Winnie the Pooh explores the meanings of life

Movie Review

ZarinRafiuddin

The movie Christopher Robin (2018) is inspired by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard's book and characters present in Winnie-the-Pooh. The film is directed by Marc Forster and written by Alex Ross Perry, Tom McCarthy and Allison Schroeder.

The story of the movie is based on materials written by Greg Booker and Mark Steven Johnson. The story of the movie is ultimately about friendship, family, love and finding self, in the most innovative of ways. The movie explores change, life and what really matters to people in life.

The questions and answers are not always simple but sometimes they are. The film stars Ewan McGregor as the eponymous Christopher Robin (with Orton O'Brien as the young Robin), Hayley Atwell as Evelyn Robin, Christopher's wife and who is also an architect and Bronte Carmichael as Madeline Robin who is Christopher's daughter.

The opening already signified a tragic severing: Christopher Robin is leaving Hundred Acre Wood, a place whose door miraculously appears at his backyard. His reasons are that he is to go away to boarding school at his parents' wishes. So, his friends, the semi-anthropomorphic animal residents of Hundred Acre Wood, throw him a farewell party.

Everyone is present: Tigger (Jim Cummings), Eeyore (Bard Garett), Piglet (Nick Mohammad), Rabbit (Peter Capaldi), Kanga (Sophie Okonedo) and her daughter Roo (Sara Sheen) and Owl (Toby Jones).

Christopher Robin has some time alone with his best friend, Winnie the Pooh (also voiced by Jim Cummings). Together, they promise they will keep their bond and Christopher will try to come back to meet them.

The movie uses storybook writing and illustrations to also tell its tale. It is like being immersed in a visual book at times. Though these segments usually show the progress of time.

Despite promising to return, and Pooh always waiting, Christopher cannot come back. Life gets in the way. One day his father suddenly dies leaving him completely sad and numb. He devotes himself to his education.

As he grows into an adult, he meets Evelyn. They fall in love and get married, and have a daughter together. Christopher Robin also serves in World War II under the British Army. Everything in his life, after he departed from Hundred Acre Wood, is serious, gloom and dismal.

There is a large contrast between the child that Pooh knew to the adult that Christopher becomes. Though he is a loving father and husband, Christopher has become an impatient workaholic who hardly has time for his family. As he states, he has to work to be happy in life and to give his family their needs.

Yet, his wife aptly answers that the elusive day he refers for them to be "happy" as in "financially satisfied" may never come and he is setting himself up for a disappointment. Additionally, his seriousness has alienated him both from his wife and daughter (he doesn't even come home on time to have dinner with them due to work).

Things get complicated at work for Christopher Robin. He works as an efficiency expert at Winslow Luggages and his immediate boss, Giles Winslow Jr. (Mark Gatiss), is an unethical, classist snob who wishes that Christopher Robin eradicates his division.

Giles was informed by his father and owner, Winslow Sr. (Oliver Ford Davies), that the company is not doing as well as expected and has to cut off 20% of its expenditures.

Giles acts all nonchalant and tells Christopher to work on the weekend to find a solution. Initially, Christopher is hesitant, as he has promised his family he would go to his old family home at Sussex the weekend to have a vacation with them. After this, summer ends and Madeline will be sent off to boarding school.

Giles manipulates Christopher on the "loyalty" he has for the company, which he thinks should come first. Furthermore, Giles also feigns he will be working the weekend as well to find out how they can come with a reasonable solution to make the 20% cuts.

Christopher goes home and tells the news to his family, who naturally don't take it well at all. Christopher attempts to apologize but Evelyn and Madeline seem to both be at their limits to how many times he has put them second to his profession. After they go off without him, Christopher starts to work on the presentation for Monday morning.

This is where the story really begins. Pooh suddenly pops up in London. He has waited all these years for Christopher to come to him but now he decides to go to Christopher. The reunion is a shaky one: Christopher obviously remembers Pooh but he is not at all pleased to see him.

It seems Christopher associates Pooh with a childhood he doesn't really wish to wax nostalgia on. Pooh, on the other hand, is so delighted and happy to see his best friend. Christopher wants to send Pooh back to Hundred Acre Wood and Pooh invites him to come alone.

The years between them have made a gulf both in emotions and communication. Christopher is too serious and Pooh is well Pooh. For Pooh, friendship and the simple joys in life are the most important. For Christopher, work and professional stability are the most important.

When asking questions, we see that Christopher is annoyed by Pooh and his way of thinking, which he assigns as juvenile and distorted. When Christopher talks about his family Pooh seems more interested about them than Christopher and is surprised that he is spending the weekend working and not with them.

A pivotal theme in the movie is an understanding of happiness. Pooh thinks that having a simple red balloon can make anyone happy. To Pooh, to take joy in life's vastness and simplicity is a given. Christopher was like that once but now he can't seem to have any value even in his own boyhood thoughts.

When trying to speak about Madeline, the audience sees that Christopher knows very little of his own daughter. He thinks that she is happy to be accepted at a prestigious boarding school and is happy with all her work. Pooh seems to somewhat doubt this and asks, is she happier with work than she would be with a red balloon?

The question seems a bit ridiculous but it is actually not. To Christopher, Madeline needs to have a bright future. For Pooh, Madeline can also have a bright present. Their values are not so bifurcated and separate but Christopher wishes to first staunchly believe that they are and that he is nothing like Winnie the Pooh.

This does eventually cause a rift between Christopher and Pooh and Christopher must answer the question: does he value his profession more or his childhood best friend? These are hard pressing questions that Christopher has been trying to not answer all these years. Christopher has perfectly been in an emotional coma. He has been avoiding his feelings and trying not to cope with all his sadness and concerns.

So, the movie addresses all these layers. It is not only a way to reconnect with Pooh but a way for Christopher to reconnect with his life and himself.

The movie has humor, a lot of love and intimacy between characters and in the end, it is about keeping and making family. I can say that the movie touches a lot of questions about existence and love.

I was pleasantly surprised by how crucial those questions were and how well they were handled. Pooh is adorable and he is also so wise and caring. What more can someone ask from a best friend? The fact that Pooh waited for Christopher, despite going about his own life, says a lot about him.

He has never forgotten Christopher. The love that Pooh has for Christopher is so good and pure that it can only be Winnie the Pooh who can love as immensely and purely like this. All he wants, is Christopher's friendship and love in return.

Overall, Christopher Robin is a great family movie but also a great movie on life. The characters are memorable and they are very easy to bond with. The chemistry and friendship between Christopher and Pooh, as the years pass, is truly wonderful.

Even if it begins with Christopher annoyed and reluctant to face his childhood I am happy how it progresses. It is real and it does not always apologize. There are times we know that Robin is mean to Pooh and we are meant to understand that he is being mean.

We are not meant to justify him but this is the movie: it does a good job in showing ethics but not being preachy. It shows us how love and intimacy go a long way. I highly recommend this movie. It has a lot of things to value and it is truly a film that stays with you.

The writer is a Copy Editor at

The Asian Age

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