There are a lot of Pooh fans out there. Tons. Which is why I’m furious–furious–at the way this film was handled. Mind you, I loved the movie. Four stars. Crack for Winnie the Pooh fans. I thought it was spot on throughout. Hilarious, light, fun–enormously entertaining. The worst I can say for it was that it was so short (just over an hour). My kids thought it was fantastic, too. It has a timeless feel to it, and it’s one of the first movies in a long time that I’m considering purchasing.
So why am I furious?
Because Disney decided to make this a summer release. Not just any summer release. They had the bright idea to put it up against HARRY POTTER. Harry made $170 million its opening weekend. Winnie made $8 million.
How can anyone tell me they couldn’t see that coming? Who thought that was a good idea? If Disney had waited until fall to release Winnie, I think the difference would have been drastic. I mean, Puss in Boots (aka Shrek 5) made $35 million its opening. It’s being hailed as a wonder. Families are desperate for good entertainment. Yada yada yada.
Winnie the Pooh should have been that movie, not the also ran against Harry Potter. Instead, it slipped away into quiet oblivion. Disney will look at it as a failure, and we won’t get more of that sort of quality film. I love the vintage feel. The throwback to a certain era of Disney. I feel like there’s a market for it, but some suit at Disney doesn’t want it to succeed, so instead we’ll see Hannah Montana Meets the Power Rangers to Fight Justin Bieber (actually–that’s not that bad of an idea. Somebody write that right now, and when you sell it, give me 25%.)
In any case, if you missed this one, go watch it with your family. Now.
Bother.
Huh. I didn’t even know there *was* a new Winnie the Pooh movie coming out.
Sad! You should check it out, especially if you’re a fan.
We loved it. Took Zoë and two of our friends’ kids to see it and I will be buying it for Christmas. You’re right about the timing. It’s a shame. Hopefully people like us (who don’t buy a lot of movies) will buy it in support.
They’ll definitely make their money back–it only cost Disney $30 million. But it would take a ton of DVD sales at this point for Disney to rethink their approach. Sigh.