The Book of Pooh - Stories From the Heart (2001)

Well-crafted stories, but the magic is missing

My 2.5 year old daughter loves Winnie the Pooh & friends, and we collect most of the DVDs. I rented this one and am glad because though the stories are interesting and well-told, there is something annoying and artificial about the animation [puppet like figures] that doesn't hold her interest as much as the cartoons do. We enjoyed Pooh's Great Adventure, Piglet's Big Movie, The Heffalump Movie etc, but this one is passable at most. And it is sad that they deemed the characters of Kanga & Roo minor to the point of excluding them from this production. The bird character Kessie was rather annoying too. That being said, it is an OK production, though I'd recommend some of the other Winnie the Pooh & Friends movies over this. September 25, 2007

Super Super Wonderful

My 17 month old absolutely loves this DVD. I have other Pooh DVDs, but the baby would only watch this one. January 27, 2007

Avoid this Pooh movie!

My 18 mo. daughter and I watch lots of Pooh movies (more than 12 now) and this one is the worst by far. The animation is annoying and cheesy and did not hold her interest at all like the other Pooh films. Piglet's Big Movie, The Tigger Movie, Adventures of Winnie the Pooh are her favorites. Very Merry Pooh Year is a good one as well. January 26, 2007

Get a REAL book about Pooh

Sorry, but this movie had me almost grinding my teeth the whole time I was watching it. I was tempted to turn it off a number of times, but thought, "I'll at least give it a chance." Well, it had its chance, and it failed miserably.

Why did they get rid of Kanga and Roo and replace them with some annoying little bird named Kessie? Was it so Owl could have a bird companion? I have no idea what the logic behind that decision was, but I think it was a very poor one. Kanga and Roo added a lot to the original "Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" and I miss Kanga's mothering influence (the only female in the whole story) and Roo's childish innocence. Kessie sticks out like a sore thumb, and though she's a female, she doesn't have the warmth and sweetness of Kanga.

I haven't even mentioned the puppets and backdrops. Ug. That's about all I can say. The puppets don't move in even a remotely convincing way and the backdrops are way too bright and blurry. It doesn't even look like the Hundred Acre Wood.

The dialogue is, in keeping with other recent Pooh failures, dull and lacking humor. The stories themselves, if re-written with a more witty dialogue, would maybe be okay, but not done with puppets. If they took those stories (except for the one about Tessie -- they would have to replace that one with a story about Kanga and Roo), and animated them in the same style as the original Pooh shorts, that may be something.

The American Christopher Robin is all wrong. I always loved to hear that sweet, gentle voice with the delicate British accent he had in the original movie. Making him an American makes him seem just like any other American boy, not Pooh's Christopher Robin. His mother in "The Book of Pooh" is ridiculous. One minute, the room is obviously a mess, and the next minute it's clean. Any mother would have been like, "How the heck did that happen?" Instead, she says, "Oh, I must have made a mistake." Yeah right! She must have short-term memory loss! And what's with cutting their heads off? Why is it so terrible to see their faces?

I did like how reading was emphasized in this movie, but the cons far out-weighed the pros, and I'm sure I can find another much better movie that illustrates how important reading is. Or, I could just do what I've always done and read actual paper books to my kids. Doesn't that illustrate the same point much better? There are lots of very cute Pooh books out there, and my son has quite a few and loves them. My advice to you is to skip this "Book of Poo" (purposely miss-spelled) and instead spend your money on a real paper book, or a few, about Pooh. March 17, 2006

WONDERFUL POOH DVD!!!!

My 19 mnth. old daughter watches this every day and LOVES it. She is even trying to sing the very catchy songs. I love it also, they really do come to life, the colors are so bright, and the songs are adorable. Highly recommended!! January 7, 2006

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