Movie with Abe: Winnie the Pooh (Capsule Review)

Winnie the Pooh
Directed by Stephen J. Anderson & Don Hall
Released July 15, 2011

There’s not too much to say about the new “Winnie the Pooh” movie other than to affirm that it’s a wonderful return to a terrific group of characters. Unlike many remakes, this isn’t a re-envisioning or a reboot. There’s plenty of cleverness in terms of how the story is told with the narrator often directly addressing characters as they encounter letters, sentences, and paragraphs from the story, but beyond that, this is classic Pooh. It’s an extraordinarily simplistic story, but a heartwarming and funny one that should please both kids and adults alike. It’s hard to find fault with anything since it does a stellar job of staying true to these classic figments of Christopher Robin’s imagination. Clocking in at under seventy minutes, it’s over almost as soon as it started, yet there’s a sense of satisfaction and joy that only a fulfilling tale can produce.

B+