PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2003 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
In PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE, Piglet (voiced by John Fiedler) is hurt when his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood think he's too small to be of any help in trapping a swarm of bees. After he goes missing, the rest of the underwritten story has his pals using a scrapbook of remembrances to "remember" where he must be. This allows the movie to retell old stories.
The movie's old-fashioned drawings, perfectly and lovingly recreate the look of the Winnie the Pooh picture books. If you aren't going to use computer-generated animation, this retro look is probably the best bet. In-between styles, such as those seen in the recent and disastrous TREASURE PLANET, are visually disappointing, lacking realism and beauty.
The bland script and songs -- with the exception of the stirring "Sing Ho For The Life Of The Bear" -- are likely to have the little ones fidgeting. Only the story's relatively few pratfalls got our packed, young audience engaged and laughing.
As always in Pooh tales, the characters manage to be endearing even when working with mediocre scripts like this one. The movie does contain one exceptional and memorable sequence. Each of the characters take crayons and flips pads to devise their own vignettes about Piglet. These crude animated movies are especially cute. It's too bad that the rest of the movie wasn't at this same satisfying level.
PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE runs 1:15. It is rated G and would be acceptable for all ages.
My niece Liana, age 6, and her brother William, age 8, both liked the movie. Liana's favorite part was when Piglet got lost, and William's was an optical illusion of Piglet appearing in a large collection of bubbles.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, March 21, 2003. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters.
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