Piglet's Big Movie is a 2003 American animated film produced by DisneyToon Studios, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 21, 2003. It is based upon the characters in the Winnie-the-Pooh books written by A. A. Milne. It is the second in a recent series of theatrically released Winnie the Pooh films, preceded by The Tigger Movie (2000) and followed by Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005). In the film, Piglet is ashamed of being small after believing that his friends belittle his presence and wanders off into the Hundred Acre Woods, leading his friends to form a search party to find him.
The three flashback sequences are the first adaptations of original A.A. Milne stories since The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore. Edited to make Piglet the hero of the stories and to conform to the characters' idiosyncrasies as Disney has portrayed them, they nevertheless retain much of Milne's original plot. In this film, Pooh changes the name of Pooh Corner to Pooh and Piglet Corner, something that he was originally going to do, but the name did not sound small or much like a corner, which was in fact what it was. Besides the Carly Simon songs, Sherman Brothers music is also featured.
Plot
Template:Plot Eeyore, Rabbit, Tigger, and Pooh are working on a plan to get honey from a beehive. This involves getting the bees to move into a new hive by convincing them that Eeyore is a bee. Piglet comes up to them during the attempt, but is effectively told that he is too small to help. The plan goes awry when the bees do not fall for it, but Piglet manages to divert the bees into the new hive using a funnel and then seals the hive shut, trapping the bees.
Unfortunately, no one has seen Piglet's heroism, having all been hiding from the bees. Piglet, feeling uncared for, wanders sadly away. Then, Pooh, Rabbit, Tigger, and Eeyore start running from the bees after they broke out of the fake hive and into Piglet's house. After finding Piglet's scrapbook, they all notice that Piglet is missing, assume that he has been scared off by, or kidnapped by the bees and decide to try and find him. They are aided in this search by Piglet's scrapbook, in which he has drawn pictures of the adventures that he has shared with his friends. The characters use the pictures to tell the stories depicted therein.
The first picture depicts Kanga's house, prompting the gang to remember when Kanga and Roo first came to the Hundred Acre Wood. Rabbit (who is visibly reluctant to recall this adventure in the present) hated the newcomers on sight and convinced himself and the others that Kanga and Roo were fierce monsters that needed to be driven away (despite the fact that Kanga tried to ingratiate herself with her new neighbours). Consequently, it was planned that they would kidnap Roo and demand that Kanga leave in exchange for his safe return, so Pooh and Tigger distracted Kanga while Rabbit placed Piglet in her pouch and ran off with Roo. After Kanga got home, she quickly figured out what was going on (having seen Roo playing with a reluctant Rabbit through the window) and decided to teach Piglet a lesson by pretending she didn't realise he wasn't Roo. Piglet, convinced Kanga was going to do something horrible to him, was thus humiliated by being given 'fishy oil' as medicine and being made to have a bath, but spending time with Kanga caused him to discover she and Roo weren't so bad after all. Piglet told Tigger and Pooh this when he left Kanga's house and they were also joined by Rabbit and Roo, who had become good friends after playing with each other. Back in the present, the group arrive at Kanga's house and are joined by Roo as they carry on looking for Piglet.
One of the stories told is the expedition to find the North Pole, where Piglet uses a long stick to save Roo (who has fallen in the river). His heroism is overlooked when he gives the stick to Pooh and tries to catch Roo, who has been catapulted into the air during the rescue attempt. Christopher Robin arrives as Roo is caught by his mother and then credits Pooh with finding the North Pole (the stick he is holding in his paws). Back in the present, the friends regret not sharing the praise with Piglet.
Another story told is the building of the House at Pooh Corner. Here Piglet comes up with the idea to build Eeyore a house and he and Pooh are joined by Tigger to build it. Tigger and Pooh do most of the work, whilst Piglet, unintentionally, gets in the way. The final house, however, is a disaster, but Tigger and Pooh go off to tell Eeyore about the house. Unfortunately, the house is being held together by Piglet, who eventually loses his grip and the house collapses. Tigger and Pooh go to inform Eeyore of the bad news, but Piglet arrives to tell them all that the house is fine. It is revealed that he rebuilt the house himself, but the location remains as Pooh Corner, since Pooh "would call it Pooh and Piglet Corner, if Pooh Corner didn't sound better, which it does, being smaller and more like a Corner".
