POOH'S GRAND ADVENTURE: THE SEARCH FOR CHRISTOPHER ROBIN (1997)
Updated: Jul 21, 2022
A Delightful and Surprisingly Mature Animated Adventure for the Whole Family
Grade: A+
**Spoiler Alert!!**
To more casual viewers, Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin could simply be another adventure for kids from Walt Disney Animation. And some kids might even see it that way, too. But look past the beautiful animation and even the delightful voice cast, and audiences will find a multi-layered story that may actually be designed to help its young demographic prepare for the hard road ahead of them. Winnie the Pooh and his friends had been brought to the screen multiple times before by Walt Disney Pictures; several of these instances were combined together into the feature-length The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1977. The target audience for Pooh's Grand Adventure is slightly older than that for The Many Adventures; whereas that film offered a series of simple adventures for the "Bear of Very Little Brains," Grand Adventure goes in a more serious approach. It has frightening imagery, forbidding landscapes, and some genuinely sad moments. Yet it also features entertaining songs, important lessons, and an emotionally-charged ending that will put a smile on viewers' faces.
Pooh's Grand Adventure opens on "the last day of a golden summer," according to the narrator, which Pooh Bear spends with his close friend, Christopher Robin, who never gets around to telling Pooh something very important. The next day, Pooh is alarmed to find that Christopher Robin has disappeared and left a note on a pot of honey. Pooh and his friends take the note to Owl, who examines it and says that Christopher Robin has gone to "S-C-H-O-O-L! [Gasps] Skull!!"
According to Owl, Skull is a very dangerous place that can only be reached by braving the "Great Unknown" of the Hundred-Acre Wood and avoiding the dreaded "Skullasaurus." Delighted at the idea of a quest (but not enough to go on it himself), Owl makes up a map and glorifies the dangers of adventure. So Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit and Eeyore venture out to find Christopher Robin and bring him home, ultimately learning just how brave, strong and smart they can be, even without him.
As mentioned above, Pooh's Grand Adventure is slightly more mature than the earlier big-screen adventures of Pooh and his friends. Here the story addresses fear and sorrow as the five companions feel utterly lost without Christopher Robin. Pooh's song "Wherever You Are" is a gut-wrenching number that will surely draw some tears, and the dark and menacing caverns of Skull Cave will likely frighten younger viewers. But the story balances these negative elements with heartfelt ones. The songs are all delightful, especially Owl's overly enthusiastic "Adventure is a Wonderful Thing" and Pooh and Christopher's "Forever and Ever." And the mere presence of Pooh and his friends will inevitably delight fans who grew up with them. When motivated by their love for each other and Christopher Robin, each of them finds themselves better than before (except Eeyore, who is pretty much just along for the ride. "Thanks for noticing," he might say).
The film can survive alone on these factors alone, but it is actually even more clever when one realizes that the characters and their situations are essentially stand-ins for children in general. Early in life, most children likely believe that things will stay a certain way, just as Pooh does in the film's opening. When a certain thing is removed-in this case, Christopher Robin-the individual is taken out of their comfort zone and everything falls to pieces. The challenges a child encounters when faced with this change may seem as terrifying as the oppressive and unfamiliar world the characters find themselves in. Eventually the child must realize on their own, as the characters do, just what they are really capable of. It may take time, but if they stick to it, then ultimately they can overcome their fear and realize that, just like the scary places Pooh and his friends visited, their fear is in their heads and things aren't always so scary after all.
Pooh's Grand Adventure is one of those movies where the happy ending is made all the better by remembering the dark places the characters endured before reaching their goal. By diving into the characters' emotions, the movie transcends being a standard animated adventure and becomes a guide for children who are growing up and learning about the harshness of the world. The film earns its emotional ending with Christopher Robin and Pooh sitting on their favorite hill promising that they will always be there for each other. The narrator says that "The boy and bear will always be together in this remarkable place called the Hundred-Acre Wood." And they will always be waiting for fans who want to return to their stories, so great and timeless are the adventures of Winnie the Pooh and his friends.
Director: Karl Geurs
Producers: Carter Crocker, Karl Geurs
Screenplay: Karl Geurs, Gina Shay (Inspired by A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh" stories)
Voice Cast: Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh, Tigger's Singing Voice), John Fiedler (Piglet), Steve Schatzberg (Piglet's Singing Voice), Peter Cullen (Eeyore), Paul Winchell (Tigger), Ken Sansom (Rabbit), Brady Bluhm (Christopher Robin), Frankie J. Galasso (Christopher Robin's Singing Voice), Andre Stojka (Owl), David Warner (Narrator)
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