The Tigger Movie

The Tigger Movie is a 2000 American animated musical comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation with animation production by Walt Disney Animation Japan. The film was written and directed by Jun Falkenstein from a story by Eddie Guzelian. It is the second theatrical Winnie the Pooh film, after The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977). It features Pooh's sidekick Tigger searching for his family tree and other Tiggers like himself.
The film was the first feature-length theatrical Winnie the Pooh film that was not a collection of previously released shorts. It is also the first in the original films in which Tigger is voiced entirely by Jim Cummings (in addition to Pooh) following the retirement of Tigger's original voice actor Paul Winchell in 1999. Winchell was originally cast as Tigger but was dropped after the studio considered his voice to be too raspy. Cummings had previously shared the role with Winchell since 1989 and provided his singing voice in most later projects with Winchell as the character's speaking voice.
The film features original songs from the Sherman Brothers. Originally, the film was slated for a direct-to-video release in 2001, until then–Disney CEO Michael Eisner heard the Sherman Brothers' songs and decided to release the film in theaters worldwide a year early.
The Tigger Movie released in the United States on February 11, 2000, by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $96.2 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film in the Winnie the Pooh franchise until it was surpassed by Christopher Robin (2018).
The film received three nominations on the Annie Awards, including the Annie Award for Directing in a Feature Production, the Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production, and the Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production.
In the Hundred Acre Wood, Tigger searches for someone to bounce with him, but finds that his friends are busy preparing for the upcoming winter. During his search for a playmate, Tigger inadvertently destroys Eeyore's house with a boulder. Tigger attempts to help his friends remove the boulder, but inadvertently destroys Rabbit's mechanical pulley system in the process. Rabbit and the rest of Tigger's friends admonish him for his reckless nature, hurting his feelings. Tigger's closest friend Roo sees Tigger's sadness and asks him if he has any family members of his own. Tigger becomes fascinated by the concept and decides to search for his family, hoping to finally be within a similar company.
Misunderstanding advice from Owl, Tigger and Roo begin searching for his family tree, believing it to be a giant tree covered in stripes and with many Tiggers upon it. After the search fails, Roo suggests that Tigger write a letter to his family, and he does so. He lets the wind carry it away with hopes that it will reach his family but receives no response after days of waiting and begins to lose hope. Tigger's friends sympathetically decide to write him a letter and they sign it "your family". Upon receiving the letter, Tigger erroneously believes that his supposed family is intending to visit him and organizes a large party in preparation. Unable to tell Tigger the truth about the letter, Roo encourages his friends to disguise themselves as Tiggers and attend his party.
Tigger's friends later arrive at his house. He falls for his friends' disguises until Roo's mask falls off after an attempt to imitate a complex bounce that Tigger had taught him earlier fails. Feeling betrayed by his friends' deception, Tigger sets out into a blizzard in search of his real family, prompting the group to pursue him. Tigger eventually finds an immense tree that the snow has whitened with stripes, convincing him that it is the family tree he had sought, but he is saddened to find no one there. Tigger's friends try persuading him to come home, but an argument between them causes an avalanche to occur. Tigger brings his friends to higher ground but fails to save himself before the snow sweeps him away. Remembering Tigger's complex bounce, Roo successfully performs it and rescues Tigger. After the avalanche subsides, the group reveal their authorship of the letter, causing Tigger to realize that his friends are his real family, and he later throws a new party in honor of them.
Jun Falkenstein directed the film, in her own feature length debut, following her work on A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving. The film began production in April 1998. Many scenes, totaling up to 60% of the film, were completed by Walt Disney Animation Japan. Drawing inspiration from the end of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too when Tigger agrees to not bounce anymore, the film crafted a fuller character arc that "[showed] a range of emotions" for Tigger.
Paul Winchell, the original voice of Tigger, was originally cast to voice Tigger for the film, which was then titled Winnie the Pooh and the Family Tree. During Spring 1998, Winchell participated in a single recording session for the film. However, he was dropped from the project after the studio found his voice too raspy. The role was given to Jim Cummings, who was already voicing Winnie the Pooh for the film, and had voiced Tigger on various Disney television shows and for Disney consumer products. When the Disney Imagineers heard about Winchell's dismissal, they hired him to perform the voice of Tigger for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction at the Magic Kingdom, which opened a year before The Tigger Movie's release; it was Winchell's final performance before his retirement from acting in 1999 and his death in 2005.
