Review of Winnie The Pooh`s Most Grand Adventure

Video

The plot for this, Pooh and chums` latest adventure, is rooted in the deep insecurities of an anarchistic, paranoid white supremacist gang leader living in Venice Beach and his quest to...oh - no it`s not, that`s something else altogether, must sort my desk out, although come to think of it - Pooh as a white supremacist would raise some interesting cultural questions...Anyway, it`s actually about the disappearance and subsequent manhunt (well, soft toy hunt), for Christopher Robin.
Now, Pooh is not Columbo and Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore are not US Marshalls but the story trips along very nicely indeed nonetheless. As with all Pooh tales there is a suitable sprinkling of excellent one-liners, normally from the mouth of the hapless Tigger - for example: "I looked in all the places you weren`t, but in none of the places you were" and, my particular favourite, whilst trying to persuade Piglet to jump from a high branch: "Jump Piggy boy - I`ll catch you......likely as not..."
There`s a plan and a map (drawn by Owl, of course), and a couple of scary locations and an unseen monster or two - brilliant stuff.
I don`t know how well animation normally transfers to DVD, but the quality and clarity is certainly impressive enough to my eyes - only slight gripe is that it`s recorded in 1.33:1 and is the film most played on my new widescreen TV by my little angels. Funny that I can`t persuade them to be as interested in "Blade"...Maybe if they put some "sing-a-long" songs into it..

Audio

Disney have provided us with 5 all new songs for this movie - none of which I can remember anything about (It was 3 hours ago when I last watched the movie), but you can bet you`re bottom dollar that they`re not deeply depressing or intellectually challenging. They`re the sort of thing you catch yourself whistling whilst washing up. Oh - and it`s all in Dolby digital 5.1, If that pushes your buttons.

Features

Erm...
This Movie features a very nice box.
Oh - and alternate languages if you happen to be French, Italian or German.
What the hell do German`s think of Winnie the Pooh? I`d love to know. I`d also like to see a Cockney dub, personally.

Conclusion

I love Pooh, having grown up with the little blighter. I think this is a "Marmite" type of thing - no-one is going to buy or rent this movie thinking "I wonder what this is like - these characters look intruiging.." you either will or won`t like it, but I`ve yet to find a kid who doesn`t - and I`ve now got a large collection of kids from the neighbourhood which has developed since I started my research. My wife says I should return them soon.