Winnie the Pooh (film)

Winnie the Pooh is a traditionally animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Production began in late 2009, and the film was released on July 15, 2011, counterprograming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in 3D.

Based upon the characters of the children's books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh will feature two previously unadapted stories from the original books, in the same style as previous Disney-produced Winnie the Pooh featurettes such as Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!.

The film is being directed by Stephen Anderson and Don Hall and produced by Clark Spencer, with John Lasseter as executive producer. Burny Mattinson, a Disney veteran who worked on several of the previous Pooh films, is serving as lead storyboard artist. .

The voice cast includes Jim Cummings as Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger, Tom Kenny as Rabbit, and Craig Ferguson as Owl.

The supervising animators on the film include Mark Henn (Pooh), Bruce W. Smith (Piglet, Kanga, Roo), Andreas Deja (Tigger), Eric Goldberg (Rabbit), Dale Baer (Owl), Dale Baer (Gopher), Glen Keane (Christopher Robin), and Randy Haycock (Eeyore).

The film was scored by Henry Jackman with additional music by Christopher Willis with Robert Lopez and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez contributing seven new songs for the film, and Zooey Deschanel sung a new version of The Sherman Brothers' "Winnie the Pooh" theme. In the Latin American version of the film, the song is sung by Danna Paola.

Taglines
"Oh Pooh."

Plot
The film is based on three stories found in the Milne books. Two stories are from Winnie-the-Pooh: "In Which Eeyore Loses a Tail and Pooh Finds One," and "In Which Piglet Meets a Heffalump." The other story is found in The House at Pooh Corner: "In Which Rabbit Has a Busy Day and We Learn What Christopher Robin Does in the Mornings."

Pooh wakes up one day to find that he is out of honey. While searching for honey, Pooh discovers Eeyore who is even sadder than Pooh because he has lost his tail. Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, and Roo come to the rescue, and Christopher Robin decides to hold a contest to see who can find Eeyore's tail. The prize for the winner is a fresh pot of honey. The next day, Pooh goes to visit Christopher Robin and he finds a note that says "Gon Out Bizy Back Soon." Because Pooh is unable to read the note, he asks for Owl's help. Owl's poor reading comprehension skills lead Pooh and his friends to believe that Christopher Robin has been abducted by a ruthless and mischievous monster they call the "Backson". Pooh and his friends plan to trap the "Backson" in a pit, but they end up getting stuck in their own trap. Piglet attempts to get Pooh and friends out of the trap, but he fails because he's too timid. Pooh uses the words in the storybook to form a ladder, and the animals are able to get out of the trap. They soon find Christopher Robin safe and sound and, after telling him about the "Backson", learn through clarification that he would be "back soon".

Pooh visits Owl only to find out that Owl was the one that took Eeyore's tail. Owl had been using Eeyore's tail as a pulley for his door. Pooh then goes to Eeyore to tell him about his tail. Christopher Robin is proud of Pooh's kindness and rewards him with a large pot of honey.

Following the credits, it is revealed that the rumored Backson actually exists deep in the woods, but is much friendlier than imagined. He discovers the trail of objects and picks up each one, planning to return them, before falling into the very pit that was made for him. He waits for someone to arrive and help him out.

Cast

 * Jim Cummings as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger
 * Tom Kenny as Rabbit
 * Craig Ferguson as Owl
 * Travis Oates as Piglet
 * Bud Luckey as Eeyore
 * Jack Boulter as Christopher Robin
 * Kristen Anderson-Lopez as Kanga
 * Wyatt Hall as Roo
 * John Cleese as the Narrator
 * Huell Howser as The Backson

Reception
Winnie the Pooh has received critical acclaim with audiences. The film received a "Certified Fresh" rating, with a score of 91% among all critics based on 118 reviews and 97% among top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's consensus is: "Short, nostalgic, and gently whimsical, Winnie the Pooh offers young audiences -- and their parents -- a sweetly traditional family treat."[35] Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times says the film "proves a fitting tribute to one of the last century's most enduring children's tales."[36] The film has been praised for not only being able to charm the children audience but the parents as well.[37] Roger Ebert, giving it 3 stars out of 4, said in his review "In a time of shock-value 3-D animation and special effects, the look of the film is gentle and pleasing. It was hand-animated, I'm told, and the backgrounds use a subtle and reassuring watercolor style. It's a nightmare-proof experience for even the youngest viewers."[38]

Box Office
On its opening weekend, it got just $7,857,076, opening at 6th place, way behind the number one film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which set a new box office record with $169,189,427, beating The Dark Knight's $158,411,483 in 2008. Adjusted for ticket price inflation, this is the 2nd lowest in the Pooh series, ahead of 2005's Pooh's Heffalump Movie. In its second week, the film dropped just 34% to $5,162,046, having it at 8th place. The movie grossed $26,692,846 in the US and $6,460,000 internationally for a total of $33,152,846.

Awards and Nominations
The film won 1 out of 7 Annie Award nominations and recieved 2 more nominations making the total of 1 win and 8 nominations.

Gallery
See Also:Winnie the Pooh (2011 film)/Gallery