My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too!

Similar to the previous DVD release Super Sleuth Christmas Movie, this new offering from the creative team of Disney Channel’s My Friends Tigger & Pooh series ditches the episodic format of the series in favor of an entirely new full-length movie. Well, “full-length” is a bit misleading as the story wraps up in about an hour, but it’s still fun to see the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood stretch out in a more substantial offering than the standard episodic limitations. It’s also a bit misleading to call this a musical, as it has seven unremarkable and brief songs that mostly fly under the radar of the main plot except for one standout production number starring Tigger.

Since the last time I reviewed an offering from this series (Hundred Acre Wood Haunt), the animal gang seems to have had a population explosion. In addition to the previous core group, there’s now a porcupine with garishly colored glasses, a beaver who bears a strong resemblance to the still-missing Gopher, a little blue woodpecker, a turtle, a raccoon, a skunk, Kanga, and Lumpy the Heffalump and his mom. Good thing they have a full Hundred Acres to roam, it’s getting pretty crowded out there. No new characters are introduced here, and no existing characters are explained, but the standalone nature of this feature allows viewers to hop on board with no previous knowledge of the show.

As the story begins, the gang has decided to have their annual picnic and has also decided to make Rabbit the honorary mayor. Picnic good, Rabbit mayor bad. As if they never noticed how much of a control freak Rabbit is in his own home, the friends are surprised when Rabbit begins dictating a host of new rules and regulations that seriously harsh their good vibes. When Tigger is hit with a “no bouncing” rule and finally decides to rebel, Rabbit draws a line down the middle of the Wood to keep the law-abiding folks on one side and the no-good rabble rousers led by Tigger on the other. Can they ever resolve their differences and reconcile? It’s up to the Super Sleuths to find out, and it’s up to young viewers to learn about sharing, compromise, kindness, and respect along the way.

The production qualities remain very high, and the show seems to have really hit its stride. The characters act like you would expect, the voice work is spot on, but most of all the CG animation is simply gorgeous and doesn’t feel like the creators had to cut many corners to fit their tv budget. It’s well worth watching for any long-time Pooh fans and a great introduction to the characters for new viewers.

The DVD includes an unimaginative interactive game, “Rabbit’s Think, Think, Think Theatre”, as well as a bonus music video starring Kenny Loggins. My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too! is now available on DVD.

My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Hundred Acre Wood Haunt

If you’re looking for a Halloween-themed Pooh DVD, keep looking. However, if you’re just looking for the latest collection of episodes from Disney Channel’s My Friends Tigger & Pooh show, you’ve come to the right place. Admittedly, the front cover art of this DVD collection is completely misleading and seems like an ill-conceived holiday money grab as it clearly indicates viewers will be treated to Halloween shows if not an entirely new movie (like the properly labeled first release in the series, Super Sleuth Christmas Movie). Once you get past the cover, you’ll either be enchanted by the show’s superb production qualities or dismayed by its break from tradition.

The newest Pooh TV series is also the most dramatic departure from the classic formula, and not just because it gives Tigger star billing. Instead of Christopher Robin, the Hundred Acre Wood gang are now usually teamed up with a perky young girl named Darby and her even perkier non-speaking puppy named Buster. Aside from the core group of characters, Lumpy from the Heffalump movies is an occasional but little-used presence, while Kanga is barely mentioned and Owl and Gopher seem to have vanished completely. Even the concept has been updated, with Tigger, Pooh and Darby forming a Super Sleuth club that dons ridiculous costumes and sets out on tame investigations in most episodes. It’s almost like the creators tried to shoehorn in a Scooby Doo concept in an effort to update the timeless quality of the property, but Darby and Buster really add nothing to the series other than annoyingly reminding parents that this is not our Pooh anymore. While the Disney Channel’s previous Pooh series, The Book of Pooh, played it fairly straight with the framework established by Disney’s original cartoons, the new series is clearly aimed at shaking up the formula to no apparent benefit.

On the upside, the show’s completely CGI production looks fantastic and features the returning talents of longtime Pooh and Tigger voice actor Jim Cummings. The 2D characters have been lovingly translated into exceptional 3D CG character models and the Hundred Acre Wood is appropriately vast and leafy.

Each half-hour episode is split into two easily digestible shorts, and the new DVD contains three full episodes as follows:

"Super Size Darby" / "Piglet's Lightning Frightening" – Darby gets doused with some of Rabbit’s plant growth formula and has to deal with the pluses and minuses of her giant size. Piglet learns about counting the time between lightning and thunder to help calm himself down during scary storms.

"Eeyore's Trip To The Moon" / "The Incredible Shrinking Roo" – Eeyore wants to travel to the moon so the Super Sleuths put together a makeshift rocket and "blast off" to fill in its missing piece. Roo can't figure out why he's shrinking instead of growing. Hint: might be a good idea to avoid tracking your height on a growing sunflower stem. This story's premise is so idiotic that it's painful to watch them try to figure out what's happening.

"Eeyore's Home Sweet Home"/"Rabbit's Prized Pumpkin" - Eeyore's home falls down so the Sleuths present him with alternatives, none of which seem to fit him. Pretty sure this is a direct ripoff of a classic Pooh story. Rabbit grows a gigantic pumpkin and asks the Sleuths to help him protect it.

As evidenced by these stories, this series has been dumbed down, which is remarkable considering how dim these characters have always been. The real culprit is Darby, as she's annoyingly portrayed as being on an equal mental wavelength with the rest of the characters. Where Christopher Robin was always able to inject some logic and realistic solutions, Darby is content to float along with the simple-minded ideas originated by the animal characters. As such, it's not a very educational show, leaving it as delightful eye candy with negligible substance.

Paradoxically, the DVD actually does contain one Halloween-themed episode: a bonus feature of fellow Disney Channel show Handy Manny. It also includes a brief game as well as the requisite plethora of Disney previews. Hundred Acre Wood Haunt is now available on DVD.