Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong, even when you’re with your closest friends? That is the problem facing one of our animated friends in THE TIGGER MOVIE. One of the beautiful things about the best animated films (or as I like to call them, cartoons) is when they are able to tackle real, universal issues in the midst of silliness. This is one of the reasons I have always enjoyed Disney and Pixar movies, shows like ANIMANIACS, LOONEY TUNES, and even WINNIE THE POOH. One of the classic new-school Pooh films, THE TIGGER MOVIE (2000), was recently released and I had the privilege of viewing it with my 3 year old. Seeing all my friends from the Hundred Acre Wood was nostalgic, but also disappointing.
THE TIGGER MOVIE begins like an old-timey Winnie the Pooh film – complete with narration from John Hurt. The entire movie is told like you’re reading it out of a book, which is a neat mechanism to play with animation and is seamlessly integrated into the experience here. Within moments of the introduction, Tigger hijacks the narration, shuffling the title page to show that this is HIS movie, not Winnie the Pooh’s. We are then whisked away to the Hundred Acre Wood to spend some time with Pooh and the gang. Tigger is bounding through the woods singing a song about how wonderful it is to be a Tigger because he’s the only one there is. As he approaches his friends, though, no one has time to go bouncing with him.
You see, the entire gang is preparing for the impending winter. But to their dismay everything they are trying to accomplish is undone within moments of Tigger’s arrival: first he crashes into Pooh, spilling and breaking his ‘hunny’ pots; then he burns Piglet’s furniture in his fire place; and finally he accidentally destroys Eeyore’s hut. All he wants is what any good Tigger wants. He wants someone to go bouncing with him. His final catastrophe, destroying Rabbit’s attempts to rebuild Eeyore’s hovel, is the last straw. Pooh and the gang have to bring it to Tigger’s attention. They aren’t Tiggers, and they never will be. They don’t want to bounce with him. This realization causes Tigger to reexamine his place in the Wood, and he decides he must have a family somewhere and he is going to find them. Along with Roo, and with help from the rest of the gang, Tigger spends the majority of THE TIGGER MOVIE not realizing what is standing right in front of his face – the family he’s always wanted.
THE TIGGER MOVIE isn’t innovative storytelling. It doesn’t feature the best animation, and the voice talent is recognizable if you watched the original cartoons (but not if you didn’t). The animation almost feels intentionally stylized, though I believe that was a choice to stay true to the story’s roots in its original iconic imagery from the books. THE TIGGER MOVIE is pretty but it isn’t pretty in the modern view – it is more of a view into the animation of old. The vocal talent is all the more surprising. They’re talented, but aside from Mr. Hurt as the narrator, there isn’t anyone you would easily recognize. Thinking back, this shouldn’t be a surprise because that’s how cartoons USED to be – good actors but nobody you HAD to recognize. The characters themselves are the voices.
THE TIGGER MOVIE is actually a little bit difficult to watch sometimes because the animation seems out of place when compared to more recent Disney releases. That’s not to say its bad, but in HD it just doesn’t look as impressive as I remembered the old Pooh cartoons while I was growing up. But the story is told from the heart, and with a movie like this you couldn’t ask for much more. It also happens to be a TON of fun to watch with a youngster. There isn’t anything questionable about this movie, unlike some of Disney’s recent animated offerings. This one is pure fun, and for that it works well… if you can stand a movie about the most annoying side character in the history of storytelling (my personal feeling about Tigger and his voice). Regardless, if you have little ones, check it out.
Video: (1080p, 1.78:1 Widescreen) The picture on THE TIGGER MOVIE is okay but didn’t transfer very well and just doesn’t look that great in HD. Your kids won’t notice, but you probably will.
Audio: (English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio) THE TIGGER MOVIE’s sound is decently presented but nothing special.
The PAUSE Screen One of the coolest special features on this Blu-ray package is what happens when you pause the movie. Instead of freezing the frame, the disc goes to a special screen where you can see how to draw the characters, practice counting, play some games… it’s just very cool. I hope more films start doing this. Very cool. Very nicely done.
A Tigger’s Tale (06:22) A fairly standard making of featurette. This one brings together a number of the crew to talk about their work on THE TIGGER MOVIE and returning to Disney’s roots. This shows how much the movie is really made for people who enjoyed the original Pooh shorts in the late ‘60s.
Mini Adventures of Winnie The Pooh (24:21) A collection of 10 animated shorts. If you enjoyed the original cartoons you should check this out immediately. I enjoyed these more than the feature film – though I was disappointed to see just how much material they re-used in THE TIGGER MOVIE. Included here are: Pooh and Tigger, The Most Wonderful Thing About Tiggers, Eeyore’s House, Someone Like Tigger, What Tigger’s Do Best, Lullabee, The Super Bounce, Tigger Goes Ice Skating, The Jagular, and Unbouncing Tigger.
“Round My Family Tree” Sing-Along Song (02:45) One of the best songs from THE TIGGER MOVIE is presented here for you to read and sing along!
Kenny Loggins Music Video “Your Heart Will Lead You Home” (04:49) If you like Kenny Loggins, you’ll likely enjoy this. If not, this isn’t going to change your mind. THE TIGGER MOVIE and Kenny Loggins… who knew?
