2/5 Too intense for young children
  by Mom of two daughters (MA USA)
My 3yr old loves her Winnie the Pooh movie, and so we bought this one in hopes to see more adventures of the good old bear and the gang. What a disappointing experience it was! First of all, the old Pooh movie is in fact a collection of short episodes and your child does not have to watch it all at once. This feature in 77 min long which is a lot for a 3 yr old. The worst thing is, however, the plot. The Tigger is SO overbearing in his efforts to find a "true" family that at times you just cannot help but roll your eyes and sigh. He also tears up several times during the movie, as do other characters, which creates unnecessary emotional tension. And why does the closing sequence have to be so intense? with all the screaming, crying, avalanche descending, etc.? I do not want my daughter be exposed to all this emotional nonsense, which is completely unnecessary. The first Pooh movie is kind, funny, slow-paced, witty and a joy to watch even for us parents. This feature does not come even close. It goes on the shelf to rest until my little one is at least 7-8 years old.

3/5 Kids will like it, but earlier Pooh movies are better
  by Alexander M. Walker (Chicago, IL USA)
When Disney announced The Tigger Movie was in the works over a decade ago, my immediate question was "Didn't they already make a Tigger movie?" Back in 1974, Disney created Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, which I maintain is the best animated rendition of A.A. Milne's characters to this day. Along with being made first, it had a storyline that actually made sense and which is used to some extent in the 1999 The Tigger Movie: the denizens of the 100 Acre Wood are tired of Tigger's bounciness. That film had Tigger giving up his bouncy ways only to have his friends decide they prefer Tigger when he's springing to and fro.

So what did Disney create The Tigger Movie around to entertain children for 77 minutes while cashing in on the most bankable character of Milne's lot? Identity issues. If it's accepted that tiggers must bounce, where are the other tiggers to prove that rule? So Tigger sets out to discover his true family - a quest only egged on by his friends writing a fake letter from his fictional same-species family. Championing an empty golden locket as his lone family heirloom, Tigger explodes from his home with the new letter announcing the arrival of his family within a matter of days - something his friends know just can't be true. His family, nonexistent as they are, never show and his friends decide to don tigger costumes - but their ruse is discovered and tigger marches off in a huff determined to discover his all-too-literal family tree.

The fool's errand of The Tigger Movie creates a very despondent Tigger (an unusual turn for the character) and obviously ends in an important life lesson. You'd swear The Tigger Movie was an epistle to adopted children everywhere with a message of "Your family isn't always the people who look like you, but those who love you unconditionally". It's a sweet message and certainly valuable for children everywhere - but as a movie it isn't everything it's cracked up to be. The relationship between Roo and Tigger is really the deepest element of the film despite the aforementioned moral which would almost blot out any other message. As Tigger's obsession with tracking down the other tiggers becomes his sole concern, his time with Roo becomes increasingly distant and short. It's the same message as that presented by the adventure's conclusion, but it's dealt much more delicately and without nearly as much boldfaced lettering to make its point.

Personally, I've always sided with Rabbit on the issue of Tigger: he's obnoxious, destructive and should be killed, gutted, and restuffed to be mounted in the hunter's lodge of the 100 Acres Wood. However, it's his off-the-wall behavior and rambunctious spirit which attract the little ones and make him the prime character for a Winnie the Pooh movie [read that with a slight amount of resentment]. Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too is easily the more balanced and well-written of the two, but chances are children will be more attracted to the Tigger-centric nature of this one and its upbeat musical numbers.

The animation is an odd mix of updated quality and slightly less-polished style. On one hand the colors are richer than the old cartoon's ever were, but instead of well-rounded shapes and fully shaded solids, you'll notice a lot of surfaces in The Tigger Movie have gradients which almost look like they've been sketched in with pencil instead of filled in with a solid dab of paint. It's not a bad change, but was it really necessary. I mean, if it ain't broke... Meanwhile, on the voice side of things, Jim Cummings resumes his role as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, while similar vets Ken Sansom, Peter Cullen, John Fiedler, Nikita Hopkins, Andre Stojka, Kath Soucie reprise their roles in the Pooh-bear voice legacy. John Hurt chimes in to narrate, and - because I love mentioning him in every review possible - Frank Welker, the man of voices, provides additional support.

