It’s Christmas time! A great thing to get for yourself or as gift are ornaments. Disney puts out a lot of ornaments and Hunchback has gotten a few, won’t say a lot. I do like this one because it depicts a nice scene from the movie  and has a nice sense of togetherness which just sums up the Holiday times.

Disney Quasimodo and Esmeralda Christmas ornament Hunchback of Notre Dame picture image

Quasimodo and Esmeralda Christmas ornament

 

However maybe you’re not in the market for a Hunchback ornament. Don’t worry there are plenty and I do mean plenty of other Disney Holiday ornament for you.  These are really just a few, there are so very, very many. This isn’t like a list or anything just a super minimal sampling.

2016 Disney Ornament  picture image

2016 Disney Ornament

 

I like how simple and to the point this one it. It’s classic Disney yet fun and simple.

 

Eeyore Ornament picture image

Eeyore Ornament

 

I admit it, I have a soft spot for Eeyore. I like how he is tangled in lights.

 

Elsa, Anna, Olaf Ornament Frozen picture image

Elsa, Anna, Olaf Ornament

I love how wintery this one is plus it has that feeling of togetherness that Hunchback one also has.

Moana Ornament picture image

Moana Ornament

The Newest Princess.

 

Also if your if more Holiday crazy and ornament are too basic for you there is this Disney Christmas insanity,

Disney Tabletop Christmas Tree picture image

Disney Tabletop Christmas Tree

This is for serious Disney/ Christmas fans!

 

 

 

 

 

Winnie the Pooh Springtime with Roo  picture image

Winnie the Pooh Springtime with Roo

Finally, A Winnie The Pooh video I didn’t hate. Winnie the Pooh Springtime with Roo takes a lot of issues that Winnie the Pooh has and turn the issues into something that is decently charming and not a pain to watch.

Roo, Tigger, Pooh, Eeyore, & Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh Springtime with Roo  picture image

Roo, Piglet Tigger, Pooh, Eeyore, & Rabbit

The story goes, the gang is getting ready for Easter. Rabbit hosts it every year and everyone is looking forward to especially little Roo. Rabbit however decides that instead of Easter they are going to clean his house. The others sad still go along with it but once they find the Easter decorations decide to decorate for the occasion. When Rabbit sees it he gets mad. Roo and Tigger try figure why Rabbit is angry and doesn’t want to celebrate Easter.

Rabbit thought Tigger was replacing him as Easter Bunny last year and he was mad that no one followed his strict rules. But Rabbit sees a vision of the future where everyone left him alone and he comes around and they celebrate Easter together without rules.

Piglet, Roo, Rabbit, & Pooh, Winnie the Pooh Springtime with Roo  picture image

Piglet, Roo, Rabbit, & Poohwith Roo

So why is this one more enjoyable than the others Pooh movies? The problem with Winnie the Pooh is that all the characters have their very extreme flaws, which are part of their charm but without a straight and even character to lead the audience through them they get overwhelming. Christopher Robin is, or should be the even-key one but his parts are minimal and sometimes non-existence.

In this one we have Roo. Compared to the others, Roo is an excitable child but it still normal. With a normal character the other’s flaws can’t be as extreme and the flaws can be more of a center point.

Pooh and Piglet, Winnie the Pooh Springtime with Roo  picture image

Pooh and Piglet

The plot isn’t as big as the Grand Adventure nor as confused as the Christmas/New Year, but it’s solid and focused. One criticism is that that plot is very focused on Roo, Tigger and Rabbit. Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore don’t have much to do within the narrative.

Piglet, Pooh, Roo, Rabbit, Eeyore & Tigger  Winnie the Pooh Springtime with Roo  picture image

Piglet, Pooh, Roo, Rabbit, Eeyore & Tigger

The plot is heavily influenced by Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. Now I’m not great fan of Dickens but Christmas Carol is the only story I like but it’s overdone in movies. However I don’t mind it here because at least the characters are at least Tigger know it’s being referenced which makes it fun.

Roo in a meta moment Winnie the Pooh Springtime with Roo  picture image

Roo in a meta moment

Winnie the Pooh Springtime With Roo isn’t the great story in the Winnie the Pooh universe but as story for an hour long video it’s not that bad dare I say fine.

Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year.

Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year.

You know when you start to watch a movie and you know it’s going to be painful in the first few minutes? That was me with Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year. Even the title makes me cringe. This one is a double holiday movie, as we get Christmas and New Years. I give them a little credit, you don’t see new year’s in Disney movies but it’s boring and makes for a very long hour.

Pooh and Christopher Robin Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year picture image

Pooh and Christopher Robin

So the plot or in this case the plots? This movie has like two dumb stories. First, Pooh and friends are having a Christmas party and then they tell the first story in a Flashback.

That story is Christopher Robin is writing a letter to Santa. He asks everyone what they want and sends the letter via airmail. No, literally he just throws the letter into wind. The next day, Piglet tells Pooh that Pooh forgot to ask for a gift, apparently all that hunny he for asked for the others in case they get guests didn’t count. So they find the letter and make some modifications but Pooh fails to throw the letter in the air. So Pooh tries to play Santa so that everyone gets their gifts which fails too.

So Pooh decides to go to give the letter directly to Santa. The others then realizes that they would rather have Pooh then gifts. Pooh returns having failed again and they are all happy. However Christopher Robin comes and gives out gifts and friends are awesome.

