Review of Piglet's Big Movie (2003) by Jack F — 08 Nov 2017

I grew up watching Winnie the Pooh movies (mainly Pooh's Grand Adventure and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), and I stopped watching a little while before the halfway point. Every character other than Piglet (and Christopher Robin) is very uncharacteristically mean-spirited and self-centered in this film and it's really distracting. Couple this with an uncomfortable scene involving Kanga bathing Piglet (it's even that weird in context, but perhaps that adds to the innocence of the film), and you've got a movie that has above average animation, good voice acting, uninspired music, and a plot that stops and starts a bit too frequently.

If I was a child watching this, I would wonder why Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, and Eeyor kept telling Piglet to not interfere with their zany shenanigans. The message of the movie is that, no matter how small you are, you can be helpful. This could have worked if the message worked around the characters rather than having the characters work around the message.

I'd recommend Pooh's Grand Adventure for older children who aren't really easily scared (that "upside down rock" scene still gives me chills to this day). It's got more touching moments, (slightly) better music, and better-developed morals. There's even some subtle religious messages if you're a religious family.

For younger children, I'd recommend the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Heck, I'd recommend that to anybody.

Can't really recommend this unless you just want to see Winnie the Pooh with a higher animation budget and don't want to watch the Heffalump movie or the 2011 Winnie the Pooh movie.