The Tigger Movie is a 2000 American animated film film co-written and directed by Jun Falkenstein. Part of the Winnie-the-Pooh series, this film features Pooh's friend Tigger in his search for his family tree and other Tiggers like himself. As such, the story line may be viewed as an allegory about an adoptee's search to understand the meaning of family. Similar to 1995's A Goofy Movie, The Tigger Movie focuses on the title character's emotional side, rather than antics.
The film was the first feature-length theatrical Pooh film to not be a collection of previously released shorts, which is the case with 1977's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Thanks to its success, three more feature-length Pooh movies were released to theaters: Piglet's Big Movie in 2003, Pooh's Heffalump Movie in 2005, and Winnie the Pooh in 2011.
This is also the first film in the series where Tigger is voiced by Jim Cummings (who also voices Pooh), replacing long-time voice actor Paul Winchell. (Cummings, however, had already substituted for Winchell as Tigger in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue and The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.)
The film features original songs from the Sherman Brothers, the long-time Disney songwriting team who are well known for their contributions to other Disney films such as Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and The Jungle Book, as well as the original Winnie the Pooh shorts.
The film was originally slated for a direct-to-video release until Disney CEO Michael Eisner heard the Sherman Brothers' score and decided to release the film in theaters worldwide.
Plot
While trying to find somebody to play with, Tigger gleefully bounces around the Hundred Acre Wood, disrupting his friends' attempts to prepare for the winter and accidentally causing a huge rock to fall on Eeyore's house. Rabbit leads the others in trying to remove it with an elaborate pulley system but Tigger intervenes, knocking the rock away with his Whoopty-Dooper-Loopty-Looper-Alley-Ooper bounce and getting everyone covered in mud and Rabbit becomes mad at him for ruining everything because of his habit of bouncing. Feeling alone, Tigger sulks on a bridge and Roo, trying to cheer him up, asks if there are other Tiggers. Fascinated by the idea, Tigger talks to Owl, who explains about family trees. Tigger, taking this literally, heads out to find a huge stripey tree and, after not finding one, instead writes a letter to his family. No reply comes and Tigger feels more alone then ever.
That night, the first night of winter, everybody else gathers at Piglet's house. Feeling sorry for Tigger, Roo announces that they should write a letter to him. Everyone adds a bit of friendly advice before signing "your family" at the bottom of the page. Roo then slips the letter into Tigger's letter box. The next day, everybody is woken by Tigger, who brandishes the letter. He shouts joyfully that his family has written to him and also that they are coming to visit the next evening. They are all shocked, as they had never written down anything that even resembles that; nevertheless, Tigger replies that he always reads between the lines. Later, Roo gathers Pooh, Piglet, Owl, and Eeyore over to his home. He and his mother Kanga say they are going to charade as fellow Tiggers to attend the party and make Tigger feel loved. They are halfway through making the costumes when Rabbit bursts through the door, telling them that they should be gathering supplies (or should already have) for the impending snowstorm. Meanwhile, Tigger is preparing for his party when somebody rings the doorbell. He opens the door to reveal a large number of Tiggers who claim to be his family.
A party ensues with drinks, dance and games, and all the while Tigger falls for it. Yet when Roo attempts the Whoopty-Dooper Loopty-Looper Ally-Ooper Bounce and his mask falls off, the others reveal themselves as Tigger's friends. Tigger is dejected and angry after realizing that he is the one and only Tigger in the Hundred Acre Wood and that his friends lied to him and leaves, saying "TTFE, Ta-ta forever!!" He hikes through the snow until he finds a large tree on the cliff side which matches the description he gave of his family tree (A giant pine tree with the snow giving the illusion of Tigger stripes). He bounces across the branches and finds nothing, so he sits there, heartbroken.
Meanwhile, Pooh, Roo, Piglet, and Eeyore mount an expedition to find Tigger. They ask Rabbit to lead them, who initially refuses, but reluctantly agrees after seeing how much they miss their friend, especially Roo. When they find him, they tell him to return home, with Rabbit saying he should "Forget about all this other Tiggers nonsense". Tigger is greatly offended by this and angrily refuses, but when a sudden avalanche caused by his irate shouting occurs, he pulls them all out of trouble. Unfortunately, Tigger himself is still caught in the avalanche. Roo remembers the Whoopty-Dooper Loopty Looper Ally-Ooper bounce and travels down through the rock and snow to Tigger and wakes him from unconsciousness. To get out of the avalanche, they perform the signature bounce together. When everyone tells Christopher Robin why Tigger left, Christopher tells Tigger he did not have to leave to find his family. Tigger objects and reaches for his letter that, until recently, he thought to be from his family, but finds it missing. It is not until Owl, Kanga, Roo, Eeyore, Pooh, and Piglet recite the letter for him that he realizes that they sent the letter, not his family. Hearing this, Tigger finally comes to realize what was true all along, that his family is right here and always has been: his friends. Once they return home, Tigger gives everyone gifts: Eeyore gets a new house (the guest house meant for Tigger's "Family"), Pooh gets lots of Honey, Piglet gets a stack of firewood, and Rabbit is promised that he will watch where he's going. Lastly, he gives Roo his heart pendant, but it is still empty. Christopher Robin remedies this by taking a picture of Tigger's "family".
