'Piglet's' scrapbook, music make a winner
By Glenn Lovell
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Walt Disney Pictures
Tigger and Pooh have had their own movies. So why not the little pink guy in the yellow muffler? He's paid major dues as the unsung hero of Hundred Acre Wood while others have reaped the glory and star perks.
Piglet wants Kanga to believe he's actually Roo, but the Hundred Acre Wood's favorite mother is wise to his plan in the new family-friendly film "Piglet's Big Movie."
Piglet finally comes into his own in Disney's charming "Piglet's Big Movie," the latest in the popular Winnie the Pooh cartoons inspired by the A.A. Milne children's books. While it won't do much for those into cutting-edge computer animation, it won't disappoint moms and dads looking for wholesome high-quality entertainment for their preschoolers.
"Piglet" — partially drawn by Japanese animators and perked up by eight songs performed by Carly Simon — deals in the simple, muted pleasures that have becomes this series' trademark. And that's nothing to snort at these days.
At the start of this outing, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and huffy, know-it-all Rabbit treat Piglet with their usual cheerful disdain. That is, until Piglet wanders off. Fearing the worst, Pooh and the gang review Piglet's book of memories and, connecting the "tiny pink dots" in each picture, agree that the little guy may have been more practical and indispensable than they realized.
G, suitable for all ages 75 minutes
As the pages turn, we flash back to the gang's ill-conceived attempt to rescue Roo from his mom's pouch, the Christopher Robin-led hike to the North Pole and — our favorite — the return to Pooh Corner to build a house for the woebegone Eeyore who, as voiced by Peter Cullen, sounds a lot like Bert Lahr's Cowardly Lion.
'Piglet's Big Movie'
The whole thing is capped by a cliffhanger moment that serves a dual purpose: to thrill the little ones while it signals adults that it's time to collect the coats and make for the exit.
I wonder if the very young will be thrown by their very first movie flashbacks. Maybe a little at first. But once they adjust to the device, they'll probably look forward to the next story-within-a-story, all wrapped up with a painless message about not taking friends for granted because we all have something to contribute.
While perhaps not as inventive as Disney's first Pooh shorts ("Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," etc.), "Piglet" maintains the minimalist, pastel look of the original Milne illustrations and, in the voices of Jim Cummings and John Fiedler, has reasonably good replacements for Sterling Holloway and Sebastian Cabot, still the definitive Pooh and narrator.
Note to boomer parents: The real-life Carly Simon rocks out over the end credits to "With a Few Good Friends." Can we credit Piglet with another first: getting the notoriously uptight pop star to strut her stuff on the big screen?
