Piglet's Big Movie

Voices of: John Fiedler, Jim Cummings, Ken Sansom, Peter Cullen, Andre Stojka, Kath Soucie, Nikita Hopkins, Tom Wheatley
Directed by: Francis Glebas
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2003

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Piglet goes missing and Pooh and his friends embark on a journey to find him.

Review:

Tim: I enjoyed the first two Winnie the Pooh movies. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and The Tigger Movie had their flaws, but they were mostly solid, entertaining children's films. They were harmless films that my children enjoyed. I'm not sure they learned much or remembered much from them, but they were good. Piglet's Big Movie felt like a small Piglet step in the wrong direction. It's perfectly fine, but it felt slightly less effective than the other two.

The first movie was a collection of smaller stories and the second film focused primarily on Tigger. I liked the idea of Piglet getting his own movie. My problems were more with the format. It felt somewhat redundant. In this case, Piglet goes missing and his friends decide to try and find them. None of these characters are intelligent in the least, so their brilliant plan is to find Piglet's scrapbook and go through his memories as a way to map where he might be? I don't know, but if I'm ever lost in the woods, this is not the crew I'd like to have to depend on. It's hard for this to feel like anything other than an excuse to tell a bunch of smaller stories (similar to the first movie) about Piglet. It's interesting because the common theme among all the stories is how Piglet is a long-suffering saint and the rest of his "friends" never appreciate or acknowledge him. I suppose there's some lessons for kids here, but it's kind of a bummer to watch a movie about a smaller character ignored and discounted by his friends. Of the three movies in this franchise, I was least interested and excited about this story. Maybe some of it is that this movie follows a now-familiar format, but I continually felt myself getting bored here.

Now, the individual stories aren't bad. There are some exciting moments and occasionally a funny one. While these aren't superb, they are engaging enough for young viewers. My 6 year-old son was mildly entertained and my 3 year-old daughter mostly paid attention. She didn't really like the scary bees, but that didn't bother her too much. One of the best things about these movies is that they're short. This one is only 1 hour, 15 minutes. It has its ups and downs, but at least it doesn't overstay its welcome.

Carly Simon wrote a series of songs for the film. They were okay, but I wouldn't say any of them were especially catchy, nor memorable. Like the movie itself, they kind of wash over you without really sticking.

Now, my thoughts about this movie aren't just limited to me- the box office backs up my assertion here. The Tigger Movie did about $45M at the domestic box office. Three years later, this one only made $23M. I also do want to stress that this isn't a bad movie. In fact, I really appreciate these movies as a parent. I often do a lot of research on movies to show my kids- I don't want them to be unnecessarily frightened. I really appreciate that I can put these movies on and not have to worry about either of my kids. So, while this film isn't as good as the other two in the franchise, it still offers up a decent experience.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Tigger Movie, The Fox and the Hound