Christopher Robin

Having a live-action Winnie the Pooh movie seems like a pretty ridiculous idea on the surface. Of all the Disney movies that have been forcefully transitioned into live action, Winnie the Pooh was probably one we didn’t want to see, but when the trailers for Christopher Robin were released, people seemed to eat up the nostalgia, appreciated that it didn’t look like it was retelling something already done, and were hoping for something good as most of Winnie the Pooh’s library (especially with Disney) has been pretty positive. Thankfully, this wasn’t an unfounded thought when the movie was eventually released in 2018. Fittingly enough, the movie follows Christopher Robin (played by Ewan McGregor), who’s grown from a fun-loving child who hung out with all his stuffed-animal friends in the hundred-acre woods, into a no-nonsense ‘business first’ type of man who often overlooks his own family because of it. Once he’s found himself in a bad spot with his job, Pooh (voiced again by Jim Cummings) walks back into his life and tells him that all of the others have disappeared, and he can’t find them. Feeling taken aback but still holding onto his positive childhood memories, Christopher Robin decides to help Pooh find the rest of the gang and hopefully maybe rekindle the childhood that he used to cherish so much. Christopher Robin strangely delivers on the nostalgic element of the popular bear that’s stuffed with fluff to a degree that doesn’t come across as pandering and instead offers an atmospheric, slightly more mature take without going too grim. For what it is, Christopher Robin seems like a movie where there needs to be a strong connection to the franchise to have any interest, but it has enough character, humor and heart-felt joy to make it an enjoyable experience for both newcomers and nostalgia hungry fans.

It’s clear that the people who made this movie are familiar with the original A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard stories, and it’s pretty evident from the beginning that this isn’t going to try and replicate one of the stories that has already been done by Disney themselves, rather take a concept that is ripe for intriguing material; Christopher Robin grows up and through an adult conflict, reunite with his childhood friend that seemingly regains his old spirit. For a franchise that’s known for its charming illustrations and almost Zen-quality style and atmosphere, the prospect of taking this concept into the realms of live-action and even with a slightly more grown-up edge is founded and feels fitting for this type of narrative. One of the things this movie captures pretty effectively is that smaller scale yet quietly impactful presence that the Winnie the Pooh stories captured so well about the importance of childhood and how growing up can affect that. They were soft yet memorable adventures that didn’t have much action or conflict but felt meaningful and secretly more adult than expected in the right ways, and there’s moments where that subtle atmosphere can be felt when the characters just sit and talk about small stuff. It seems pretty minimal, but it means a lot in this franchise, and any moment with Pooh and Robin talking together usually leads to some of the better parts of the movie, especially during the middle section. Whether or not it was intentional, the idea of Christopher Robin’s literal childhood toys (which may or may not be created from his childhood imagination) returning to him when he needs to reinvigorate that side of him that he thought was long dead, is actually an idea that feels right at home in this universe and one that has a lot of adult undertones without distancing its kid audience. The director of this movie is German-Swiss director Marc Forster, who from his portfolio seems like an odd choice for this kind of story, with movies like Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland, World War Z and Quantum of Solace under his belt, but at the same time it doesn’t feel too distracting. The thing that separates this from just being an average movie is the tone and the realistic aspects they introduce to make it more unique, and it feels like his handling is at least partially responsible for that decent balance. Sadly, the story itself is not only packed with cliches, but has a plot that’s already years old (father whose lost his childhood, a bad man in his work trying to stop something good, conflicts rise between families, etc.). The story creators, Greg Brooker and Mark Steven Johnson, and the screenwriters, Alex Ross Perry, Tom McCarthy, and Allison Schroeder are no doubt capable in their own right and do create nice scenes that fall in line with the original stories from time to time, but they also seem like writer who have a style and tone that just doesn’t really mesh with Winnie the Pooh (McCarthy wrote and directed the 2015 film, Spotlight).  It also has a pretty forced climax which feels pretty out of character for this franchise, but it’s not too noticeable.

At this point, the characters of Winnie the Pooh are so beloved and so memorably treasured that they don’t even really need any introduction, so it’s not like the movie takes any time to develop them out individually. This actually isn’t a bad thing as the movie almost feels like its specifically made for those who are familiar with the franchise, so it doesn’t want to waste time. In terms of the new characters, the handling of Christopher Robin is a bit mixed. Ewan McGregor is a bit of a mess when portraying him; he does capture that child-like sensibility pretty nicely and even him working against Pooh is honestly some of the best stuff, but it can come across as a bit over-the-top in moments and feel a little cheesy. This idea of a harden man having to regain his childhood innocence has been done in other stories before with a similar tone and feel (with the most obvious example being the 1991 Peter Pan-esque film, Hook) and while this film does take itself more seriously than that one did, it can’t escape how this shift in personality can be a little grating in moments, at least when it’s such a massive change from a stick in the mud to someone playing in the mud. Changing the voice cast for most of the old characters doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but having Jim Cummings still play Pooh and Tiger while everybody else is different is a little odd. While the rest of the cast is good and do pretty good impressions of the voices, thanks to being packed with recognizable names like Hayley Atwell, Brad Garrett, Peter Capaldi and Toby Jones, it does create a bit of a clash and since most of them barely get much screen time anyway, it means they don’t leave much of an impression in this version, especially against the other Disney one which have become iconic portrayals of these characters. What saves this is that Cummings is so masterful as Pooh that it’s hard to see anyone else as him. There’s has probably never been a more warming, soft-hearted voice that works so naturally for Pooh at this point that even generic lines can seem so innocent and kind-hearted, it’s just never gets old and if the movie wants to tug at nostalgia-hungry individuals, it couldn’t be done by a better voice.

The cinematography by Matthias Koenigswieser is very nice and good at showing off its landscapes, being able to capture the cramp and rushed action and atmosphere of old war era London, to the vast, blisteringly colorful hillsides of the Hundred Acres Woods; making them look comforting one minutes and haunting the next. The Hundred Acres can seem a bit colorless in moments and the foggy environment does seem to spread a bit far for something of this type of movie (the style of the story does present itself as relatively grey and mundane looking for a good chunk of the running time) but it does still feature this sense of magic behind it that works out in the long run. The CGI is pretty impressive; having them look like actual stuffed animals makes the technology even more impressive as they bring these characters back to the screen in a new manner while still featuring the appropriate feel and mood of the characters. Even the small details of the fluff on Pooh, it captures the mattered look of an old teddy bear, but even with the new designs they still feel like the originals, even while looking separate from the animated world. They’re like the Muppets; they feel alive even when the audience knows they’re stuff and fluff because of talented voice acting and technology.

Despite how Christopher Robin did when it came out, nobody really talks about it anymore, which is a weird double edge sword with how it does stand out better than its other Disney live-action kin but has ironically been forgotten as opposed to the ones that didn’t do anything different and were much worse by comparison. As a whole, this is a good movie with the correct atmosphere, pacing and energy for this type of story, with strong actors, nice enough visuals, and a very welcome joyful energy. It does have an annoyingly generic plot and the movie does feel a little bit like nostalgia-baiting with how much was banking on people rushing back waiting to bawl their eyes out the second Pooh said anything surprisingly deep, but it’s hard to say it didn’t succeed on that part in some level as well. Return to the place of your childhood and decide if this is a story you’d like to relive again with the silly old bear.