reading!

Em x