Winnie the Pooh (2011 film)
Winnie the Pooh is a 2011 American animated musical adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 51st animated film produced by the studio, it is based on the eponymous novel series written by A. A. Milne and illustrated by E. H. Shepard. The film is a revival of Disney's "Winnie the Pooh" franchise and the fifth theatrical "Winnie the Pooh" film released. It was directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Peter Del Vecho and Clark Spencer , and narrated by John Cleese. Anderson and Hall also wrote the film’s story with Brian Kesinger, Kendelle Hoyer, Nicole Mitchell, Jeremy Spears, Don Dougherty, and Clio Chiang. Jim Cummings reprises his voice roles as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, and Travis Oates reprises his voice role as Piglet, while newcomers Tom Kenny, Craig Ferguson, Bud Luckey, and Kristen Anderson-Lopez provide the voices of Rabbit, Owl, Eeyore, and Kanga, respectively. In the film, the aforementioned residents of the Hundred Acre Wood embark on a quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit while Pooh deals with a hunger  for honey. Production began in September 2008 with Walt Disney Animation Studios' chief creative officer John Lasseter announcing that Disney wanted to create a film that would "transcend generations". The film features six songs by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and a score composed by Henry Jackman, as well as a rendition of the Sherman Brothers' "Winnie the Pooh" theme song by actress and musician Zooey Deschanel. The film was released on April 6, 2011 in Europe and on July 15, 2011 in the United States. It grossed $50 million worldwide on a $30 million budget and  received largely positive reviews from critics who praised its nostalgic feeling. Despite the lukewarm reception in general, Disney decided to let go of the idea of releasing one hand-drawn animated film every two years after the film's underperformance despite that it wasn't intentionally expected to be a blockbuster hit like previous works. To date, it is Disney's last traditionally animated theatrical film. However, in 2019, producer Peter Del Vecho and "Frozen" directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (who eventually became Chief Creative Officer of the animation studio) confirmed that there would be possibilities for other future  hand-drawn projects at the studio. Plot. Christopher Robin is a young boy whose story takes place inside a storybook, whose letters can be seen around many of the scenes. Winnie the Pooh wakes up one day to find that he is out of honey ("The Tummy Song"). While out searching for more, Pooh discovers that Eeyore has lost his tail. Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo come to the rescue ("A Very Important Thing To Do") while Tigger has his bouncing fun. Christopher Robin decides to hold a contest to see who can find a replacement for Eeyore 's tail. The prize for the winner is a fresh pot of honey ("The Winner Song"). After everyone else's failed attempts to replace Eeyore's tail, Kanga suggests that they use a scarf. This is declared the winner, but it soon unravels. The following day, Pooh still has not been able to find any honey. He goes to visit Christopher Robin, and finds a note that says "Gon Out Bizy Backson", a misspelling of "Gone Out, Busy, Back Soon". Pooh is unable to read the note, so he asks for Owl's help. Owl's poor reading comprehension skills  lead Pooh and his friends to believe that Christopher Robin has been abducted by a ruthless and mischievous creature they call the "Backson" ("The Backson Song"). Rabbit plans to trap the Backson in a pit, which they think he will fall into after following a trail of items leading to it. Meanwhile, Tigger, who wants a sidekick to help him defeat the Backson, recruits a reluctant Eeyore to be a second Tigger ("It's Gonna Be Great"). He dresses up like the Backson and tries to teach Eeyore how to fight. Eeyore manages to escape from Tigger and hides  underwater, where he discovers an anchor. After a failed attempt to get honey from a bee hive, Pooh's imagination combined with his hunger get the better of him ("Everything is Honey"), and he ends up accidentally eating some mud and falling into the pit meant for the Backson. Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Owl, and Piglet use Eeyore's anchor "replacement tail" as a rope to try to get Pooh out, but everyone but Piglet falls in. Piglet tries to help them out, but consistently overinterprets Rabbit's instructions, leading to the destruction of the only rope he has with him . He goes to find more rope, but runs into Tigger, and mistakes his costume for the actual monster. Piglet flees from Tigger on a red balloon, which knocks some of the storybook's letters into the pit. After the chase, Tigger and Piglet fall into the trap as well, where Eeyore reminds Tigger that he, being "the only one", is "the most wonderful thing about Tiggers." Eventually, Pooh figures out how to use the fallen letters to form a ladder, and his friends are able to escape the pit. They soon find Christopher Robin, and tell him about the Backson , but he clarifies by saying that he had been out at school and was meant to be "back soon". The honey pot prize is given to the red balloon from earlier, much to Pooh's dismay. Later, Pooh visits Owl, and discovers that Owl, not recognizing what it is, has found Eeyore's tail and is using it as a bell pull. Owl offers Pooh some honey for lunch, but Pooh, ignoring his tummy's loud rumbling, hurries to give Eeyore his tail back. Christopher Robin is proud of Pooh's selflessness; as a reward for his kindness, Pooh is  given a pot of honey twice as tall as he is. ("Pooh's Finale") The film ends with Christopher Robin and Pooh walking into the sunset as Pooh comments aside his tummy won't be rumbly for a long time. In a post-credits scene, the Backson is revealed to really exist, but is actually very nice and gentle. He finds the items left for him, including the chalk drawing of himself, which he calls a "scary looking fella". Deciding to return the items to their owners, he starts picking them up but ends up falling into the hole. Production . Walt Disney Animation Studios' chief creative officer John Lasseter first approached Stephen Anderson and Don Hall in November 2008 about making a new "Winnie the Pooh" film for theaters, with the two becoming enthusiastic at the idea and accepting the project. In 2009, Lasseter, Anderson and Hall viewed the classic "Winnie the Pooh" feature shorts and films to figure out how to make the title character culturally relevant. Following a trip to Ashdown Forest in Sussex, South East England to explore the location of A. A. Milne's original stories, the filmmakers enlisted Burny Mattinson, a Disney veteran who worked  as the key animator on the 1974 short "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too", to serve as lead storyboard artist for the film, with Anderson and Hall directing. After seeing all the feature films about Winnie the Pooh, Mattinson thought he could use Milne's story ""In which Eeyore loses his tail and Pooh finds one"" as the basic idea for the plot. Mattinson's five-minute pitch for the sequence where Eeyore loses his tail is credited with convincing Disney executives to make the film a feature-length work instead of a featurette. Regarding the decision to use hand -drawn (traditional) animation in lieu of computer-generated imagery (CGI), Anderson stated that "If this were a fully CG-animated [sic] and rendered and lit Pooh, it just wouldn’t feel right. We would be doing the characters a real disservice." Many of the animation staff from "The Princess and the Frog" (2009) were brought in to work on "Winnie the Pooh", as the two films involved traditional animation. The production would also use the same software utilized for "Princess and the Frog", Toon Boom Animation's Harmony, to digitally ink and paint the drawings. Originally, the film was supposed  to feature five stories from the A. A. Milne books, but the final cut ended up drawing inspiration from three stories. Lasseter had also announced that Rabbit's friends and relatives would be in the film, but their scene was ultimately deleted. Release. The film was released on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 in Belgium; April 11 in Germany; and on April 15 in the United Kingdom. It was released on July 15, 2011, in the United States. Short films. The film was preceded by the animated short "The Ballad of Nessie", which tells the story of how the Loch Ness  Monster and her best friend MacQuack (a rubber duck) came to live in the loch they now call home. In some international screenings, the episode "Cubby's Goldfish" from the Disney Junior series "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" was aired instead. Home media. The film was first released as number 51 in the Animated Classics range on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on October 25, 2011. The releases included animated shorts "The Ballad of Nessie" and "Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh:" ""Pooh's Balloon"," as well as deleted scenes. Reception. Critical response. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports  that of critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of . The website's critics consensus reads: "Short, nostalgic, and gently whimsical, "Winnie the Pooh" offers young audiences—and their parents—a sweetly traditional family treat." