Review: Piglet’s Big Movie

The filmmakers lovingly evoke how memories can reunite us with those that we have lost.

Piglet's Big Movie
Photo: Walt Disney Pictures

Their titles alone promise a complete and utter lack of originality but The Tigger Movie and now Piglet’s Big Movie, while nowhere near as captivating as ABC’s “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh,” are pleasant enough family diversions. Soon after Tigger accepts the inhabitants of the 100 Acres Woods as his extended family, Piglet finds himself the target of his friends’ anti-small bias. Rabbit, Eeyore, Tigger and Winnie the Pooh ignore Piglet when they attempt to steal honey from a beehive. When Piglet seemingly runs away from home, his friends try to find him with the aide of a picture album documenting their fondest memories. Writer Brian Hohlfeld slyly emphasizes the young pig’s predicament when Pooh stares at a picture of the group and mutters while pointing at Piglet, “What’s that tiny pink dot?” Much of the film’s drama emanates from a series of unusually long flashback sequences, though their length is ultimately less problematic than the bizarre nature of a tale which traces Rabbit’s prejudice against Kanga and Roo when they first arrived at the 100 Acres Woods. Perturbed no doubt by the kangaroo mother’s size and color, Rabbit plots to kidnap her son for unexplained reasons. While Rabbit succumbs to Roo’s lively disposition, Kanga forces a screaming Piglet to take a bath. Forget the troubling subtext, young kids are unlikely to be bothered by any of this. At times, the film proves tiresome and lazy (indeed, it’s never really explained where Piglet goes and how he manages to miraculously re-enter the picture) but the filmmakers lovingly evoke how memories can reunite us with those that we have lost.

Score: 
 Cast: John Fiedler, Jim Cummings, Ken Sansom, Peter Cullen, Nikita Hopkins, Kath Soucie, Andre Stojka, Tom Wheatley  Director: Francis Glebas  Screenwriter: Brian Hohlfeld  Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures  Running Time: 75 min  Rating: G  Year: 2003  Buy: Video, Soundtrack

Ed Gonzalez

Ed Gonzalez is the co-founder of Slant Magazine. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, his writing has appeared in The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications.

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