Voices of Jimmy Bennett, Kyle Stanger, Jim Cummings, and John Fielder
Directed by Elliot M. Bour and Saul Andrew Blinkoff
Music and Lyrics by various
Let's spend Halloween at the Hundred Acres Woods for the last Pooh holiday movie to date. After the Pooh films of the late 90's and early 2000's often got too dark for their audiences, Disney started writing in additional characters to gentle things down. Pooh's Heffalump Movie came out earlier in 2005, adding Lumpy, a sweet-natured Heffalump who befriends Roo, to the cast. How does Lumpy's second outing look nowadays? Let's start at Piglet's house, as everyone tells spooky stories in preparation for Halloween, and find out...
The Story: While they prepare their costumes, Tigger tells everyone the story of the Gobloon, who turns his victims into "jaggedy-lanterns." If you catch him, you get a wish. Roo convinces Lumpy that they should find the Gobloon when Pooh eats all the candy and trick-or-treat may have to be canceled. They make a map that follows Tigger's story, but when it comes to catching the Gobloon, poor Lumpy's too scared. Roo tells him the story of how Piglet found it in himself to be brave the previous Halloween. When Roo finds a pumpkin that looks like his friend and thinks he's been taken by the "Gobloon," he finally knows what he really wants for Halloween - a best friend by his side.
The Animation: Not the best from Disney's low-budget Disneytoon Studios. Normally, that works with the simple world of Winnie the Pooh, but there's a few continuity glitches here (the candy bags Pooh empty magically refill later), and some of the shadows and special effects don't look so good, either. On the other hand, the characters move pretty well, and Lumpy in particular is so huggable, I'd love to find a stuffed toy of him.
The Song and Dance: Lumpy and Roo's adorable relationship is so much fun to watch in the first half. I love seeing Roo trying to help his friend, and how Lumpy eventually overcomes his fear. The middle segment is the Pooh TV Halloween special Boo To You, Winnie the Pooh, and it's equally fun, with a bit of a dark side in Piglet's fears and the shadowy animations.
Favorite Number: We open with "Trick or Treating With Our Friends" as Roo and the others explain to Lumpy how much fun that is. Lumpy and Roo create their map and costumes as they sing about how they're "Brave Together." A whimpering Piglet tries to encourage himself with "I am Not Afraid" during the Boo To You segment. Also in Boo to You, Tigger claims that he likes to "Scare Himself," and he can't understand why Piglet doesn't.
Trivia: Final film for Piglet's long-time voice artist John Fielder. He died during production. Travis Oates finished his work and became the next voice of Piglet.
What I Don't Like: As cute as Lumpy and Roo are, I wish we saw more of the rest of the gang. Roo mentions Owl and Gopher is seen in the Boo to You segment, but Christopher Robin is nowhere in evidence. On one hand, I am glad they created an original story around Boo to You, instead of stringing three random shorts together as in the Thanksgiving compilation Seasons of Giving. I just wonder why they felt the need to create movies around the holiday specials at all. The dark-ish Boo to You doesn't really fit in with the somewhat sweeter Halloween Heffalump Movie, and it's obvious it was added as padding mid-way through.
The Big Finale: Cute enough if you have little kids who will enjoy Lumpy and Roo's antics for an hour before trick-or-treating, or if you enjoyed Pooh's Heffalump Movie. Completely unnecessary for anyone else.
Home Media: Oddly, not currently on Disney Plus (though Pooh's Heffalump Movie is). It is on DVD and can be found streaming elsewhere.
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