Disney's Christopher Robin opens in theaters everywhere this weekend, starring Ewan McGregor as the grown-up title character who finds himself reunited with his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood.
Directed by Marc Forster (Finding Neverland), the film holds a middling score of 63 percent on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising its old-fashioned charm and joy of revisiting A.A. Milne's classic characters as positive factors, while dinging ts unexpectedly dark undertones and excessive pandering. But how does the latest adventure of Winnie the Pooh and company compare to other cinematic adaptations of Milne's children's classics?
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Before the live-action Christopher Robin, Disney's most recent theatrically released adaptation was 2011's animated Winnie the Pooh, directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall. The directors, and then-chief creative officer of Disney Animation Studios John Lasseter, set out to update the iconic property for new audiences without compromising the classic look and sensibilities of earlier adaptation, as the characters set out to rescue Christopher Robin from an imaginary monster they dub the Backson. To emphasize this mission statement, the film uses traditional, hand-drawn animation instead of employing digital techniques, and is the most recent Disney feature to do so.
Despite only being a modest success at the box office, the film earned widespread acclaimed, and stands at 91 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics citing its timeless appeal that effortlessly recaptures the old magic from Disney's initial Pooh adaptations.
From 2000 to 2005, DisneyToon Studios released a trilogy of Winnie the Pooh adaptations before the studio was largely relegated to direct-to-video releases. The first of these was 2000's The Tigger Movie, written and directed by Jun Falkenstein and produced in association with Disney Animation Japan. Focused on the titular, hyperactive tiger, the film was originally slated for direct-to-video release before then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner heard the soundtrack composed by the prolific Sherman Brothers and opted to give it a wide theatrical release. While the film only boasts a 62 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, it went on to become the highest-earning Winnie the Pooh film to date.
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Disney followed up on that success by focusing the next film on Piglet in Piglet's Big Movie, directed by Francis Glebas. The 2003 film followed the eponymous young pig who feels his trademark clumsiness has gone on too long, and decides to leave the Hundred Acre Wood. Pooh then leads the rest of his friends to track down Piglet and reaffirm their friendship. The animated film fared much better with critics than its immediate predecessor and has a 71 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
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The final installment of DisneyToon Studios' unofficial Winnie the Pooh trilogy was Pooh's Heffalump Movie, directed by Frank Nissen. The 2005 film shifted the focus back to Milne's ensemble as a whole, with the Hundred Acre Wood dealing with the arrival of the long-rumored and much-feared Heffalumps. Despite earning the greatest critical response of the trilogy with a score of 79 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the film would ultimately earn less at the box office than either of its predecessors.
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And, finally, that leaves 1977's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, directed by John Lounsbery and Wolfgang Reitherman, Disney's first feature-length adaptation of the property to receive a theatrical release. After producing a trilogy of short films adapting Winnie the Pooh to accompany other Disney features beginning in 1966, the studio decided to package the shorts together with a brand-new fourth story and extra material linking all four together. The film was a hit with audiences and critics alike. and boasts a perfect 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics lauding it as the definitive adaptation of Milne's timeless stories.
While Christopher Robin's current critical reception isn't the lowest a Disney Pooh movie has received, it is incredibly close. For audiences looking for a revisionist take on Winnie the Pooh and how to capture that love of life and imagination in the face of mounting responsibilities, the new film may offer that satisfaction but for viewers either new to the franchise or looking for the definitive take on the characters, the 1977 original and 2011 update remain the gold standards for the venerable Disney property.
Directed by Marc Forster, Christopher Robin stars Ewan McGregor as the title character and Hayley Atwell as his wife Evelyn, with Bronte Carmichael as their daughter Madeline, and Mark Gatiss as Christopher’s employer Giles Winslow Jr., along with the voices of Jim Cummings as Pooh and Tigger, Nick Mohammed as Piglet, Brad Garrett as Eeyore, Toby Jones as Owl, Sophie Okonedo as Kanga, and Peter Capaldi as Rabbit. The film is open in theaters everywhere.