Winnie The Pooh - Pooh's Heffalump Halloween (Animated) (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	It's Winnie the Pooh  -  kids love it
Disadvantages:	newer animation isn't the same

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Winnie the Pooh has always been a favourite with me and I must admit that whenever I see a new tale on DVD I buy it more for me than for my son and this is no exception.

I realise that this is completely out of season but after watching it with my son (honestly), I felt I had to review it, as it is just delightful. It is a follow on from The Heffalump Movie, which was made just before this in 2005. This was where Lumpy and Roo became firm friends and the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood realised that they shouldn't believe everything they hear about Heffalumps. Unlike the first though this was a straight to video or DVD follow on which Disney seem to do quite a bit of now. Most of the follow ups are a bit disappointing but this one makes it work through the magic of the lovable characters.

***Background***

These new versions of the old classic don't have the same feel as the original stories when we first met Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, Roo and Eeyore along with Christopher Robin in The Honey Tree (Tigger was introduced later). The earlier Disney films somehow had more class to them as they followed the A A Milne stories in the famous books written 80 years ago. However, time moves on and Winnie the Pooh continues to be a great favourite with the young and old and is a bit of a collectable for a lot of loyal followers. While this is the case I'm sure Disney will carry on to add new stories and characters into the mix.

***The Storyline***

This is Lumpy's first ever Halloween and he's not sure what it will all entail. Rabbit as usual has everything planned for trick or treating but as usual Pooh's stomach cannot wait until sunset to eat the candy and so the friends are left with a problem - No treats.

As well as this, Tigger's tale of the Great Gobloon, who lives in the Tree of Terror, and turns you into a Jaggedy Lantern if he catches you, scares Lumpy. However, if you catch him you get to make a wish and it is decided this is what is needed to resolve the problem of having no candy.

Lumpy decides that he can be brave as long as his best pal Roo stays with him and they all look forward to going trick or treating as darkness approaches. When they decide to try to find the Gobloon on their own they dress up as pirates to help make them scary. On the way to the Tree of Terror they have to pass through the Creepy Caves, and down the Slimy Slide and the pair have lots of scary moments as they go along on their adventure to make it the best Halloween ever. I won't give away the ending but you can bet there will be smiles all round by the time the credits role.

***The Director***

This is only the 2nd film that Frank Nissen has directed although he is working on the new Disney film Cinderella 3, which will no doubt be another straight to DVD effort. He did work as a story artist on the big hit Dinosaur in 2000 though and was a storyboard artist for Treasure Planet in 2002.

***The Voice Talents***

Jim Cummings brings the voices of Pooh and Tigger to life again in this one as he has done now since 1988 taking over from Sterling Holloway who was the voice of Pooh up until 1977 when he made The Many Adventures Of Winnie the Pooh.

Lumpy the Heffalump is voiced by Kyle Stanger and is just perfect for a young elephant.

Nikita Hopkins is the actress responsible for bringing young Roo to life and has been playing this role since The Tigger Movie in 2000.

John Fielder has been the voice of Piglet since the first movie way back in 1968 and has made the character his own. Unfortunately John died in June 2005 so it will be interesting to see whether they can find a convincing replacement for any future films or episodes of the Book of Pooh.

Ken Sansom is the voice of the every annoying Rabbit who has to have everything just so. As well as voicing this role he was also the voice of Ralph in the Disney series Tail Spin that was regularly shown on The Disney Club.

***The Extras***

The one thing I love about Disney DVDs is that they always have some lovely bonus features on them and this one is no exception.

Trick Or Re-Treat - Help Roo and Lumpy find their missing candy, which has fallen from a hole in their bag. Using the arrow keys on your remote move them along the paths and look behind the objects until you find their treasure. There are 3 levels to complete to find the treasure.

Pass the Pumpkin - This is a version of pass the parcel except you do it with a pumpkin. Music plays at random and the one who is holding it when it stops is out of the game. This is great if you are having a Halloween Party for small children and there is even a winning sequence when only one child is left.

Pooh's Boo! Bingo - You can print special bingo cards on your computer using this disc and play bingo. A pumpkin shaped ball machine picks out numbers at random and when you have a line you shout out Pooh Boo Bingo. The winner then gets a celebratory sequence. Again this is another good game for a kid's party.

The Halloween Party Planner - As well as instructions for the above games there is also a great idea included on here and that is to print out stencils of different character faces to carve draw onto your own pumpkins and carve out.

The DVD Rom - If you put your disc into your pc you will find that you can get print outs for the stencils and for the bingo cards. Great fun ideas to keep the kids amused.

***Price and Availability***

You can get this online pretty easily from all the main suppliers but the cheapest I could find it for was from Choices Direct for £12.

***My thoughts***

Although this one isn't as good as the original stories it is still very watchable and fans of Pooh Bear and his friends will certainly enjoy this tale. There is even a special guest appearance by the gopher that appeared in the one where Pooh gets stuck, as Roo recites a story to Lumpy of a previous Halloween in the Hundred Acre Wood, when Piglet was terrified of all things spooky.

The songs are delightful and all help tell the story of how friends pulling together can solve any problem, in a very Disney style. Ok, it's a bit corny but it's lovable and Tigger's songs are extremely funny even though they are supposed to be scary, as a surreal mode takes over.

There are lots of funny moments for the young ones to enjoy and my son insists on watching this one nearly every evening before he goes to bed which is nice as it isn't one of the lively, jumping about films that he usually tries to put on at a time when he is supposed to be settling down.

One of the best bits for me in the DVD is the fact that it teaches children not to be scared of Halloween. Masks and disguises end up being fun, as can the games such as bobbing for apples (just make sure they don't fall in like Pooh Bear).

Finally there are all the extras on here and these are fantastic for Halloween. I can't wait for next year so we can carve our own special pumpkin face or play Pooh bingo.