Christopher Robin

My elder sister is a huge Winnie the Pooh fan. Her first plushie is Winnie the Pooh and when we were kids, we always consider this Pooh as boyfriend for my Toki bunny plushie. If not because of these beautiful childhood memories, no way I would be interested in Winnie the Pooh :p Haha.. Honestly until now I don't think Pooh or any of his friends are cute.

I did not really enjoy Maleficent but the movie gives a new perspective on this very cool villain and who can hate Angelina Jolie here, Cinderella was magical and modernised her outdated damsel-in-distress image from the 1950s, while Beauty and the Beast was simply a beast in showing the greatness of Disney's Renaissance era even outside its original format that we all grow to love with. I skipped the Jungle Book though lol although it also garnered rave reviews. With such great predecessors, I was still excited when Pooh was announced to be the next Disney's live action.

I was disappointed when seeing the trailer for the first time as the characters looked nothing like the cartoon and Pooh and friends also appear so short and disproportionate next to Christopher Robin. Essentially it was quite far off from the feel I get from the cartoon. I suppose Disney did great advertising because after getting more exposure, I think the choice of muting down the colours for Pooh and friends is good to blend the characters in real world and make them less cartoonish as they are supposed to be real animals, not stuffed dolls that come to live in Christopher Robin's imagination. I am so used with Christopher Robin's as a kid and how he interacts with Pooh and friends. Pooh is about half the height of Christopher Robin as a boy. So with Christopher Robin is an adult in this live action, the size of Pooh and friends is consistent.

As far as story telling goes, Christopher Robin is kind of bland: he is an adult now, he is busy with his career, he forgets about his childhood friend, and somehow something happens in between to make him remember the good old times. Unfortunately, the "somehow something happens" part is boring and not adventurous enough. The personality of Pooh and friends shines through but I am expecting more touching interaction between them and Christopher Robin as he spends more time only with Pooh.

However, given my current circumstances, this is the first movie that made me cry right from the start and almost until towards the end. It makes me remember my childhood days with my soft toys and that makes me real nostalgic. If only my soft toys can come alive, I will be so happy. Christopher Robin gives very good message for us not to sacrifice the present and the things that really matter in life (e.g family, friends, enjoyment, holidays) for the sake of work/career or the future.

So do not call me a small kid or childish to still want play and collect toys or to spend most my holiday in Japan to be at Disneyland :p Work life balance and finding happiness in life are my priorities at this point of time.