Pooh and Piglet, Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year picture image

Pooh and Piglet

The second story is not a flashback. Christopher Robin tells Pooh about New Years and Resolutions. Pooh decides to they should have party at Rabbit’s house. Rabbit then gets annoyed with Tigger’s bouncing, Piglet’s fear, Eeyore’s gloom and Pooh’s hunny obsession. So Rabbit decides to move.

Pooh and the gang decide to change these traits but in turn the traits just shift around so Tigger is scared, Piglet bounces, Pooh is gloomy and Eeyore is creepy, I mean hunny obsessed. Rabbit decides to stay because friends are awesome.

Happy Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year picture image

Happy Eeyore

Both these stories have the same theme, Friends are awesome. Now I do not claim to be an expert on all thing Pooh but that is a stand-by theme. Friends=Good. Though the second story had the added bonus of the be-yourself theme . Which is another stand-by theme by Disney.

One could say that New Year approach was inventive as the tried to be different but that made them in the polar opposite so the annoying innate traits were not corrected but transferred. I didn’t have a problem with Tigger being scared or Piglet bouncing or Pooh being gloomy. But Eeyore as the cheerful insane Pooh was more than off putting it was down-right terrifying.

Eeyore on the Christmas Tree Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year picture image

Eeyore on the Christmas Tree

When I started doing the sequel reviews, I said wasn’t going to discuss the animation as on the whole the animation is weak in general in the sequels. But the Pooh movies are not sequels, not exactly.

Winnie the Pooh is separate entity under the Mouse label. That being sound the animation was far and away much, much weaker than Pooh’s Grand Adventure. The colors are dull and the animation at times is a bit awkward.

Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and Pooh Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year picture image

Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and Pooh

For me, as a not-quite-a-Pooh-fan there is not much to enjoy in Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year. The Plot(s) is weak and dumb, the characters even admit to the viewer they are annoying and the animation is week. All round, I found this dumb, dumb, dumb and I really disliked it.

Pooh's Grand Adventure the Search for Christopher Robin picture image

Pooh’s Grand Adventure the Search for Christopher Robin

I’m going to be completely honest, I’m not a big fan of Winnie the Pooh. Never have been, never will be. Yeah, it’s cute and endearing, it just never did much for me. I will say that, I do hate Winnie the Pooh.

Rabbit, Eeyore, Pooh, Tigger and Piglet, Pooh's Grand Adventure the Search for Christopher Robin picture image

Rabbit, Eeyore, Pooh, Tigger and Piglet

That being said, I hate this movie. It’s boring and fairly insipid. What’s the story of Pooh’s Grand Adventure the Search for Christopher Robin? Christopher Robin and Pooh are hanging out and doing nothing, that is an important facet of their very co-dependent relationship.

But then Christopher Robin vanishes and Pooh and everyone are lost without him. He leaves a note on a honey pot but no one can read the it as Pooh can’t read (you would think Christopher Robin would know that about his pal?) and the note becomes encrusted with honey. So they take the note to owl who says that Christopher Robin went to the skull which is in a scary place surrounded by scary things that we never see, I wanted to see that skullasaurus, unseen main antagonist my ass.

Anyway, they go to the skull and hi-jinx ensue and important self-discoveries are learned. Then Christopher Robin comes back because he actually went to school for a mere half-day and then scary place they went to turns out not to be scary at all. Did they all hallucinate the scary stuff?

Pooh and Christopher Robin, Pooh's Grand Adventure the Search for Christopher Robin picture image

Pooh and Christopher Robin

The movie hinges on Christopher Robin being important to the characters but we only see him interacting with Pooh. Plus Christopher Robin is boring as fuck. I mean, I guess he’s the straight-man to the insanity of the other characters but he is not reactionary enough to the characters, he just gives in with his “silly old bear” line even though Pooh is a year younger than him. So he is dull and kinda dumb.

Pooh on a Cliff, Pooh's Grand Adventure the Search for Christopher Robin picture image

Pooh on a Cliff

It’s cute that Christopher Robin gives Pooh advice that Pooh tries to remember and despite that the characters grow and develop but that proves Christopher Robin’s dullness compared the other characters. I mean he’s more important when he gone. However the lesson about how dear friends are never really apart is touching.

Eeyore, Piglet Rabbit and Tigger, Pooh's Grand Adventure the Search for Christopher Robin picture image

Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit and Tigger

The character development and what they learn is trite. You know the same motivational crap most people learn in movies, you’re super strong, brave and smart. ZZzzzzzzzzz. Why can’t shallowness and laziness ever save the day?

Learning that you’re really smart, strong and brave is cliche. Plus the movie divides the qualities among three characters; Tigger, Rabbit and Piglet. Tigger learns that his tail is strong, Rabbit learns that he is smart and Piglet learns he is brave. Pooh learns that his dorky friend always in his heart and Eeyore does nothing.

I’m not sure why he is in this movie, all he does is make depressing comments. Eeyore is the best and I’m not sure why he is so underplayed in this. Maybe it’s because Eeyore is too awesome. He kicks Pooh’s ass.

All the pals together, Pooh's Grand Adventure the Search for Christopher Robin picture image

All the pals together

It’s not like it’s a bad movie or plot, i just found it hellish to sit and watch it. Maybe if cared more about Pooh and his pals’ issues and if Christopher Robin wasn’t so fucking dull it could be more enjoyable. And I actully wanted to like Pooh’s Grand Adventure the Search for Christopher Robin. I really did.

Two things before I end, How did they not all die when they fell off that cliff? Maybe it was hallucination and they only fell like a foot, I would buy that. And that guy who play Billy Zane’s evil cop goon from Titanic, David Warner, was the narrator. That gave me a chuckle.