Friday, April 25, 2008

Heffing and puffing

Turns out, though, that Squeakies love the background noise of Pooh's Heffalump Movie while they are happily playing with their baby-proof blocks on the padded mat in your sister's living room. And since reading about emissions standards, segregated schools, and low wages proves rather depressing, Pooh also provides a nice, short, family-friendly alternative to writing that infernal last paper of the school year...

I fully admit that the reason I added the movie to my Netflix queue was because, when it came out in theatres in 2005, I passed this promo poster and burst into embarrassingly unstoppable laughter:

(It was not one of the times when I'd had a few drinks before entering the movie complex... I've just always had a soft spot for all things Winnie the Pooh-related, since one of my childhood nicknames is Pooh Bear. Apparently as a toddler I resembled the silly old bear...)

At any rate, I kept falling asleep every couple of minutes while watching the film (and it's only about an hour long) -- not because of its content, but because the kiddo woke me up at 6am and after ditching the baby to go outlet shopping, I was exhausted.

What I saw of the movie (waking up every couple of minutes) I liked -- it's the standard "don't be xenophobic" / "we're more similar that different" / "that stranger could be your new best friend" sort of tale. The creatures of the Hundred Acre Wood set off like the village mob from Disney's Beauty and the Beast, intent on capturing a monster Heffalump. Meanwhile, Roo befriends a large, giggly creature.

The songs were terrible. But the message was cute. Or rather, the little I saw, I approve of, very heartily.

Of course, Mi Hermana and I did our traditional dissecting of films, pointing out that the Winnie the Pooh tales are devoid of female characters except Kanga, who provides the traditional nurturing mother role. But it's still a great film with a positive message. And there's Dora the Explorer to provide the positive "girl coolness" factor.

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