The songs for The Tigger Movie were written by Robert and Richard Sherman who had not written a feature for Disney in over 28 years. Their last fully original feature film score was for the Oscar nominated film, Bedknobs and Broomsticks which was released in 1971. The Tigger Movie would also be the last film work for the Sherman Brothers. Robert B. Sherman died in London on March 6, 2012 at the age of 86 and Richard M. Sherman died of "age-related illness" at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, on May 25, 2024 at the age of 95. Originally slated for video or television release, the demo cut of the score was so well received by then Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, that the project's priority level moved up to feature theatrical release. The score of the film is composed by Harry Gregson-Williams with additional music by Klaus Badelt and Steve Jablonsky and the score was conducted by Nick Glennie-Smith.
All the songs were original ones created for the film except for "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" which was originally written in 1968 for the featurette, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (released in 1968). That song was also by the Sherman Brothers. The "punch line" of the song: "But the most wonderful Thing About Tiggers is I'm the only one..." provides the basis of The Tigger Movie's storyline. The vast majority of the songs, including "Someone Like Me", "Whoop-de-Dooper Bounce", "Pooh's Lullabee", and "Round My Family Tree" were performed by Jim Cummings, while "How to Be a Tigger" was performed by the cast.
"Your Heart Will Lead You Home" was the last song written for the film and is a collaborative effort between the Sherman Brothers and singer Kenny Loggins. Richard Sherman described the song as "a song about the picture, as opposed to songs of the picture." It marks the only time the trio worked together on a song.
The original theatrical trailer for the film featured the song "Semi-Charmed Life" by alternative band Third Eye Blind. A Disney spokeswoman said that she was not aware of the sexual content within the song's lyrics.
Original songs performed in the film include:
The film was originally intended to be released straight-to-video, akin to most Disney spin-offs and sequels, but was instead bumped up to a theatrical release.
Disney released a teaser trailer for The Tigger Movie in August 1999, during theatrical screenings of The Iron Giant. The teaser was later attached to theatrical screenings of The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Toy Story 2 and Stuart Little. The teaser trailer was included on the Winnie the Pooh Seasons of Giving home video release.
After a Hollywood red carpet premiere on February 6, 2000 at El Capitan Theatre, the film was released theatrically on February 11, 2000. The movie was on screens for 23 weeks.
The Tigger Movie was originally released on August 22, 2000, on both VHS and DVD. The film was later re-released on a 2-disc DVD edition on August 4, 2009 to coincide with its 10th anniversary and includes two bonus episodes of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh King of the Beasties and Tigger’s Houseguest. The 2-disc release includes a DVD and a digital copy. The film was also re-released as a Bounce-a-rrrific special edition on Blu-ray on August 21, 2012.
The film opened at number 4 at the US box office making $9.4 million in its opening weekend. The film was a box office success, earning $45,554,533 in the United States and Canada and a further $50,605,267 overseas, resulting in a worldwide gross of $96,159,800. Its budget is estimated at between $15 million and $30 million. On its initial release on home video, it earned $90 million.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 63% based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's consensus states, "The Tigger Movie may lack the technological flash and underlying adult sophistication of other recent animated movies, but it's fun and charming." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
William Thomas of Empire gave the film a three out of four stars, saying: "And while the one-dimensional nature of the plot is unlikely to entertain anyone over the age of 11, the end result certainly includes enough pre-pubescent prerequisites to ensure that the furry fella will never bounce alone." Common Sense Media gave the film a three out of five stars and said: "Tigger's bouncy quest will appeal to younger viewers."
Disney released various theatrical and direct-to-videos in the years that followed. There were two theatrical animated films: Piglet's Big Movie in 2003 and Pooh's Heffalump Movie in 2005. Two direct-to-video animated films also followed, Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo in 2004 and Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie in 2005.