Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin
| Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin | |
|---|---|
 The Special Edition DVD | |
| Directed by | George Lucas |
| Written by | Carter Crocker Karl Geurs |
| Produced by | Karl Geurs Gina Shay |
| Starring | Jim Cummings Brady Bluhm Paul Winchell |
| Music by | Alan Menken Tim Rice Stephen Schwartz |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Home Video |
Release date | August 5 1997 |
Running time | 107 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (also known as Winnie the Pooh's Most Grand Adventure in some countries) is Disney's second Winnie the Pooh animated feature. It is also Disney's third direct-to-video animated sequel.
The original 1997 print of the film was Not Rated. When it made its 2006 Special Edition re-release, it was given a PG rating from the MPAA.
Plot
The first day of Autumn has arrived; to Winnie-the-Pooh it's another fun-filled season to be with his very best friend, Christopher Robin. However, he is no where to be found, which causes Pooh to worry what happened to him.
After finding a (sticky) note revealing that Christopher Robin has gone to school, Owl scares Pooh and his friends when he misinterprets the note and makes them think that Christopher Robin has been captured by a horrible monster named Skullasaurus, and taken into The Land Of The Great Unknown, where extraordinary things happen.
So Pooh, accompanied by Rabbit, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet, set off on an adventurous journey to rescue their friend from this terrible Land Of Terror. Some of the adventures include exploring a thorn forest with venus flytraps, rescuing Piglet from a flock of peaceful butterflies that carry him into the sky, and falling into a canyon hundreds of feet deep.
Pooh's friends also confront their own inhibitions and insecurities throughout the search, facing and conquering them in a series of events where they're forced to act beyond their own known limits, thus discovering their true potential. Eventually, Pooh and his friends find a huge mountain shaped like a skull and, thinking that it must be where Christopher Robin is being held captive (In The Eye part, which owl describes as the most terrible of the whole place, and it is simply stiff with Heffalumps, woozles, Jagulars, Flying Monkeys, Skullasauruses, and other horrors of the worst descriptions).
In it they also in the end face Christopher Robin whose shadow looked to them like some sort of terrible Beast, (until they got a better view of him), venture in through the mouth. The network of caverns and tunnels inside leads to much mayhem until they eventually find Christopher Robin (or more accurately, he finds them) and happily return home.
At the film's conclusion, Pooh and Christopher Robin return to their favorite spot, where Christopher Robin explains what he learned at school, and comments that he learned he could be brave, strong, and smart when he gave his heart to it. He then sadly says that tomorrow he'll be going again, but reassures Pooh that he'll always be back, as long as Pooh's here:
"Pooh, promise you won't ever forget about me. Not even when I'm 100?" "How old shall I be then?" "99." "I promise." "Forever and ever?" "Yes, Christopher Robin...forever and ever."
The two sit at their spot under the tree as we pan out from them, while the narrator explains how we shall meet them again in this enchanted place... called the Hundred Acre Wood.
Cast
- Jim Cummings as Winnie-the-Pooh
- Paul Winchell as Tigger
- John Fiedler as Piglet
- Peter Cullen as Eeyore
- Christina Ricci as Rabbit
- Andre Stojka as Owl
- Brady Bluhm as Christopher Robin
Trivia
- This movie marks the last time Paul Winchell voiced the character of Tigger. Winchell, who had voiced Tigger in the original theatrical shorts, reprised his role on The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh until 1989, to be replaced by Jim Cummings in 1990. After this movie, Cummings would become Tigger's main voice actor.
The final lines in the film with Christopher Robin and Pooh on the tree are recycled from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the book the quotes originally came from, The House at Pooh Corner.
- The plot of the film is similar to that of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, with the main character, joined by his friends, setting out on a hazardous and lengthy mission on foot to accomplish something vital, also much of The Great Unknown (Winnie The Pooh) ( the woods where the whole story takes place, where Skull, The Upside Down Rock, and all the other horror things are located) resembles The Edge Over The Wild, Goblin Caves, Smaug's cave, the trolls cave, Mirkwood and even Mordor, and other dreaded or forbidden locations in the book.
- At one point in the beginning of the movie, Pooh looks out his window and says "It's the first day of Autumn!" During the special Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of giving, the same clip was shown after the episode "Groundpiglet Day" because the next episode was A Winnie the Pooh thanksgiving.
- Locations, Points Of Interest, Creatures, Inhabitants and Other Things Of The Great Unknown:
- Bridge
- Main Entrance Into The Great Unknown
- Woods
- Bigger Woods
- Even Bigger Woods
- Biggest Woods of All
- The Upside Down Rock
- Place Where Monsters Are
- The Nice Peaceful Spot
- Valley Of Flowers And Beauty
- Lookout Hill
- Forbidden Mountains
- Forbidden Mountains of the Far North
- Screaming Gorge
- Foggy Area
- Dead Spooky Old Tree
- Skull
- Heartless Caves
- Spooky Cave
- Crystal Caves
- The plot for the film is used briefly at the end of the Hundred Acre Wood world in the Disney and Square Enix video game, Kingdom Hearts II. In this part of the game, Pooh loses his memory of Sora (The game's main protagonist, who replaces Christopher Robin in this universe) and his friends in the book. After eventually regaining his memory of everyone (Except Sora) throughout the game, Pooh has a small recollection of when Sora says goodbye to Pooh and friends in the first game. Not realizing that Sora and the boy in his memory is the same person, Pooh sets out on a journey to find this "Boy". In an area that may be The Great Unknown, Pooh gets himself lost in the crystal caves (Which very closely resemble the caves of "Skull"), but is eventually rescued by Sora and the others. It is in this scene where Pooh finally regains his memory of Sora.
Criticism
When it came out, analysts and parents criticized the film, claiming that the mild horror content (such as the long fall into the muddy marsh, the biting plants in the forest of thorns, the monsters in the map/quest scene, and the spills and chills in the skull cave) was not suitable for young children.
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