By UPDATE: Slashfilm has two stills from the upcoming film and they are GORGEOUS OH MY GOD I TAKE BACK EVERY BAD THING I SAY BELOW! There is also a “synopsis,” but it’s really just, “Hey, Winnie the Pooh is back!” with no real plot details.
Everyone’s got that one childhood cartoon character that they loved above all else. Mine was, and in many ways, still is, Winnie the Pooh. He’s charming, he’s got a lovely supporting cast, and he is, of course, stuffed with fluff. So when I read on The Playlist today that Disney was prepping a 2D, hand-drawn Winnie the Pooh movie with Pooh mainstay Jim Cummings as the voice of Pooh and on track for a 2011 release date, I was in a very, very good place. On top of that, John “Awesome†Lasseter is executive producing. Can you say perfect storm of happiness?
Then I read something horrible. According to the article, the film is meant to be at, “a faster pace punctuated with humour[Australians!] that’s more appropriate for modern audiences.â€
If you hear someone screaming for the rest of the day, it’s probably me. I’ve got some more detailed reactions under the break.
UPDATE: Slashfilm has two stills from the upcoming film and they are GORGEOUS OH MY GOD I TAKE BACK EVERY BAD THING I SAY BELOW! There is also a "synopsis," but it's really just, "Hey, Winnie the Pooh is back!" with no real plot details.
Everyone’s got that one childhood cartoon character that they loved above all else. Mine was, and in many ways, still is, Winnie the Pooh. He’s charming, he’s got a lovely supporting cast, and he is, of course, stuffed with fluff. So when I read on The Playlist today that Disney was prepping a 2D, hand-drawn Winnie the Pooh movie with Pooh mainstay Jim Cummings as the voice of Pooh and on track for a 2011 release date, I was in a very, very good place. On top of that, John “Awesome” Lasseter is executive producing. Can you say perfect storm of happiness?
Then I read something horrible. According to the article, the film is meant to be at, “a faster pace punctuated with humour[Australians!] that’s more appropriate for modern audiences.”
If you hear someone screaming for the rest of the day, it’s probably me. I’ve got some more detailed reactions under the break.{{page_break}}
Are you kidding me? The entire lasting charm of Winnie the Pooh, as a character and as a property in general, is the simple, adorable charm that every character exudes. Even the mediocre CG series, which oddly-enough stars Hit Girl as the main human, was more about the simplicity of adventure and exploration and childhood curiosity. These are simple characters. They don’t require a lot of slapstick humor and pop culture references in order to be funny. I think I’d rather sit through all the Hundred-Acre Wood levels of the Kingdom Hearts games than sit through a more “modern” rendition of Pooh bear that's more like Shrek than my silly ol’ bear.
I may just be overreacting here. John Lasseter is a major creative force, and, Cars aside, I’ve enjoyed pretty much all of his producing ventures. Which is, you know, every Pixar movie, yes, but I stand by the man’s talent. Here’s hoping part of the Winnie the Pooh I loved as a child will still remain in this modern story.
[Via The Playlist]