Stubs - Christopher Robin

Christopher Robin (2018) Starring Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell, Voices of Jim Cummings, Brad Garrett. Directed by Marc Forster. Screenplay by Alex Ross Perry, Tom McCarthy, Allison Schroeder. Characters from Disney's Winnie the Pooh and Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, illustrated by E. H. Shepard. Produced by Brigham Taylor, Kristin Burr Runtime: 104 minutes. USA Fantasy, Comedy

Ever wondered whatever became of Christopher Robin, the boy hero from the Winnie-the-Pooh stories written by A.A. Milne? Well, look no further than this very good and very sentimental film from Disney; part of that studio's effort to make a live-action film based on a previous animated film.  In this case, a series of shorts, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966); Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968); Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974); Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons (1981); and Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983). The first three shorts were compiled into a feature-length film The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh (1977).

This story picks up where Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger Too ends. Christopher Robin (Orton O'Brien) is being sent to boarding school by his parents (Tristan Sturrock and Katy Carmichael) and has to say good-bye to Winnie-the-Pooh and all of his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. He promises never to forget Pooh and Pooh does the same. Only one of them will keep that promise.

Christopher (Ewan McGregor) grows up, meets and marries Evelyn (Hayley Atwell), serves in World War I, gets a job at Winslow Luggage and together he and Evelyn have a daughter, Madeline (Bronte Carmichael). Christopher wants the best for his daughter so like he was as a child, plans to ship her off to boarding school.

While things are stressed at home, things get stressed at work as well. Winslow is going through cost-cutting measures and they expect Christopher to come up, over the weekend, with a plan to save the company 20%. This means that he won’t be able to spend the weekend with his wife and daughter at his family’s country house.

It is at this time, Winnie-the-Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings) decides to enter Christopher’s childhood tree hawse door. This leads the stuffed animal into London, where he meets up with Christopher. It is this reunion that eventually leads Christopher to rethink his life and his priorities.

Winnie-the-Pooh (Jim Cummings) and Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) reconnect after decades apart.

The film is sentimental in a good way. Practically everyone has a treasured childhood possession or friend that reminds them of a simpler time. But few people have the menagerie Christopher has from his past, including not only Pooh, but stuffed animals Tigger (Jim Cummings), a bouncy Tiger toy; Eeyore (voiced by Brad Garrett) the slightly depressed Donkey, Piglet (Nick Mohammed), Kanga (Sophie Okonedo), and her child Roo (Sara Sheen), not to mention Rabbit (Peter Capaldi) and Owl (Toby Jones), real-life animal pals. (You might notice that missing from the shorts is Gopher, who was not in the original stories anyway.)

Ewan McGregor does a very good job as the title character. He’s a likable man who gets trapped by his life choices. You feel sorry for him as someone who has lost the sparkle that he once had when he was young and you find yourself rooting for him to get it back.

Hayley Atwell, who I’ve mostly seen in roles related to the MCU, shows that she can play much more down to earth roles. She is a supporting character here but is still able to display a range of emotions.

From what I can tell, Madeline Robin may be the first role for Bronte Carmichael. If this part is any indication, she could definitely have a career, especially as a child actor in films.

Piglet (Nick Mohammed), Pooh, Rabbit (Peter Capaldi), Roo (Sara Sheen) and Kanga
 (Sophie Okonedo) carry on after Christopher Robin goes away to boarding school.

There is a real Toy Story-vibe to the lives of Pooh and friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. They are continuing to go about their everyday “lives” just like they had when Christopher Robin was still there. You get the impression that Pooh gets up every morning, does his stretching and then goes out looking for Hunny; day in and day out. While Christopher Robin is never out of their thoughts, they go on without him.

While the actors who originally voiced the characters in the shorts have now died, you might be concerned about what the new voices would sound like. I’m happy to say, that while they are not exact duplicates, they are close enough that you can easily go with them. Jim Cummings, who voices both Pooh and Tigger, does a very good job replacing the originals, Sterling Holloway and Paul Winchell. You won’t forget them but he does a very good tribute to them. As does Brad Garrett as Eeyore, which was originally voiced by Ralph Wright. In some ways, given Garrett’s past role on TV’s Everybody Loves Raymond, he is an inspired choice. The other voice actors, which include Toby Jones (Owl), Peter Capaldi (Rabbit), Sophie Okonedo (Kanga), and Sara Sheen (Roo) also do a very good job with their characters as well.

Overall, I can’t say enough good things about Christopher Robin. But please note that while this is a continuation of the Winnie-The-Pooh stories it is not really a movie made for small children, but more for the child in all of us. There is a sentimentality that young children will not understand and they may get bored. It is also rated PG, which is another sign that it is not intended for small kids. It’s a family film but for a family with children of a certain maturity.