Disney's latest kiddie flick, "Piglet's Big Movie," follows a similar path that "The Tigger Movie" did in 2000.
Unlike the other Disney movies of the recent past -- the "Toy Story" movies, "Lilo and Stitch" and even "Spy Kids" -- "Piglet's Big Movie" will be entertaining for children but an absolute bore for anyone else as Pooh and his friends in Pooh Corner have fun, explore nature and learn a valuable lesson.
The animated film opens with Piglet, by himself, drawing in his house. He hears Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Rabbit pass by his window, obviously in the midst of another plan to obtain honey. Piglet immediately becomes jealous that, again, he was left out of the scheming. He often feels inferior because of his short and meager stature.
As he follows the "larger" group to the beehive, Piglet witnesses the horrible plan in action. Nothing goes right. Rabbit's violin doesn't entice the bees as they exit the hive. Eeyore's coaxing doesn't invite the bees to enter a new hive. Pooh and Tigger's fake new tree is not a welcome home for the bees. Piglet, unbeknownst to the other four, saves their lives by diverting the bees from stinging his friends. The group secures the honey anyway, and proceeds to congratulate each other. Piglet, however, remains unrecognized.
Piglet leaves his friends, feeling neglected. Finally, when the group actually realizes that Piglet is missing, they search high and low for him. By chance they stumble upon Piglet's book of memories, which is basically a scrapbook of pictures that Piglet drew of their adventures together. After looking at the book, the larger group realizes what jerks they have all been to Piglet, their true and loyal friend.
Each memory serves as both a clue to where Piglet may be and also a vignette of an event in the past. The three different occurrences illustrate that everyone in the Hundred Acre Wood pays little attention to Piglet, and that Piglet basically hangs out with selfish and arrogant morons. Pooh only thinks of himself and how to get more honey, and Rabbit and his "I know everything" routine surely becomes tiresome for everyone around him. Tigger hops around and always has to be the center of attention and Eeyore is always such a downer that I would need some heavy-duty medication after hanging out with him for too long.
The vignettes show Piglet in three different acts of bravery and constancy. He starts with proving that Kanga, the new neighbor, isn't interested in eating his other friends, and then goes on to save Roo, Kanga's cuddly little joey, from drowning. Later, he even builds a house for Eeyore out of sticks. Piglet is the glue that holds the group of friends together, and he is sick of never being valued by his compadres. I would have advised poor little Piglet to find some new friends, but no, Piglet loves his self-absorbed companions. He wants to be a part of their lives.
This is definitely a kid's movie, and it makes little attempt at entertaining the older audience members that were dragged along for the ride. Clocking in at a skimpy 75 minutes, the duration of the movie was still excruciating and dragged out. After checking my watch at the 15-minute marker, I knew I was in for a rough time.
The animation isn't even that great. It looks rough and rushed, suggesting a low budget. Disney must not have cared about making this movie look professional, just looking for some cheap and easy revenue. The animation doesn't even compare to previous Disney films such as "Aladdin," "Beauty and the Beast" or even "Treasure Planet."
Disney does make some attempt to add a more "adult" aspect to the movie by having Carly Simon offer her musical talent to the score. The songs, however, are so contrived and lackadaisical that all meaning and emotion are lost.
"Piglet's Big Movie," however, does send the positive message to appreciate the small people. Even though their help and loyalty come in smaller packages, they must still be appreciated like everyone else. You must let your friends know that you love them. The message, however, is so blatant and explicit that even 5-year-olds won't have a problem picking this one out.
All in all, only younger kids will enjoy the movie, which makes this review in a college newspaper seem kind of superfluous. But if there are students out there with little siblings or who baby-sit, then "Piglet's Big Movie" would be a safe bet for you and the youngsters. Just be prepared to endure a tiresome and tedious excursion in the Hundred-Acre Wood.
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