“What to do, what to do, what to do?” wonders an adult Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) out loud to himself while sitting on a park bench. “What to do indeed?” replies Winnie the Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings). “Pooh!” exclaims Robin “Christopher Robin,” answers back Pooh in the delightful Disney film, Christopher Robin.
As the film opens, a farewell party is being held for young Christopher Robin by Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Owl, Piglet, Eeyore, and his other friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. Christopher is going away to boarding school and won’t be able to take his beloved friends. It’s time for Christopher to prepare to grow up. Near the end of the party, after all the others have fallen asleep from eating too much food, Christopher Robin and Pooh head off to sit on their favorite tree log and watch the sunset. Christopher promises Pooh he’ll never forget him, not even when he reaches a 100 years old.
Years later Christopher Robin, now all grown up, has a family of his own. Unfortunately, he barely sees them due to his responsibilities at work. When the weekend comes along, Christopher, who had promised to take his wife and daughter to their cottage in the country, is forced to stay behind and work over the weekend figuring out budget cuts.
With his family away at the cottage, Christopher takes a seat on a nearby park bench and stresses over his life. That’s when his old Pooh bear shows up looking for him. Christopher’s initially shocked by Pooh’s sudden re-entry into his life, but finally believes his old friend is really, truly there.
Christopher learns Pooh needs his help to find his friends who’ve gone missing. Christopher, although very busy with work, agrees to join Winnie the Pooh in the search. The lifelong friends travel from London back to the Hundred Acre Wood to find their friends – and perhaps Christopher’s memories and inner child, too.
Charming, funny, sweet, and adorable, Christopher Robin is a very entertaining film about finding the inner child inside your adult self and always putting family and friends first. Ewan McGregor is perfectly cast as the adult Christopher Robin who has become so overwhelmed by the demands of the adult world he has almost forgotten the simple joys of his childhood and his old play pals. McGregor’s interactions with Winnie the Pooh and the other classic characters, which are basically stuffed animals brought to life by puppeteers and a little CGI, is amazing. It’s McGregor’s performance and interactions with the iconic characters created by A.A. Milne that really makes the Pooh characters come alive on screen.
Jim Cummings is wonderful as the voice of Pooh and Tigger, making them sound just as they did in the original Disney animated film shorts. (Cummings has been voicing Pooh since the late 1980s.) Brad Garrett does a fantastic job of voicing Eeyore and adds a lot of humor to the film with his grumpy-sounding voice.
The production, costumes, and sets are stunning and bring to life both London in the late 1940s and Pooh’s home in the Hundred Acre Wood.
Heartwarming and impossible not to fall in love with, Christopher Robin is an extremely enjoyable film for the entire family and has important messages for both children and adults about the importance of play, always being yourself, and never losing your inner child.
GRADE: B+
MPAA Rating: PG for some action
Running Time: 1 hour 44 minutes
Release Date: August 3, 2018
Directed By: Marc Forster
Supporting Cast: Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael, Mark Gatiss, Sophie Okonedo (voice of Kanga), Toby Jones (voice of Owl), Sara Sheen (voice of Roo), Peter Capaldi (voice of Rabbit), and Nick Mohammed (voice of Piglet)
