Heffa nice day.
Rating: 6/10
Running Time: 68 minutes
US Certificate: G UK Certificate: U
Why does Winnie the Pooh never get called Winnie by any of his pals? Seriously, its something thats been bothering me for quite some time now. I mean, he gets called Pooh and Pooh bear, but never Winnie. I can only assume that either hes not actually called Winnie at all, or that hes somehow managed to go all these years without revealing to his closest friends that he has a girlies name.
Oh well, theres no chance of finding out the answer by watching Poohs Heffalump Movie, because its not about that. In fact, come to think of it, its not really about Pooh at all. The honey-loving bear-of-very-little-brain might have his name in the title, but really this third big-screen outing for A.A. Milnes Hundred Acre Massive belongs to Roo, the totsy kangaroo who likes to follow that old cartoon tradition of wearing a t-shirt but no pants.
Things kick-off when the gang realise they have in their midst a heffalump which is a bit like an elephant, only pinker, cuddlier, and probably quite a bit less likely to crush everyone in its path into a bleeding pulp. Dubbed too young for heffalump-hunting by Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and the rest of them, Roo is made to stay home where lo and behold he makes a new friend in the shape of Lumpy, a baby heff so cute that youd need four sacks of kittens just to match him.
Running at under 70 minutes in length, Poohs Heffalump Movie is maybe a bit on the short side, but then again its aimed at the very youngest of young uns so you can cut it a bit of slack on the front. It features an original soundtrack by Carly Simon, although the new Heffalump song isnt a patch on the old Heffalumps and Woozles ditty from the original small screen adventures. And, while Im making such comparisons, is it just me or is the artwork not quite up to the standard that it used to be in those early Pooh-toons?
Having said all of that, Id need to be a right grumpy old killjoy to complain too heavily about a movie like this one. Its a nice, simple and endearing little romp for the kiddies, and thats all it can really be judged as. Dont go expecting biting wit or hundred-mile-an-hour adventure but do go if you want your ankle-biters to be assured a fun, safe, early experience of the cinema.
It's Got: A new character, in Lumpy, who works well in freshening up the franchise.
It Needs: Much more of everyones favourite manic depressive, Eeyore. Its got to be his turn to take centre-stage next time, surely??
Summary
Apparently, this is one of Poohs favourite once-upon-a-times and why not?