My favorite Pooh movies are the ones that actually adapt sections of A. A. Milne's original book, but this one is actually pretty darn good despite being a mostly original work. It has a nice lesson about prejudice, xenophobia, and preconceptions, and Lumpy (a/k/a Heffridge Trumpler Brompet Heffalump IV) is a delightful addition to the canon. Pooh's barely in it, since it is really a Roo movie, but when he does show up he's adorable in his little aviator's cap. The film is a good follow-up to the terrific Piglet's Big Movie, with the same screenwriter and more catchy songs by Carly Simon.

This third adaptation I own is by Apple Jordan and the Disney Storybook Artists. It's a Step Into Reading book so it has been drastically simplified, but incredibly it still manages to tell the whole movie quite effectively in less than 30 sentences by honing in on the "just like me" theme.

As always, it's funny to see the publisher keep reusing the same illustrations that can be seen in all the other Pooh's Heffalump Movie adaptations I'm reading this week. They must have had a studio of artists churning out these images on spec and then bundling them up for the writers and/or editors to pick and choose which ones best inspired or fit the text of their adaptation. Is this like an attraction at Disney World? Watch the artists in a fishbowl drawing Pooh picture after Pooh picture?

FOR REFERENCE:

Pooh's Heffalump Movie was directed by Frank Nissen from a screenplay by Brian Hohlfeld and Evan Spiliotopoulos, based on the characters created by by A. A. Milne. ( )