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 26 critics, "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film an "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Gary Goldstein of the "Los Angeles Times" says  the film "proves a fitting tribute to one of the last century's most enduring children's tales." A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" praised the film for being able to charm children and parents alike. Roger Ebert, giving it 3 stars out of 4, wrote in his review, "In a time of shock-value 3-D animation and special effects, the look of the film is gentle and pleasing. It was hand-animated, I'm told, and the backgrounds use a subtle and reassuring watercolor style. It's a nightmare-proof experience for even the youngest viewers ." While "Platform Online" stated that "Winnie the Pooh"s "hand-drawn animation is such a welcome relief," it found the film's run-time length to be more of an issue, which it stated "At just 70 minutes, even aiming at kids this could have been longer – Pixar have been pushing films well over 90 minutes for years now, and it's clear the children can handle it. Just as you really get into the film it's over, and you're left wanting more." Box office. In North America, "Winnie the Pooh" earned $7.8 million in its opening weekend  from 2,405 single-screen locations, averaging about $3,267 per venue, and ranking sixth for the weekend. The film closed on September 22, 2011, with a final domestic gross of $26.7 million, with the opening weekend making up 29.44% of the final gross. Among its overseas grosses, "Winnie the Pooh" had its largest gross in Japan with $4.13 million; the country has had a long-standing affection for the character of Winnie the Pooh. Other international grosses include $1.33 million in Germany, $1.29 million in Poland, $1.18 million in the UK and $1.14 million  in Russia. Overall, it made $23.4 million overseas, bringing the worldwide gross to $50.1 million over a budget of $30 million. Soundtrack. Hoping to find the right songwriters for their film, "Winnie the Pooh" directors Anderson and Hall sent visuals to five songwriting teams. The duo instantly fell in love with the demos returned by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who had previously worked with executive producer Lasseter and Disney music executive Chris Montan on the theme park musical version of "Finding Nemo". The first song which the songwriting candidates were asked to write was the  one which became "Everything Is Honey", in which Pooh undergoes a wild hallucination in his desperate hunger for honey. The Lopezes' inspiration for writing their successful demo was their desperate lack of sleep at the time because of the restlessness of their then-newborn younger daughter, Annie. The Lopezes wrote seven songs for the film, including "The Tummy Song", "A Very Important Thing to Do", "Everything Is Honey", "The Winner Song", "The Backson Song", "Pooh's Finale", and "It's Gonna Be Great". "The Backson Song" was also inspired, again, by the Lopezes' ongoing issues with their younger daughter 's difficulty with sleeping through the night, as well as the fact that Disney's request for the song came in while they were on "the vacation from hell" on Fire Island (in Anderson-Lopez's words) and they had to borrow a piano at a local church to compose it. In the song, Kanga (voiced by Anderson-Lopez herself) mentions that one thing that Backsons do is "wake up babies at one and three." Zooey Deschanel performed three songs for the film, including a take on the "Winnie the Pooh" theme song, "A Very Important Thing to Do" and  an original end-credit song "So Long", which was written by Deschanel and performed with She & Him bandmate M. Ward. The film was scored by Henry Jackman, with additional music by Christopher Willis. In the trailer, the song "Somewhere Only We Know" by English alternative rock band Keane was used instead of the music written by Jackman. The song by Keane is not included on the soundtrack. The song "So Long" was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2012 ceremony. The film's acclaimed track "The Backson Song", along with "So Long", were  part of the pre-nominees for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and Henry Jackman for the Best Original Score category list. However, none of them received the nominations. Although "Winnie the Pooh" did not do as well as hoped because it opened against the last film of the "Harry Potter" series, it was while working on the film that Disney executives started to really notice the Lopezes' "instinct for storytelling with music." In turn, they did not have to audition for their next Disney project; instead, Disney pitched "Frozen" to them. Other versions. The Walt Disney Company released  five versions, for the song "Welcome to my world" featuring Edyta Bartosiewicz for the Polish version, "Witaj w moim świecie (Welcome to my world)", for the Romanian version, "Bun Venit în Lumea mea (Welcome to My World)", Zséda for the Hungarian version, "Az én világom (My world)", Evgenia Vlasova for the Ukrainian version, "Мій світ (My world)", and for the Bulgarian version, " Добре дошъл в моя свят (Dobre doshŭl v moya svyat)". Stage adaptation. A musical theatre adaptation, titled "Disney's Winnie the Pooh KIDS", uses additional music from Will Van Dyke and additional lyrics and scenes by Cheryl Davies