The Tigger Movie
Voices of : Jim Cummings, Nikita Hopkins, Ken Samsom, John Fiedler, Peter Cullen, John Hurt, Frank Welker
Directed by: Jun Falkenstein
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama
2000

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Tigger decides to search for his family in the Hundred-Acre Wood

Review:
Tim: The Tigger Movie is intriguing for a few reasons. To start with, it's the first Winnie the Pooh movie released theatrically in 23 years. That's a long time. It's also the first Pooh movie to not be a collection of previously released shorts. It's the first original movie in the budding franchise. And, it's pretty good. I've never been a huge fan of Winnie the Pooh or his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood, but I recognize this was an effective movie crafted with care. It's a movie worth seeing.

These films are certainly geared towards the youngest viewers. My five year-old son and my two year-old daughter enjoy them. I wouldn't say they love them, but they're fun to watch. I enjoyed watching this movie with them. The movie is wisely short, at only 1 hour, 17 minutes. Even this stretches the story just a bit. There's not a lot here. Some of that is by design- these movies are a slow amble. There's not much urgency or momentum in the film. That's usually bad, but it fits the context of the film. There's just enough to hold the audience's attention.

I liked that the film was focused on Tigger. I did wonder if this would be accomplished by having to ignore or downplay the other characters, but that wonderfully doesn't happen. It still feels like this is an ensemble movie and all the characters play a role. The story just focuses primarily on Tigger and he gets more screen time than usual. It was fun to still get to see Pooh, Piglet, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, and Eeyore.

I also appreciated that this film was presented in a similar visual style to 1977's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. It feels a bit dated in 2000, but in a good way- it's like a throwback to childhood. The hand-drawn animation and the visual reminders that this is a book felt comforting. I thought the film was beautifully drawn and the muted colors work for the story. It might not have the flashy computer animation of many movies, but that doesn't detract from the film one bit.

The story is fine. Part of the reason I've never loved these stories is that the characters are all (quite frankly) stupid. It's hard to watch any characters with limited intelligence as they bumble along. That's very much on display here, as the whole story and most of the characters' actions aren't very wise. Sure, they all come from a good place in their hearts, but you don't look to these characters as intellectual role models. This does on occasion result in some entertaining situations, but most of the film could have been resolved had Christopher Robin showed up before the very end of the movie. Tigger spends nearly the entire movie searching for his family (even though he's obviously "the only one") and the other characters try to help him, often in unhelpful ways. It's fine- it's not the most compelling storyline, but it does give the movie an opportunity to touch on the nature of family and friendship. I thought the film had a good message, which helps you forgive some of its shortcomings.

The voice cast is good. Jim Cummings does excellent double duty as Tigger and Pooh. John Hurt did a nice job with the narration. It's always good hearing Peter Cullen and Frank Welker. There's definitely solid talent assembled for this movie, and I appreciated that the film didn't feel the need to go sign up the hottest celebrities for these roles. That would have been a terrible decision for this franchise. They assembled the right voice cast.

The Tigger Movie might not be great and I seriously doubt if this franchise could ever produce a great movie. That's okay, though. This is a good movie. It's entertaining and perfectly designed for younger viewers. Once my kids outgrow these characters, I'll never feel a desire to return to these movies. However, for now, I enjoy watching them with my kids. I'll probably keep going and see the next three movies that I haven't seen.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Piglet's Big Movie