Christopher Robin (film)

Christopher Robin is an American fantasy comedy-drama film. It acts as a live-action continuation of the Winnie the Pooh animated features, which are, in turn, based on the novels by A. A. Milne.

Synopsis
In the heartwarming live action adventure Disney's Christopher Robin, the young boy who shared countless adventures with his band of lovable stuffed animals in the Hundred Acre Wood is now grown up and living in London but he has lost his way. Now it is up to his childhood friends to venture into our world and help Christopher Robin rediscover the joys of family life, the value of friendship, and to appreciate the simple pleasures in life once again.

Cast

 * Ewan McGregor as Christopher Robin
 * Orton O'Brien as Young Christopher Robin
 * Hayley Atwell as Evelyn Robin
 * Bronte Carmichael as Madeline Robin
 * Elsa Minell Solak as a 3-year old Madeline
 * Mark Gatiss as Giles Winslow Jr.
 * Oliver Ford Davies as Giles Winslow Sr.
 * Katy Carmichael as Mrs. Robin
 * Tristan Sturrock as Mr. Robin
 * Adrian Scarborough as Hal Gallsworthy
 * Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Ralph Butterworth

Voice Cast

 * Jim Cummings as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger
 * Brad Garrett as Eeyore
 * Nick Mohammed as Piglet
 * Peter Capaldi as Rabbit
 * Sophie Okonedo as Kanga
 * Sarah Sheen as Roo
 * Toby Jones as Owl

Development
The film was announced on April 2, 2015 under the name Winnie the Pooh, and will be written by Alex Ross Perry.

More than a year later, in November 2016, Marc Forster was announced to direct the film and that the film will be titled Christopher Robin.

On March 1, 2017, it was announced that Tom McCarthy had been hired to rewrite the script due to Alex Ross Perry's version not working out very well.

In April 2017, Ewan McGregor was announced to play the title character. It was also reported that Allison Schroeder was also hired to work on the script as well. On August 2, Hayley Atwell was announced to play the titular character's wife, Evelyn and Bronte Carmichael will play Madeline the titular character's young daughter and Mark Gatiss will play Giles, Christopher Robin's boss.

On August 14, 2017, Jim Cummings was announced to reprise his thirty year role of Winnie the Pooh. In addition, Brad Garrett was announced to play Eeyore for the film. Garrett previously voiced the character in the computer game version of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.

On August 30, 2017, it was announced that another newcomer, Nick Mohammed, was cast to play Piglet for the film.

The official synopsis and cast list was revealed on January 16, 2018, and confirmed that the additional animated cast of Rabbit, Kanga and Owl would also appear, though with new voice actors, Peter Capaldi, Sophie Okonedo and Toby Jones.

Chris O'Dowd was orginally gonna provide the voice of Tigger in the film, but when an audience at a screen test reacted negatively towards his portrayal of the character, he step down and Jim Cummings- who, like with Pooh, voiced the character since the late 80s- took over.

Filming began in early August 2017 in the United Kingdom, and ended on November 4, 2017.

Reception
The film received an approval rating of 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 119 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. It's consensus reads, "Christopher Robin may not equal A. A. Milne's stories – or their animated Disney adaptations – but it should prove sweet enough for audiences seeking a little childhood magic."

Trivia

 * Jim Cummings has been the voice of Winnie the Pooh since 1988 and Tigger full time since 1999 (though partially since 1989) while Brad Garrett previously voiced Eeyore in some Winnie the Pooh video games, such as Animated StoryBook: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. They are the first two actors to reprise their roles in a Disney live-action adaptation, followed by James Earl Jones, who will reprise Mufasa in 2019's remake of The Lion King.
 * This is the first Winnie the Pooh film to have its music score composed by two composers instead of just one; all of the previous Winnie the Pooh films had their music scores composed by only one composer plus the songwriters when they were musicals.
 * Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson was initially set to score this film before his death in 2018. The film is dedicated to his memory.
 * This is Richard Sherman's first new Winnie the Pooh project since collaborating with his late brother, Robert B. Sherman on the song score for The Tigger Movie.
 * It is also the second Disney live-action production to feature Sherman Brothers' songs following the 2016 version of The Jungle Book.
 * Jim Cummings and Brad Garrett are the only American actors in the film while the rest of the cast members are from the UK, although Hayley Atwell has a dual American-British citizenship.
 * The film references numerous scenes from the Winnie the Pooh shorts (many of which were based on the original books):
 * Christopher gets stuck in a tree as Pooh did in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, to which he asks him if he has just been eating honey.
 * The table party in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.
 * Piglet landing on the car windshield just like he did in Owl's house in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
 * Owl's house was destroyed as the wind caused it just like in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.
 * Madeline asks what a tigger is, to which Tigger responds with "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers."
 * Tigger mistakes his reflection for someone else as he did in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.
 * Christopher (while knocked unconscious) has a dream about Heffalumps almost as Pooh did in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.
 * Christopher Robin and Pooh get lost in the mist in Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too.
 * Christopher and Pooh's heart-to-heart at the end of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
 * Eeyore floating down the river in Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore.
 * This is the first Winnie the Pooh film to be rated PG by the MPAA, unlike the fully-animated Winnie the Pooh films, nearly all of which had received a G rating from the MPAA. This was because of some mild action (as noted in the rating box) and some brief language (such as Lord's name being used in vain once), making it the only Winnie the Pooh film to use profanity.
 * This is the longest Winnie the Pooh film to run at 104 minutes, unlike the previous animated ones which were around 63-77 minutes long.
 * Although Travis Oates currently provides the voice of Piglet in various Pooh media (having kept the role ever since John Fiedler's death of cancer in 2005), Nick Mohammed was chosen for the role of Piglet in this film instead for unknown reasons, probably due to having every character being played by UK born actors (though that didn't stop them from casting Jim Cumming or Brad Garrett, who are both American).
 * This marks the second time since Tigger Too that Roo is voiced by a female voice actor.
 * Despite being a sequel to the animated franchise, the events of Pooh's Heffalump Movie are ignored in this film, as the stuffed animals are still afraid of Heffalumps.
 * This is the third Winnie the Pooh film to have a secondary character's name in the title instead of the titular character's name after The Tigger Movie and Piglet's Big Movie.
 * Christopher Robin is the secound Winnie the Pooh film to not including Gopher (Winnie the Pooh) since he was notably absent in 2011 Winnie the Pooh (film).