Winnie the Pooh (2011)

[estefan]

Not to mention Richard's wonderful contribution to the Stark Expo theme in Iron Man 2.

And they really should put the original theme in, though considering Tigger's rise in popularity, will they include him in the theme? As much as I love the theme, it does feel strange for Tigger not to be in there (especially with Piglet having a spot, since like Tigger, he wasn't in The Honey Tree).

[Ben]

Easily fixed if they want to:

"A donkey named Eeyore is his friend, and Kanga and little Roo
There's Rabbit, and Piglet, and there's Owl
And don't forget Tigger too"...

...which could replace the "But most of all Winnie The Pooh" line that I was never quite sure added anything except filling in the musical blanks.

[Daniel]

Here's a first look at the new Pooh movie. So classic-y. No sign of Lumpy, though. Still had some hope, but seeing Roo without Lumpy, yeah... doesn't look so good. Maybe they'll reintroduce him in a future project.

Also, Walt Disney Animation Studios posted on their Facebook to expect a trailer next week! Yay! It will likely be attached to Tangled. I'm hoping we'll see, or rather hear, if it has Carly Simon. I can't picture Pooh without her. I wouldn't mind if she did the opening theme again, but I'm all for the original. Just one song, even it's the at the end! I love her voice. It's so soothing and beautiful.

Lastly, I hope we hear Piglet speak. Hoping, hoping, they got a new voice actor. If it's still his current actor, hopefully he sounds better with the direction they are going with. I'm also concerned about Rabbit's new voice, cannot picture Tom Kenny. (yes, Spongebob) Owl and the Narrator have new voices too, but in both cases I can kind of picture them in the roles. At the very least, Jim Cummings is back.

[Dacey]

"The first big screen Pooh project in 30 years?" Um, there have been THREE theatrical WTP films in the last decade!

And, oh, yeah, they STILL need to change that awful release date. If they don't, the film will die.

[Otis8]

Why? Is there another big movie being released? Or because its in July?

Gotta love it when Daniel gets all passionate about voices. lol

[Dacey]

It's opening against the final Harry Potter movie, Otis.

[Daniel]

/Film has another first look. Answers two of my questions. "Zooey Deschanel sings a new version of the Pooh theme". I had to look her up, looks like the only role I know of her is Simpsons. Bet she's no Carly, though.

And Travis Oates is listed among the cast, who is Piglet's current voice actor. Darn it! I really hope he's improved.

[Dacey]

I'm guessing you've never seen "Elf," Dan?

And Craig Fergusen is a very interesting choice for Owl. He should be quite funny, even if he doesn't sound much like the previous voice.

[Daniel]

Only once, a loooong time ago. Doesn't help me much!

[Randall]

"The first big screen Pooh project in 30 years?" Um, there have been THREE theatrical WTP films in the last decade!

Actually, the quote is "the first big-screen "Pooh" adventure from Disney animators in more than 30 years."

I think the spin here is that this is the first in 30 years from the regular California-based theatrical Disney crew.

[Ben]

Okay, guys...what you have to remember is that this is a direct follow-up to the original Disney Pooh adventures...no television or direct to video references, no Lumpy, no Carly Simon...none of which were true to those original stories.

Frankly, we shouldn't even be thinking that Carly Simon is in anyway related to the Pooh projects - though I admit she was quite a good fit, goodness knows how she ended up swamping so much of the Piglet movie and taking the musical aspect off in a different direction.

My favorite quote is this: "Many versions have been done, and it's been a way for the property to live on in children's minds, but we're hoping this is a new phase for 'Winnie the Pooh.' It's a return to quality storytelling that's been absent in more recent projects."

The Tigger Movie apart, I think it's fair to say that since The Many Adventures, Pooh has been through many different incarnations, all of which have mostly been TV based and none of which have really peaked at where Walt original had the stories and characters. I'm not defending this movie - the changes mentioned don't actually fill me with a sense of relaxation about the thing by any means - but it feels closer to the originals at this point.

The 30/35 years thing is a bit misleading...true this is the first Burbank Pooh project since 1977 (or '74 if they're only counting the shorts), but that's also missing out A Day For Eyeore in 1982/83, though they could be technical and say that the animation on that was outsourced. Whatever the marketing spin, I see how they're promoting this as a return to the "quality" of the original Disney featurettes/Many Adventures movie. And that can't really be a bad thing at the end of the day, huh?

Not sure on those images, though - Pooh just doesn't look right done digitally, and the lines (albeit compressed in those images) just don't have the Xerox sketch look that even Tigger Movie managed to achieve.

Zooey Deschanel also = Trillian, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (2005).

[Bill1978]

Zooey is also the teacher in Bridge To Terabithia AND the sister of the actress who plays Temperance Bones in the TV show Bones.

[Dacey]

And she was also Summer of "500 Days of Summer." She was in "The Happening," too, but I like to forget that.

Anyway, the trailer's hit the internet a bit earlier than expected:



For better or for worse, this looks almost exactly like the more recent 2D versions of "Pooh," with the big exception being that Christopher Robin now has actual eyes instead of just dots. He also seems "younger" than he has in some features.

I guess that the animation is "smoother" to a certain extent, and I can see the logic in making it simple like the original shorts. But I dunno...I guess I was hoping for something "lusher," if you follow what I'm saying.

Really, I don't know why Disney isn't puting this out in the spring, when it would be much more likely to find an audience. Even without Harry Potter involved, the summer movie season just seems too busy for people to really pay attention to the silly old bear.

[EricJ]

Anyway, the trailer's hit the internet a bit earlier than expected:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbFz--GCkOM

For better or for worse, this looks almost exactly like the more recent 2D versions of "Pooh," with the big exception being that Christopher Robin now has actual eyes instead of just dots. He also seems "younger" than he has in some features.

They also seem to be following directly off of "Pooh's Grand Adventure", with Chris off to school.
(PGA was supposed to be the old-school "finale", which most of the last ten years of TV upgrades seemed to ignore.)

It's also nice to see them bringing back the Sebastian Cabot "book" format, and actually quoting from the book this time. (Owl's "issues" are straight out of the story.)

Really, I don't know why Disney isn't puting this out in the spring, when it would be much more likely to find an audience. Even without Harry Potter involved, the summer movie season just seems too busy for people to really pay attention to the silly old bear.

Disney still considers March/April "bad luck" for Disney movies--That's for "damaged" releases on reduced-sale like Meet the Robinsons (it was put there before Lasseter fixed it) and Home on the Range. Of course, Dreamworks made Easter "respectable" again, and Disney's blaming Alice for it, but the summer schedule had been made early.

With Pixar already scheduled for May '11, it would've been nice to see WDFA save Pooh for fall/Christmas, but....nope, they're still going ahead with the Muppets.

[Daniel]

Wow, that week sure flew by!

Looks nice, guess the title will just be "Winnie the Pooh". Short, sweet and to the point. Animation looks a bit too clean, but it's nice seeing them back to their old selves. Although Christopher Robins eyes, that will take some getting used to. Continuity!

About the voices, Owl sounds very different. Like a new character even. Doesn't resemble the previous voice at all or what I vaguely remember from Many. Eeyore sounds off, not sure if it's current VA. On the plus side, the little we hear of Piglet sounds good! Sounded higher pitch. The "He, heeelp" sounded very close to John. Shows promise, thank goodness. Need to hear more lines.

Wouldn't rule out Lumpy just yet, there's speculation one of the stories being adapted for this will be one where Piglet meets a Heffulump. Perfect way to reintroduce him. I have doubts, but it would be cool! He fits so perfectly with them, like he was always there.