Cast
- Jim Cummings as Tigger the main protagonist and Winnie-the-Pooh one of the protagonists.
- Kath Soucie as Kanga
- Nikita Hopkins as Roo the deurtagonist of the film.
- John Fiedler as Piglet
- Ken Sansom as Rabbit
- Peter Cullen as Eeyore
- Andre Stojka as Owl
- Tom Attenborough as Christopher Robin
- John Hurt as the narrator
- Frank Welker as the Bees the secondary antagonists and Frogs the minor protagonists.
- The Avalanche is the main antagonist that only appears in the dramatic climax.
Production
The film was animated by Walt Disney Animation Japan.(citation needed)
Release
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Home media
The film was originally released on August 23, 2000, on both VHS and DVD formats. The VHS included the Kenny Loggins music video "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" as well as the DVD counterpart, which contained more special features. The film was then re-released on a 2-disc DVD on August 4, 2009 to coincide with the film's 10th anniversary. It includes a DVD and a digital copy. It contained all the 2000 DVD bonus features, but has more language tracks and special features. The film was also re-released as a Bounce-a-rrrific special edition on Blu-ray on August 21, 2012.
Reception
Critical reception
Rotten Tomatoes rating for this film is currently 62% "fresh" based on 71 reviews and with a 5.9 rating. The consensus states: "The Tigger Movie may lack the technological flash and underlying adult sophistication of other recent animated movies, but it's fun and charming."[1]
Box office performance
The film opened at #4 at the North American box office making $9.4 million in its opening weekend. The film was a box office success, earning $45,554,533 in the United States alone while making $50,605,267 overseas and $96,159,800 worldwide against a budget of $30 million.[2]
Accolades
The film was nominated for numerous awards[3] in 2000 including the following:
- for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production"
- Jun Falkenstein
- for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production"
- Richard M. Sherman (music and lyrics)
- Robert B. Sherman (music and lyrics)
- For the song "Round My Family Tree"
- for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Feature Production"
- Nikita Hopkins
- As the voice of "Roo".
- Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
- The Sierra Award for "Best Family Film"
It was also given an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award.[4]
Soundtrack
The songs for The Tigger Movie were written by Robert and Richard Sherman who had not written a feature for Disney in over 28 years. Their last fully original feature film score was for the Oscar nominated film, Bedknobs and Broomsticks which was released in 1971. Originally slated for video or television release, the score was so well received (in demonstration form) by then Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, that the project's priority level moved up to feature theatrical release. This was due in great part to the perceived caliber of the song score throughout the studio. All the songs were created new for the film except for "The Wonderful Things About Tiggers" which was originally written in 1968 for the landmark Winnie the Pooh featurette, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (released in 1968). That song was also by the Sherman Brothers. The "punch line" of the song: "But the most wonderful Thing About Tiggers is I'm the only one..." provides the basis of The Tigger Movie's storyline. "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" was the last song written for the film and is a collaborative effort between the Sherman Brothers and singer Kenny Loggins. Richard Sherman described the song as "a song about the picture, as opposed to songs of the picture." It marks the only time the threesome worked together on a song.[5]
Song titles include:
- "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers"
- "Someone Like Me"
- "Whoop-de-Dooper Bounce"
- "Pooh's Lullabee"
- "Round My Family Tree"
- "How to Be a Tigger"
- "Your Heart Will Lead You Home"
References
- ↑ The Tigger Movie - Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on July 2, 2012.
- ↑ The Tigger Movie. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on July 2, 2012.
- ↑ The Tigger Movie (2000) - Awards. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on July 2, 2012.
- ↑ Early School Years: Feature-Length Films. Oppenheim Toy Portfolio. Retrieved on April 22, 2009.
- ↑ Susan King, The Pair Who Write Songs for Nannies and Pooh Bears", Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2000.
External links
- Template:AllRovi movie
- The Tigger Movie at the Big Cartoon DataBase
The Tigger Movie at IMDb- {{{title}}} at Rotten Tomatoes
Template:Winnie-the-Pooh Template:Sherman Brothers