This past weekend my wife and I took the kids to see Winnie the Pooh. It was everything I had heard; charming, funny, and extremely well-animated. It’s easy to tell this is a 2011 film, but it certainly fits in with the Pooh shorts that make up The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. In some ways, this is a better movie than The Many Adventures because it’s one complete story rather than three shorts tied together with a couple of extra scenes. Speaking of shorts, The Ballad of Nessie precedes Winnie the Pooh and is a very good short film about the Loch Ness monster.
The only (admittedly nitpicky) fault I found with Pooh is its length; it clocks in around an hour. However, the shorter length makes it a good movie to bring young children too, and it would be perfect for a child’s first movie.
As of this writing, Winnie the Pooh has made $17 million in the United States, with an additional $6+ million overseas (from Box Office Mojo). Not bad for a movie with a $30 million dollar budget (LA Times blog). However, I can’t help but fell that Winnie the Pooh could do better.
While Cars 2 was being shoved down everyone’s throat through every possible medium, Winnie the Pooh was also being advertised but not as voraciously. In many ways it makes sense that Cars 2‘s advertising far outstripped Winnie the Pooh‘s. The potential for merchandise sales was far greater for Cars 2, and Cars 2 needed a lot more revenue to break even. However, the Cars 2 rush has died down since its release a month ago; meanwhile, Pooh‘s reviews have been very good (currently 90% on Rotten Tomatoes). Disney, as far as I’ve seen, has not released any additional advertising promoting these reviews (please correct me if I’m wrong).
Additionaly, Winnie the Pooh is viewed as a movie for only young children. While Cars 2 has a built-in wider appeal, the movie starring talking stuffed animals in the Hundred Acre Wood is instantly perceived as a young child’s movie. This was obvious on a Sunday afternoon at 5:00 when there were about 8 families with children in the movie theater I viewed Pooh in.
However, the largest disservice to Winnie the Pooh came at the hands of whomever schedules film releases at Disney. Admittedly, it’s not an easy job; I’ve been looking at the 2011 film calendar and it’s a pretty full schedule. Disney, in its infinite wisdom, chose to schedule Pooh‘s opening the same day as what will probably be the biggest movie of 2011: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Looking at a 2011 film release schedule, August 19 might have been a better date. Winnie the Pooh would have had competition in the children’s movie category from Spy Kids 4, but who wants to see that?
Hopefully Winnie the Pooh will be better received when it comes out on Blu-Ray. I’d expect it to come out before the holidays, and Disney will probably have a coupon to go with it. As usual, I’ll be covering the coupons and the prices for movies as they come out and hopefully we’ll see a good deal for Winnie the Pooh.
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