CHRISTOPHER ROBIN (2018) ***

Christopher Robin is like a Snuggle commercial directed by Terrence Malick.  It’s beautiful to look at, but it’s ultimately a hollow cash grab from Disney who’s trying to update their back library of characters for the 21^st century.  It’s easy to be cynical about these things, especially if you’re like me and a fan of the old traditionally animated Winnie the Pooh cartoons.  Still, there’s been enough goodwill generated over the years from these characters to carry it over the various hiccups.

The plot is one of the weaker elements.  Christopher Robin puts away his toys when he goes away to boarding school.  He grows up to become workaholic Ewan McGregor who puts his job ahead of his family.  I’m sure you can guess what happens next.  Pooh and the rest of the Hundred Acre Wood gang come looking for Christopher Robin and force him to stop being such a grown-up and reclaim the childhood he left behind.

This stuff is standard issue for the most part.  The engaging performances certainly help.  McGregor really sells his character’s transformation, despite his predictable arc and the hackneyed script.  Marc (Quantum of Solace) Forster’s whimsical direction is another plus.  He really sells the fantastic elements of the story and contrasts them with the grounded aspects of Christopher’s everyday gloomy existence.  This masks the lightweight plot somewhat, as does Forster’s lightning pacing.  

My biggest beef is with the ugly character designs.  I know Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and the rest of the gang are supposed to be ratty, thirty-year-old stuffed animals, but still.  There’s also something unsettling about a fuzzy bear with creepy, lifeless, coal black eyes spouting Zen-like fortune cookie wisdom.  Maybe I’m just too attached to the older animated designs that it’s hard for to me accept these new incarnations of the characters.  Maybe like Christopher Robin I need to lighten up and embrace my childhood.  

The characters, though realized through CGI, still talk and act the same way we remember.  They all have their moments to shine (especially Eeyore, who practically steals the movie), and provide plenty of laughs along the way.  They’re so much fun to watch that you kind of forget that the script is nothing more than a thinly sketched outline.

AKA:  I Became an Adult with Pooh.