Pooh’s Heffalump Movie

“Pooh’s Heffalump Movie” takes us deep into the Hundred Acre Wood community as Pooh and his group of friends head out to capture a heffalump. Why do they want to capture them? Well, they think heffalumps are creepy monstrous beasts that live in the forest and destroy their property. They supposedly have horns on their heads and spikes on their tails, and most of all, they are just different from them.

So, Rabbit leads them in a crash course on how to capture a heffalump. They are all terribly afraid of having to face an actual heffalump, except for Roo, who can’t wait to go on the “expotition.” But, Pooh tells Roo that he can’t come this time because, well, he is just not grown-up enough. Roo is hurt, and spends the whole night hoping he will grow up in a few short hours so that he can go with them. (He even tells his mother, Kanga, that he won’t be needing his nightlight anymore.)

Instead of waiting and asking the group if they will change their minds, Roo wakes up early and sets off to capture a heffalump on his own. Before he can find a heffalump, one finds him. Instead of being big and scary, this one just seems to want to play, and gets a kick out of the fact that Roo has “captured” him by throwing a rope around his neck.

His name is Lumpy, and before long Roo realizes that maybe everyone in the Hundred Acre forest has been wrong about heffalumps the whole time, because they really don’t seem so bad. In fact, Lumpy says that he has been taught by everyone he knows that the people on Roo’s side of the fence are the scary beasts that everyone must be afraid of. Roo promises Lumpy that things aren’t scary and that everyone is nice, so Lumpy trusts him. But, Pooh and the gang have set traps and ambushes to catch the heffalump, and this sets up events that may compromise Roo’s new found friendship.

“Pooh’s Heffalump Movie” is about a lot of things, and has plenty of great messages for children. The most obvious is that having preconceived notions about people just because they are different can be very hurtful. And before anyone makes a case that the movie is an attempt to subtly preach acceptance of homosexuality, let me just say that this really couldn’t be further from the truth. Unlike “Shark Tale,” in which the character that needed to be accepted was a shark who didn’t look or talk or act like a shark (and seemed rather feminine compared to his tough father and brother), the heffalumps simply come in a different shape and size than what Pooh and the gang are used to. They have different accents, a different culture, and while it may seem scary at first for the gang to accept it, once they realize that heffalumps have feelings just like their own, they realize maybe they have made a mistake all along.

The film also touches on the affect of breaking promises, obeying parents, overcoming fear, and the importance of friendship.

There is literally no content in the film that I found offensive. I viewed the film with three small children, all under ten (the youngest being a four year old girl), and they all thoroughly enjoyed the film.

As for any “scary” moments in the film, I didn’t come across any, and neither did the kids. If kids can sit through the “Lion King,” or “Finding Nemo” (and even if they couldn’t), they will likely have no trouble here.

While the movie clocks in at just over an hour, I still heard some children in the theater ask how much longer the movie was going to be. For the most part though, kids will be able to sit through this harmless film, and will enjoy it.

As for adults… Well, there is something comforting about spending an hour in the pastel world inhabited by Pooh and friends (although Gopher and Owl are sadly absent from this film), and this reviewer enjoyed every minute of it.

Violence: None / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: None