I've long contended, that with the exception of a few decent songs, Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin is the worst of Disney's Pooh movies. It's the first film to really stray far from the Milne canon, playing excessively fast and loose with the Busy Backson chapter from The House at Pooh Corner. I believe that's a result of being produced as a direct-to-video release by the TV animation group that gave us the equally freewheeling The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh series. The whole film is forcefully squeezed between scenes in the closing chapter of the preceding The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh movie to give it some unearned credibility.

This adaptation ditches the most morose and gloomiest elements, but it also discards the lesson for which the film is most famous: "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart…I’ll always be with you.” (A quote often attributed to Milne but original to this Disney screenplay, written by Karl Geurs and Carter Crocker.) It's a bland, bare-bones regurgitation of the main story points without any soul.

FOR REFERENCE:

Adaptation written by Bruce Talkington and illustrated by John Kurtz based on the direct-to-video film Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin written by Karl Geurs and Carter Crocker, loosely based on A. A. Milne's The House at Pooh Corner, Chapter 5: "In Which Rabbit Has a Busy Day, and We Learn What Christopher Robin Does in the Mornings."

In our old book database, I first read this book to my daughter in 2002: I rated it "Indifferent," and Adelia rated it "Good."

(Pooh Project: Phase 2! I've managed to catalog all the shorter Pooh books my family owns (see the list here). While I work through few remaining longer Pooh books we own, I'm missing my daily dose of Pooh, so I'm going to start seeking out some of the Pooh books I don't own – yet – from libraries IRL and online. See the reviews here.) ( )

This book really shows the meaning of friendship. Winnie the Pooh was my favorite movie, my favorite character, my favorite everything growing up, and coming back and reading this book made me cry (I'm going to be honest here). Winnie the Pooh is a kind-hearted bear who will do anything for his friends, even endure long journeys and hardships. This is an example that should be set for every young mind. It is a shame that Winnie the Pooh is dying out, and I think we should keep him and his friends alive. ( )

$8.00