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Review by Susan Granger
3 stars out of 4
Though it's destined to have a much longer run on the
video shelf than in theaters, this fun-filled, full-length animated
feature follows in the wake of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
(1966) and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), adapted from
the classic A.A. Milne books. Who doesn't love Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore,
Owl, Kanga, Roo and - in this case - the ever-exuberant Tigger?
Written and directed by Jun Falkenstein, based on a story by Eddie
Guzelian, it revolves around Tigger's need to find his "gigantically,
stripedy" family tree. Voiced by Jim Cummings, Tigger hunts
boisterously throughout the Hundred Acre Wood, looking for other
Tiggers. But, as he has so often said himself, "The very most
wonderful thing about tiggers is that I'm the only one!" What Tigger
concludes, of course, is that family isn't just about sharing blood
and similar physical features. It's about giving and receiving love
from those around you - providing a good lesson for eager, open young
minds. The narration by John Hurt sounds wonderfully, authentically
British and the animation is not only inventive but amusing. Art
director Toby Bluth has chosen line drawings that hark back to the
original E.H. Shepard artwork. The colors, the light, and the shading
all reflect the Hundred Acre Wood - a real place that one can still
visit outside of London. While nothing that will go down in the annals
of musical history, the six new songs by Robert and Richard Sherman
(Mary Poppins, Jungle Book) are pleasantly tuneful and one, at least,
is a terrific tongue-twister. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10,
Tigger is a toddler's 7 - it's a cuddly cartoon.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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