A week or so ago, my family and I were invited to attend a free sneak peak preview of the new Winnie the Pooh movie, a few days prior to its release. Though some would think we were crazy to take a toddler to a 7 p.m. showing of a movie, I will say, it was a unique experience for us because it was the first movie we saw together as a family. Overall, I thought the movie was a very "sweet" take on a classic book, without any overly dramatic sound effects or animation. It had a simple story, with a good pace, some great humor and nice musical scores. Though my almost 2 year-old-son only really watched for about 30 minutes before trying to engage the kids in front of him in a really stellar game of peek-a-boo, I guess it was just enough time for him to learn just exactly who Winnie the Pooh is. He had no idea who the silly bear with a rumbly tumbly and his unique pals were before entering the movie theater. One week later we walked by the Disney Store in the mall and I thought it was the cutest thing to see him pointing to the stuffed animal in the display saying Pooh, to the point where I flashed back to our family movie experience, checked the price tag and started to reach down for the money in my wallet. Wow, amazing how it all comes full circle.
It was a cute movie, but basically the same old story as all the other Pooh movies we have seen over the last 7-8 years.
However, my youngest daughter is a very big Pooh Bear fan (since she was a year old), so we just had to go see the movie.
Wasn’t really worth the money (to me) but again, being the Pooh Bear fan that my daughter is, I guess it was worth it in the end.
The movie was very well done and even brought in the book style graphics. It had all the charm of the Winnie the Pooh books with a good story for kids in the targeted age range. My 5 year old loved it (although she was slightly scared of the monster imagined by the characters). Nowadays, it seems lots of movies marketed to children are rated PG and I’m not sure why. But this one is rated G, which makes it easier on parents of young children.
Thanks for you comment Suzanne! My toddler loved it for about the first 30 minutes which was longer than I anticipated. We also thought the book graphics were really neat. It was short but definitely long enough for that age group.
One thing I learned this summer having an almost 2 year old is that I am definitely living vicariously through the innocence of my son! Seeing his expressions with some of the experiences we have had are worth their weight in admission prices just to watch his excitement!