Monday, August 6, 2018

Christopher Robin

Way back in the mists of time when my daughter Randie was not quite 2, she had a special fondness for Winnie the Pooh.  In the back seat of the car, she had took quite a lot of joy in singing the Winnie the Pooh theme song. Repeatedly. When riding in the shopping cart at the grocery story, she especially enjoyed singing Pooh’s little exercise ditty which put him “in the mood for FOOD”.  


She would always add particular emphasis on the word "food".


Pooh’s adventures were also a part of the childhood experiences of myself and my wife Andrea. So there was some considerable weight of nostalgia as the three of us went to see “Christopher Robin” this weekend. 











“Christopher Robin” is a live-action sequel of sorts to Disney’s animated Pooh stories. The film gives a sequence of scenes tracking Robin from his last day in the Hundred Acre Wood to a soldier in World War II to a husband and father who is too weighed down with the burdens of his job to give his wife and daughter time and attention.

The grown up Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) is an efficiency manager trapped trying to salvage a struggling company and is as far away as possible from the young boy who spent his childhood days with Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood.  

This story is not very original. A young person who once embraced the joy and wonder of life has grown up forgetting what really matters in life. The perils of adulthood can be faced and conquered if you just remember how to have fun.

Peter Pan in Steven Spielberg’s "Hook". Mr. Banks in "Mary Poppins". Yes, we have been here before. 

But if the story is derivative of stuff we have seen before, “Christopher Robin” is still a heartwarming story well told. I found the zany action sequence in the final act a bit jarring compared to the rest of the film but overall, I really enjoyed this move.  

We get some Doctor Who connections with Mark Gatiss (frequent Doctor Who writer and occasional actor) as Robin’s sniveling boss and Peter Capaldi as the voice of Rabbit.  



Speaking of voices, I very much enjoyed Jim Cumming’s work as Pooh. Cummings has been providing Pooh’s voice since 1980, still capturing the unique cadences of Pooh’s speech set forth by Sterling Hollway in the first Pooh animated shorts.  

And Brad Garrett is pitch perfect as Eyeore. 

And I have to say a few words about some stuff that goes down during the end credits. There’s a short film sequence with our cast cavorting at the beach in era appropriate 1940’s swimwear. On the beach is an old man in a hat and striped jacket playing a piano and singing a song called “Busy Doing Nothing”.  After the sequence ends, the credits continue with that same man singing a song called “Christopher Robin”. Both songs are original compositions of the man who performs them, 90-year-old Richard M. Sherman, a nine-time Oscar nominee who wrote all the original music for the first “Winnie the Pooh” animated films along with his  late brother Robert. Seeing Richard Sherman still writing and performing ws a wonderful treat and a beautiful way to wrap up this wonderfully joyous and magical movie.  





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