Pooh's Heffalump Movie
From The Film Guide
| Pooh's Heffalump Movie | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:Poohs heffalump movie.jpg Promotional poster for Pooh's Heffalump Movie | ||
| Directed by | Frank Nissen | |
| Produced by | Jessica Koplos-Miller | |
| Written by | Brian Hohlfeld Evan Spiliotopoulos | |
| Starring | Jim Cummings John Fiedler Kath Soucie Peter Cullen Brenda Blethyn Kyle Stanger | |
| Music by | Joel McNeely | |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures Buena Vista Pictures | |
| Release date(s) | February 11, 2005 | |
| Running time | 68 minutes | |
| Language | English | |
| Budget | $20 million | |
| Preceded by | Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo (2004) | |
| Followed by | Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie (2005) | |
| IMDb profile | ||
| Looking for more? Try the fan page! | ||
Pooh's Heffalump Movie is an animated Winnie the Pooh film, released by Walt Disney Pictures in 2005. This was the last theatrical feature-length film based on Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise.
[edit] Plot
- WARNING: Spoilers follow here.
If you have not seen this film, it is recommended to skip to another section.
Winnie the Pooh and his friends hear a strange noise and find a set of large, perfectly circular footprints in the Hundred Acre Wood. They jump to the conclusion that the noise and prints are from a heffalump, and Rabbit organizes an expedition to go try to catch it; but Roo is told to stay behind, as everyone believes the expedition is too dangerous for one as young as he.
Roo slips out on his own in search of the heffalump, and soon finds it -- quite by accident. "It" is a playful young four-footed creature named Heffridge Trumpler Brompet Heffalump IV (nicknamed "Lumpy"), colored lavender and having a Yorkshire-British accent and a trunk like an elephant, but being not much larger than Roo. Roo is afraid at first but the two quickly make friends and play. Roo asks Lumpy to come home with him to meet all of Roo's friends; Lumpy is afraid because of what he thinks they might be like, but Roo reassures him and they return to the Hundred Acre Wood, which is deserted, as everyone else is still out searching for the heffalump.
The pair eventually meet up with the rest of Roo's friends, who are frightened and immediately try to "rescue" Roo and capture the Lumpy. Lumpy runs away; in running after him Roo ends up in a tight spot, and it's up to Lumpy's mother to save Roo and show everyone that heffalumps are nice and not to be feared.
[edit] Trivia
- More than 900 children, most of them actors, auditioned in the U.S. for the voice of Lumpy. Soon thereafter, auditions were held in the UK. That day, the team found their Lumpy in five-year-old Kyle Stanger, who had never acted before. Songwriter and recording artist Carly Simon helped come up with Lumpy's full name: Heffridge Trompler Brompet Heffalump, IV. Simon also sings on the soundtrack and wrote some new songs for the film. According to the team, she became very passionate about the story during production. A Heffalump's favorite food: Cookies called rumple-doodles. Heffalump is the first in the Pooh series in which Winnie the Pooh narrates. For the first time, Roo plays the big lead.
- The trap Kanga is caught in includes a life preserver labeled HMS Ashdown; much of the Hundred Acre Wood is modeled on Ashdown Forest (and vice versa; there is now a feature known as the Heffalump Trap).
- Despite the popular "Heffalumps and Woozles" song from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, there are no woozles in this film.
- Owl and Gopher are also absent. This was the first (and only one of the first four) theatrical Pooh film without an appearance by Owl. Most "Pooh fans" didn't notice.
- Christopher Robin appears only during the end credits, and does not speak for the first time in this film.
- This would have been the last American traditionally-animated feature film theatrically released by Disney, but they announced in July 2006 that another American traditionally-animated feature film The Frog Princess was revealed to be in development.
- Disney did not release another traditionally-animated feature film to cinemas until the Studio Ghibli film Howl's Moving Castle (which was a Japanese film) in mid-2005. Disney also does not release another American film featuring traditional animation to cinemas until the live-action/animated film Enchanted in 2007.
- Although titled "Pooh's Heffalump Movie", Pooh does not play a large role in the movie. This has been seen in many of the series' most recent theatrical releases, such as The Tigger Movie and Piglet's Big Movie.
