Animation Celebration Saturday - Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin

Disney, 1997
Voices of Jim Cummings, John Fielder, Paul Winchell, and Ken Sansom
Directed by Karl Geurs
Music by Carl Johnson

I return from my vacation hiatus with probably the last movie anyone expected to see here. Some of the Disney Pooh films are semi-musicals, and this direct-to-video release from the late 90's is one of them. I know most people consider the Disney made for home media animated sequels of the 90's and early 2000's to be travesties, but this one is an exception, and a real overlooked gem.

The Story: On the first day of fall, Pooh awakens to find that Christopher Robin seems to be missing. He finds a honey pot with a note on it, but thanks to him digging into the honey and spilling it, the note is smeared. Owl translates it as Christopher Robin being sent to a terrible place called "skull." Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger, and Eeyore head out into the Great Unknown beyond the Hundred Acres Woods to find him. Piglet's still afraid of everything, even butterflies carrying him away. Tigger questions his courage after he can't bounce high enough to rescue his porcine buddy. Rabbit doggedly insists on following Owl's map, despite it becoming more and more obvious that Owl made it up off the top of his head. Pooh just wants to find his human friend...and he's the one who inadvertently spurs them to work together when he gets lost in the Skull Cave.

The Animation: Not bad, for either a Pooh movie or a direct to video film of this time period. At the very least, it matches the colorful visuals of both the original shorts and the 1980's and 90's TV show The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The sequence with the butterflies in the green field and the venture into the Skull Cave are especially well-done.

The Song and Dance: This is surprisingly mature and touching for a Pooh movie, with several scary sequences before and during the Skull Cave scenes and Cummings' totally heartbreaking performance as a worried and lonely Pooh. Sansom as Rabbit, especially when he blames himself for Pooh's frustration, is also excellent. The "adventure" plot is a lot of fun, especially early-on.

Favorite Number: Pooh's "Wherever You Are," sung to a starry night as he admits how lonely he is, is one of the most heart-wrenching musical numbers in any Disney film, never mind a Pooh movie. Owl's "Adventure Is a Wonderful Thing," where he sings of the many dangers they will face (and that he won't be joining them to see), is also a lot of fun. The opening number "Forever and Ever," showing just how much Christopher Robin and Pooh enjoy each other's company, is very sweet, and nicely sets up how much Pooh loses when he's gone.

What I Don't Like: I kind of wish they'd gotten more characters in, including Kanga and Roo. Eeyore is present, but he really isn't used much besides to help out in the finale. This is basically a darker version of the later 2011 Winnie the Pooh theatrical release, and there's some surprisingly sad and scary imagery in this movie. Your littlest ones may need a hand to hold during some of the more upsetting scenes.

The Big Finale: If you're a fan of Pooh and enjoyed the 2011 movie or some of the 90's and early 2000's films like The Tigger Movie, you'll want to see if you can track this one down. Critics were harsh on it when it came out, complaining about the dark tone and it being too sugary...but that darkness is what makes it unique among Pooh media.

Home Media: I'm afraid my both my DVD copy and the Blu-Ray are out of print and insanely expensive at press time. Your best bet is streaming services like Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime