Ah, Christopher Robin.
This film has taken me on a real emotional rollercoaster. When I first heard of it, I was really excited actually. I am, if you didn't know, a bit of a Winnie the Pooh fan. As in I consider it to be a masterpiece, a truly beautiful work that still holds meaning and powerful messages for us today. It teaches inclusion, shows us how very different people can learn to love each other, and is also just.... sweet. When I have a headache, when I am ill, when I just can't deal with the world, I turn to Winnie the Pooh. Simple stories about simple people living simple lives. And yet, there is still adventure, suspense, drama... all of these things. I can think of no other set of stories that so perfectly creates a world that everyone can enjoy, adult and child alike.
And it ends in such a perfect way. Christopher Robin is going off to school. There's a party with all of his friends, and then he and Pooh wonder off together. They decide that they will always meet in that place, they will always have that place. It's bittersweet, he will go off to school and leave his friends behind, but they will always be there, waiting for him, nad part of him. And when school ends, he will be back.
This is where the film, Christopher Robin begins. Christopher Robin goes off to school.
But while in the sequel stories and further adaptations, it seems clear that Christopher returns often, and sees his friends again, in this particular film, when he bids fairwell to the Hundred Acre wood it is for the final time. He goes off to school, and grows up too quickly. Pooh and the others are beaten out of him, by school, by adult life... and then by the war. Christopher goes off to fight, with so many others, and returns, injured, and a changed man. The stories of his childhood are far behind him, forgotten.
He then becomes the classic neglectful father. He may love his family, but he is obsessed by success at work. He believes his family will only be happy and secure when he is successful. He doesn't realise that he is enough for them. That he makes them happy, and by pulling away he is damaging his wife and daughter.
Then, of course, the romp ensues. Robin has a work deadline, his daughter and wife go on holiday to the cottage by the Hundred Acre Wood.
And for some reason, within the Hundred Acre wood itself, Winnie the Pooh finds himself alone.
No, I don't know why. Certainly it is a metaphor for what is happening to the human family, but that doesn't change the fact that the mechanics of the vanishing of the other animals goes completely unexplained. Searching for his friends, Pooh goes through a magic tree, and turns up next to Robin, in London.
More hi-jinks. Robin takes Pooh to the hundred acre wood, but falls asleep and thinks he will be late for an important work meeting. He dashes back to London, but leaves the papers he needs for the meeting behind. Now the animals, who have befriended Robin's daughter, travel to London with her to return the papers and save Robin's job.
After many more hijinks, they do. And the whole family take a holiday in the Hundred Acre wood togther.
Happy ending?
Sort of. Robin keeps his job, the family still live in London away from the Hundred Acre wood, and although he seemingly wins some kind of workers rights battle within his work, he is still stuck in a business focused on profit above all else. He may have avoided the imminent danger, but fundamentally, his job was not making him happy. Agreeing to go on holiday with his family isn't making a definitice, permanent change. It's a quick fix, not a lasting change.
But let's be honest, who watched Christopher Robin for, well, Christopher Robin?
No, what we wanted to see was a live action version of our beloved childhood friends.
And when I say "we wanted to", I mean, "In order to write a blog post about how much I dislike the way this film represented my beloved childhood friends, I had to sit through it"
Let's go through them one by one.
Kanga: She was... fine, I suppose? I mean, not really in the film at all. Essentially a cameo.
Roo: Roo had a bigger part than his Mum, in that he.... bounces. Once. With Tigger.
Owl: Owl is actually in thsi film! Technically. Well, of course, the way he would tell it he was basically the starring character.... yes, we saw more than was strictly necessary of Owl being irritating and going on and on and on about his family. No more depth to his character than that. So.... fine. There were lots of characters in this film, and only the length of a single film to introduce them all. And yes, they still had more time than basically any other adaptation of Winnie the Pooh.
Rabbit: This is where the slaps in the face begin. Rabbit is just... angry. ANGRY. No charming politeness, no tender gardener. Just... angry. Because that's what you first think of when you think of Rabbit, so that's all that matters. That's... that's a recurring theme here by the way.
Tigger: The wonderful thing about tiggers is that they're actially surprisingly complex. Not just bouncy, but also fun, and... strangely introspective at times. Realising he has made mistakes, and always being there to help his friends. As with... everyone else, that's all there is to him. The annoying song, the inability to sit still... no loyalty. Nowhere the Tigger that helped the friends who were trying to trick him, nowhere the Tigger that grew scared when he was climbing with Roo, and had to pluck up the courage to trust those same friends.
Eeyore: Oh, Eeyore... always quietly my favourite. The loner, who always is there to help his friends. The depressed one, who smiles anyway. The one who never expects anything, but is surrounded by people who want to give him everything. In this film? Well.... He's gloomy. And depressed. And that's it.
Piglet: Piglet, in this film, is afraid. Of everything. And has no purpose on the plot, except to be there, and be afraid.
And finally....
Pooh. Pooh. The loving, happy, smiley, cheerful, honey-loving, trusting and lovable unfluence on all of us.
In this film, he's just sad. He sounds sad. He looks sad. I don't think he ever really smiles. He stands aside in every group, looking as if he's alone. He walks away, and waits for Christopher Robin to come and talk to him. The Christopher Robin who abandoned him, who never came back from school to find him. Who was happy to leave him behind.
It's sad. And that, fundamentally, is the problem with this film. It's not objectively bad. Yes, they simplify every single one of the hundred-acre wood family. The plot is basically a mix of Mary Poppins and Toy Story 3. The animation is....somewhere between sort of OK and just... unfeeling. A realistic teddy bear can't smile, can't laugh. It just comes off as odd, and probably contributes to the flatness I felt coming off a lot of the characters.
But truly, this film is just too sad. The thought of Pooh going to the old tree stump every day, waiting for Christopher to return... The thought of Christopher Robin being forced to grow up too fast, and somehow losing every link and memory of his childhood friends (who are very clearly real, not figments of his imagination by the way, and therefore definitely worth remembering), the thought of Robin having lost so much of the child he was that he believes the only way to protect his wife and daughter is to work all day, and spend no time with them.
I understand what they were trying to do here. Tell the story of a man who forgot what it is to be a child, who left his friends alone and forgotten in a dark, empty forest. Christopher Robin went off to school, and grew up, leaving Pooh, Owl, Piglet and the others alone, waiting for a friend who would never return.
But this isn't the story of Winnie the Pooh. Not the one I know.
Because when Christopher Robin goes off to school, when he grows up, his friends weren't shut away in a forest. No. They came out into the real world, blinking in the daylight, and they found themselves surrounded by children. Children who wanted to know them, to love them. Children who saw themselves in Piglet, or Eeyore, or Rabbit.
When Christopher Robin went off to shool, the door to the hundred-acre wood was opened to us all. And that is the story that I wanted to hear, the story of how a child's imagination, and the relationship he had with his father, created a world that we all love to dive into every now and then. That's what I wanted from this film. But that story is still out there, ready to be told. I look forward to hearing it.
Actually, it already exists. "Goodbye, Christopher Robin" is the next Winnie the Pooh film I need to watch. But for now, I need to go and cry into a pillow. I really wasn't exaggerating, this film made me cry. And not in a good way. When will these live actin remake films learn, a "grown-up" version of a film doesn't suddenly have to be really sad?
This film has taken me on a real emotional rollercoaster. When I first heard of it, I was really excited actually. I am, if you didn't know, a bit of a Winnie the Pooh fan. As in I consider it to be a masterpiece, a truly beautiful work that still holds meaning and powerful messages for us today. It teaches inclusion, shows us how very different people can learn to love each other, and is also just.... sweet. When I have a headache, when I am ill, when I just can't deal with the world, I turn to Winnie the Pooh. Simple stories about simple people living simple lives. And yet, there is still adventure, suspense, drama... all of these things. I can think of no other set of stories that so perfectly creates a world that everyone can enjoy, adult and child alike.
And it ends in such a perfect way. Christopher Robin is going off to school. There's a party with all of his friends, and then he and Pooh wonder off together. They decide that they will always meet in that place, they will always have that place. It's bittersweet, he will go off to school and leave his friends behind, but they will always be there, waiting for him, nad part of him. And when school ends, he will be back.
This is where the film, Christopher Robin begins. Christopher Robin goes off to school.
But while in the sequel stories and further adaptations, it seems clear that Christopher returns often, and sees his friends again, in this particular film, when he bids fairwell to the Hundred Acre wood it is for the final time. He goes off to school, and grows up too quickly. Pooh and the others are beaten out of him, by school, by adult life... and then by the war. Christopher goes off to fight, with so many others, and returns, injured, and a changed man. The stories of his childhood are far behind him, forgotten.
He then becomes the classic neglectful father. He may love his family, but he is obsessed by success at work. He believes his family will only be happy and secure when he is successful. He doesn't realise that he is enough for them. That he makes them happy, and by pulling away he is damaging his wife and daughter.
Then, of course, the romp ensues. Robin has a work deadline, his daughter and wife go on holiday to the cottage by the Hundred Acre Wood.
And for some reason, within the Hundred Acre wood itself, Winnie the Pooh finds himself alone.
No, I don't know why. Certainly it is a metaphor for what is happening to the human family, but that doesn't change the fact that the mechanics of the vanishing of the other animals goes completely unexplained. Searching for his friends, Pooh goes through a magic tree, and turns up next to Robin, in London.
More hi-jinks. Robin takes Pooh to the hundred acre wood, but falls asleep and thinks he will be late for an important work meeting. He dashes back to London, but leaves the papers he needs for the meeting behind. Now the animals, who have befriended Robin's daughter, travel to London with her to return the papers and save Robin's job.
After many more hijinks, they do. And the whole family take a holiday in the Hundred Acre wood togther.
Happy ending?
Sort of. Robin keeps his job, the family still live in London away from the Hundred Acre wood, and although he seemingly wins some kind of workers rights battle within his work, he is still stuck in a business focused on profit above all else. He may have avoided the imminent danger, but fundamentally, his job was not making him happy. Agreeing to go on holiday with his family isn't making a definitice, permanent change. It's a quick fix, not a lasting change.
But let's be honest, who watched Christopher Robin for, well, Christopher Robin?
No, what we wanted to see was a live action version of our beloved childhood friends.
And when I say "we wanted to", I mean, "In order to write a blog post about how much I dislike the way this film represented my beloved childhood friends, I had to sit through it"
Let's go through them one by one.
Kanga: She was... fine, I suppose? I mean, not really in the film at all. Essentially a cameo.
Roo: Roo had a bigger part than his Mum, in that he.... bounces. Once. With Tigger.
Owl: Owl is actually in thsi film! Technically. Well, of course, the way he would tell it he was basically the starring character.... yes, we saw more than was strictly necessary of Owl being irritating and going on and on and on about his family. No more depth to his character than that. So.... fine. There were lots of characters in this film, and only the length of a single film to introduce them all. And yes, they still had more time than basically any other adaptation of Winnie the Pooh.
Rabbit: This is where the slaps in the face begin. Rabbit is just... angry. ANGRY. No charming politeness, no tender gardener. Just... angry. Because that's what you first think of when you think of Rabbit, so that's all that matters. That's... that's a recurring theme here by the way.
Tigger: The wonderful thing about tiggers is that they're actially surprisingly complex. Not just bouncy, but also fun, and... strangely introspective at times. Realising he has made mistakes, and always being there to help his friends. As with... everyone else, that's all there is to him. The annoying song, the inability to sit still... no loyalty. Nowhere the Tigger that helped the friends who were trying to trick him, nowhere the Tigger that grew scared when he was climbing with Roo, and had to pluck up the courage to trust those same friends.
Eeyore: Oh, Eeyore... always quietly my favourite. The loner, who always is there to help his friends. The depressed one, who smiles anyway. The one who never expects anything, but is surrounded by people who want to give him everything. In this film? Well.... He's gloomy. And depressed. And that's it.
Piglet: Piglet, in this film, is afraid. Of everything. And has no purpose on the plot, except to be there, and be afraid.
And finally....
Pooh. Pooh. The loving, happy, smiley, cheerful, honey-loving, trusting and lovable unfluence on all of us.
In this film, he's just sad. He sounds sad. He looks sad. I don't think he ever really smiles. He stands aside in every group, looking as if he's alone. He walks away, and waits for Christopher Robin to come and talk to him. The Christopher Robin who abandoned him, who never came back from school to find him. Who was happy to leave him behind.
It's sad. And that, fundamentally, is the problem with this film. It's not objectively bad. Yes, they simplify every single one of the hundred-acre wood family. The plot is basically a mix of Mary Poppins and Toy Story 3. The animation is....somewhere between sort of OK and just... unfeeling. A realistic teddy bear can't smile, can't laugh. It just comes off as odd, and probably contributes to the flatness I felt coming off a lot of the characters.
But truly, this film is just too sad. The thought of Pooh going to the old tree stump every day, waiting for Christopher to return... The thought of Christopher Robin being forced to grow up too fast, and somehow losing every link and memory of his childhood friends (who are very clearly real, not figments of his imagination by the way, and therefore definitely worth remembering), the thought of Robin having lost so much of the child he was that he believes the only way to protect his wife and daughter is to work all day, and spend no time with them.
I understand what they were trying to do here. Tell the story of a man who forgot what it is to be a child, who left his friends alone and forgotten in a dark, empty forest. Christopher Robin went off to school, and grew up, leaving Pooh, Owl, Piglet and the others alone, waiting for a friend who would never return.
But this isn't the story of Winnie the Pooh. Not the one I know.
Because when Christopher Robin goes off to school, when he grows up, his friends weren't shut away in a forest. No. They came out into the real world, blinking in the daylight, and they found themselves surrounded by children. Children who wanted to know them, to love them. Children who saw themselves in Piglet, or Eeyore, or Rabbit.
When Christopher Robin went off to shool, the door to the hundred-acre wood was opened to us all. And that is the story that I wanted to hear, the story of how a child's imagination, and the relationship he had with his father, created a world that we all love to dive into every now and then. That's what I wanted from this film. But that story is still out there, ready to be told. I look forward to hearing it.
Actually, it already exists. "Goodbye, Christopher Robin" is the next Winnie the Pooh film I need to watch. But for now, I need to go and cry into a pillow. I really wasn't exaggerating, this film made me cry. And not in a good way. When will these live actin remake films learn, a "grown-up" version of a film doesn't suddenly have to be really sad?
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