MOVIE REVIEW

Piglet's Big Movie

Ted Baehr
Publisher, Movieguide Magazine

What's This?

CBN.com - HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) -- Piglet's Big Movie is absolutely adorable. If you've become slightly cynical about animation, especially children's cartoons from well-known sources, Piglet's Big Movie is the cure. Not only was it well crafted, but they tested it before the right audience - the filmmaker's child's first grade class. Based on this discerning group, they cured the movie of any and all problems.

The movie starts out with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Rabbit trying to trick a bunch of bees into leaving their hive so that they can get Pooh's favorite food, honey. When Piglet comes along, they tell him he's too small to help. However, when the bees get angry, unbeknownst to his friends, Piglet is the one who saves the day. Needless to say, they don't notice, and Piglet goes off into the 100-acre wood feeling rejected - too little to help anyone.

In the woods, Piglet helps a little bird find its nest and helps several other animals as well, failing to realize that he actually is a constant help to everyone around him. Soon Pooh and others realize that Piglet is gone. They go to his house and find his "Book of Remembrances," a book with drawings of some of their most famous adventures. They decide to find Piglet by following the book to each of the adventurous spots in the hundred acres wood. As they recall each adventure, they realize it was really Piglet's adventure; such as, getting to know Kanga and her little son, Roo, finding the North Pole in the hundred acre wood, and building a house at Pooh Corner for Eeyore. When they lose the book in a stream, they go back to Piglet's and create drawings of all the wonderful things Piglet has done, even portraying this compassionate, loving Piglet in full armor - suggesting the armor of God.

Piglet, as a matter of fact, seems to reflect the great definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:3-13, since he never thinks of himself, he's always humble, always caring for others, and always patient. Eventually, of course, good triumphs, and the ending is enough to make even the most hardhearted reviewer cry.

This wonderful animated movie is deeply enhanced by Carly Simon's songs. The animation is traditional and winsome, a delight to all the children at the 10:00 Saturday morning screening. The voices are well conceived. Tagged by Walt Disney himself to play Piglet, legendary character actor John Fiedler still makes a fantastic Piglet. Each character has tremendous personality, and each character reflects the foibles of real human beings. Owl pontificates, Rabbit starts out being negative but always comes around, and Pooh is pure love with a hungry stomach. Each one has distinct personalities, yet the distinctions are positive and not demeaning. The whole creative team behind Piglet's Big Movie needs to be congratulated.

Assist News Service is brought to you in part by Open Doors USA, a ministry that has served the Suffering Church around the world for nearly 50 years.

The previous review is a selected sample of informative reviews from MOVIEGUIDE: A FAMILY GUIDE TO MOVIES AND ENTERTAINMENT, a syndicated feature of Good News Communications, Inc. To subscribe to MOVIEGUIDE, which includes a complete set of at least 10 reviews of the latest movies as well as many informative articles, please visit their Web site at http://www.movieguide.org/, or write or call:

MOVIEGUIDE
P.O. Box 190010
Atlanta, GA 31119
(800) 899-6684

DISCLAIMER: "The publications that carry MOVIEGUIDE and the organizations that distribute MOVIEGUIDE are not responsible for these reviews, nor is MOVIEGUIDE responsible for the opinions and positions of those publications and organizations."