Back in the present, an argument between Rabbit and Tigger ends with the scrapbook falling apart and then falling into the river. Without their guide, the friends return to Piglet's house and, after a time, start to draw new pictures of Piglet and his adventures, some of which are new. Then, the friends again resolve to find their missing Piglet and go back out to find him. They come across several pictures from the scrapbook, which have floated downstream and then find the books bindings, suspended on a broken hollow old log, overhanging a raging waterfall. Pooh goes to retrieve it, but falls into a hole in the log. The others try to reach him, but the rescue attempt is just too short. Just as they ask who can help, Piglet arrives and helps haul Pooh to safety just as the log begins to collapse.
Eeyore, Rabbit, Roo, and Tigger are now standing by the edge of the ravine, next to the waterfall, but the log inside which Pooh and Piglet were trapped has fallen far into the waters below. The survivors begin to cry and are joined by sad-looking Pooh and Piglet, who have managed to escape. Happy, the friends take Piglet to show him their new drawings, including a large one of Piglet dressed as a knight in shining armour. The next day they hold a party, but Pooh interrupts, taking Piglet to Eeyore's house, where he has changed the sign to read Pooh and Piglet Corner; "the least [they] could do for a little Piglet, who has done such big things!".
Cast
- John Fiedler as Piglet
- Jim Cummings as Pooh and Tigger
- Ken Sansom as Rabbit
- Nikita Hopkins as Roo
- Kath Soucie as Kanga
- Peter Cullen as Eeyore
- Michael Gough as Gopher
- Andre Stojka as Owl
- Tom Wheatley as Christopher Robin
Home media
Shortly a few months later after the film was released, the DVD and VHS of the film were released. The VHS contained a bonus commercial of Walt Disney World's Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction, as well as the DVD, which contained more special features. The film was the only theatrical Pooh film presented in widescreen on VHS rather than the pan-and-scan full screen format, as the VHS release of Pooh's Heffalump Movie was presented in the pan-and-scan format. The Blu-ray DVD release of the film will be released in 2013, to coincide with the film's 10th anniversary.
Songs
Every song features Carly Simon singing except for 'The More It Snows (Tiddely-Pom)'. This song features Jim Cummings and John Fiedler. Carly Simon was accompanied with Ben Taylor in 'Winnie the Pooh' and 'Comforting to Know'. Carly Simon was also accompanied with Renee Fleming in 'Comforting to Know'. In 'Sing Ho, for the Life of a Bear (Expotition March)', Carly Simon was accompanied by Kath Soucie and Jim Cummings.
The songs in the film are:
- Winnie the Pooh
- If I Wasn't So Small (The Piglet Song)
- A Mother's Intuition
- Sing Ho, for the Life of a Bear (Expotition March)
- The More It Snows (Tiddely-Pom)
- With a Few Good Friends
- The More I Look Inside
- Comforting to Know
Reception
Box office
Piglet's Big Movie opened on its opening weekend at #7, earning $6 million. The film domestically grossed $23 million[1]—half the amount of what The Tigger Movie earned[2]—and $63 million worldwide,[1] making it a moderate box office success.
Critical response
The film received generally positive reviews, earning a "Certified Fresh" 72% rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Film critic Stephen Holden of New York Times called the film an "oasis of gentleness and wit."[3] Nancy Churnin of The Dallas Morning News stated that Piglet's Big Movie was "one of the nifty pleasures in the process", despite her belief that "Disney may be milking its classics."[4]
Games
In 2003 Disney released Piglet's Big Game for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance as well as a CD-ROM game which was also entitled Piglet's Big Game. The latter is developed by Doki Denki Studio and involves helping Piglet assist in the preparation for a "Very Large Soup Party." [5] In their review, Edutaining Kids praised various features including the adventure/exploration aspect (the game is linear instead of using a main screen) and many of the activities (such as the color mixing, which they said offers an incredible variety of hues), but noted that it is much too brief and that Kanga and Roo are absent.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Piglet's Big Movie 2003. boxofficemojo.com (May 29, 2003). Retrieved on 2009-03-06.
- ↑ The Tigger Movie 2000. boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved on 2009-03-06.
- ↑ Holden, Stephen (March 21, 2003). Film in Review; 'Piglet's Big Movie'. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-03-06.
- ↑ Churnin, Nancy (March 18, 2003). Piglet's Big Movie. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved on 2009-03-06.
- ↑ Disney Piglet's Big Game (CD-ROM). Children’s Software Online. Retrieved on 2009-08-067.
- ↑ Children's Software Review: Disney: Piglet's Big Game. Edutaining Kids.com (April 2009). Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
External links
Template:Winnie the Pooh
Template:Sherman Brothers