3422. Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (2005)

Starring: Jim Cummings, John Fiedler, Kath Soucie

Director: Frank Nissen

Running Time: 68 mins

Pooh’s Heffalump Movie is an American film about Winnie the Pooh and his friends, as they search for a mysterious creature known as a ‘heffalump’, which in the meantime is becoming best friends with Roo.

I really used to like this movie when I was younger, but looking back on it now, it’s certainly not the film I remember. While I still get that warm, fuzzy feeling from watching the likes of The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie doesn’t necessarily have that same charm.

Of course, the movie is absolutely adorable, and when Winnie the Pooh and his friends are on screen together, it’s still an absolute joy to watch. However, the movie doesn’t quite have the same sense of adventure to it as the best Winnie the Pooh stories, with the focus heavily shifted away from the main group of friends.

Much of the movie focuses on Roo and his friendship with the Heffalump, which might make you think that this is at least changing things up a bit in relation to past movies. However, the fact is that Pooh’s Heffalump Movie is much of the same that we saw in Pooh’s Grand Adventure and the later Winnie The Pooh.

It’s a simple story where the friends of the Hundred Acre Wood hear of a monster, mistake it for something else, and go out on an adventure to find it. That all leads to many of the same jokes and incidents, and while I can’t help but smile at any Winnie the Pooh story, this film is certainly one that didn’t quite grab me in the same way.

That doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie, and I can tell you that, from having watched it as a child, kids will certainly enjoy Pooh’s Heffalump Movie. But it certainly doesn’t stand up to the classic of Disney’s Winnie the Pooh adventures, and as such feels a little underwhelming if you do hold the character very close to your heart. So, that’s why I’m giving Pooh’s Heffalump Movie a 6.6 overall.