DVD Extra Features:

There's lots of stuff for your tykes to enjoy on the disc and a half of extra features (as well as a digital copy for on the go viewing). On the main disc is the main film and two episodes of the classic The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - but each is only about 11 minutes long. The second disc, filled with extras, has a Tigger trivia game and a matching game, both of which require the mouse or remote control to play. The other activity on the disc involves instructions so your children can create a family tree for your own ancestors - genealogy is fun for everyone! Yay! Finally, there's a Kenny Loggins (yes, he's still making music) music video and a sing-along version of "Round My Family Tree" from the movie.

4/5 A fine addition to your Winnie the pooh DVD library
  by Gregory Ehrbar (Orlando, FL)
There have been so many Pooh-related feature films, direct-to-video films and television series that it's getting difficult to keep track of them (word is that there is another theatrical feature in the works). To the best of my recollection, "The Tigger Movie" was produced by the television division but was very successful in its theatrical release and was followed up with "Piglet's Big Movie."

This is actually quite a nice film. The amazing thing about these characters is how flexible they are for so many stories. The plot here revolves around Tigger's family background and his search for his "family tree." The animation, apparently done in Japan, is very fluid and suggestive of the earlier films -- and the domestic artists behind it are among the best in the business, including Floyd Norman and Toby Bluth.

John Fiedler, as Piglet, is the one remaining cast member from the original films, with Jim Cummings voicing Pooh and Tigger and none other than John Hurt taking over the narration from Sebastian Cabot.

It sure is nice to see "Songs by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman" in the credits. This was technically their last film for Disney, though its success surely should have resulted in others. My favorite of their songs is "Round My Family Tree," but they all have the delicate charm of their other Pooh songs. They also collaborated with Kenny Loggins on "Your Heart Will Lead You Home," which got a lot of airplay.

The DVD offers a handful of bonus features -- several games, mostly, plus a storybook version read by the great Corey Burton and a digital copy. But it is particularly good to see two short episodes from the Emmy-winning "New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" series. Each episode relates to the plot of the feature. Wouldn't it be great if the series was packaged season-by-season on DVD? Hmm?



4/5 The best Pooh sequel
  by Julie Neal (Sanibel Island, Fla.)
"Mostly I'm happy... but now all at once I feel so lonely," sings a uncharacteristically melancholy Tigger in this year-2000 theatrical film, after his Hundred Acre Wood pals finally reject his manic bouncing behavior. Determined to track down "someone like me," the irrepressible stuffed tiger has several adventures. He eventually learns that family members come in all shapes and sizes, and not necessarily from the same family tree.

Compared to most Disney sequels "The Tigger Movie" has a lot to offer. It's sweet, with absolutely no hostility, and no more violence than a few bee stings. The animation is surprisingly good -- a hallucinatory revue of history's greatest Tiggers in references to The Brady Bunch, the "Jackson 5ive" Saturday morning cartoon series, Jerry Springer, The Seven Year Itch, even 1930s Gold Diggers films -- while backgrounds often retain the soft watercolor look of the classic Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. For the most part Tigger's sunny enthusiasm is on full display, as are his absoposilutely twisted takes on the English language. All the other classic Pooh characters appear too, including Winnie the Pooh, Rabbit, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga, Roo, even Christopher Robin.

The voice talent is good, though the only voice from the original film is John Fiedler as Piglet. Both Tigger (originally Paul Winchell) and Pooh (originally Sterling Holloway) are voiced by Jim Cummings, recognizable to Playhouse Disney fans as the voice of Pete on the series "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse." The narrator (originally Sebastian Cabot) is voiced here by John Hurt, who portrays Mr. Ollivander in the Harry Potter films as well as Professor Oxley in 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

In short, "The Tigger Movie" is the best of Disney's Pooh sequels. Preschoolers will especially love it, and though the oddball story line has some obvious plot holes (stuffed animals have birth parents?), parents can sit through at least one viewing with relative ease.

P.S. Want another good Pooh sequel? Check out Pooh's Heffalump Movie.

P.P.S. Fans of Walt Disney World will want to watch that Tigger revue closely. The band playing at the family reunion is a Tiggerfied version of the Five Bear Rugs, the stars of the Country Bear Jamboree.