CHRISTOPHER ROBIN

UK, 2018, 104 minutes, Colour.
Ewan Mc Gregor, Hayley Atwell, Brontë Carmichael, Mark Gattis, Oliver Ford Davies. Voices of: Jim Cummings, Brad Garrett, Sophie Okonedo, Peter Capaldi, Toby Jones.
Directed by Marc Forster.

There has been quite some cinema interest in the life and writings of the British A.A.Milne, his experience of World War I, rather shell-shocked, his coping and not coping, his relationship with his wife, a rather dominating presence, and his love for his son, Christopher Robin. And Milne created a location, a Hundred Acre forest inhabited by a range of characters who from the 1920s endeared themselves to British children and then to children worldwide. The main character, so well-known, is the toy bear, Winnie the Pooh.

This was all the subject of the 2017 film, Goodbye Christopher Robin, with Domnhall Gleeson as Milne and Margot Robbie as his wife. The end of that film did move into World War II and some of the experiences of Christopher Robin.

Here we are again in Milne country. However, the focus is on Christopher Robin himself. We are introduced to the boy and Winnie the Pooh and the other characters as they farewell Christopher Robin and his leaving home. This gives the audience the chance to look at and, especially, listen to the voices of the range of characters from Eeyore, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Owl… Jim Cummings is especially convincing, in the low key voice and delivery, as Pooh.

But, the main action takes place after the end of the war in which Christopher Robin served. He is married, has a daughter, still lives in the family house outside London but is hard at work doing efficiency jobs for a luggage company. He is busy, over-worked, taking the job home with him, not spending enough time with his wife and daughter as he should.

This, of course, is reminiscent of those many films about the busy father and his neglect of family and the need for his eyes and heart to be opened. In fact, a film that comes to mind from a quarter of a century earlier is Steven Spielberg’s Hook. In this film it is Peter Pan who is caught up in the busy adult world gets the opportunity to go back to Neverland and discover his inner child.

Ewan Mc Gregor is Christopher Robin. Sitting in the forest one day he is approached by Pooh – rather irritating in his insistence on wanting honey and having stomach rumbles! But he tantalises Christopher, accompanies him on his travels to work, is prone to get lost, wants some more honey but, for a time, is contented with a red balloon. Because Christopher needs to get his homework done for the company, he takes Pooh back to the Hundred Acre forest and, rather impatiently and irritably at first, meets again all those old friends.

While this is the story of Pooh and the others, it is also the story of Christopher Robin and his daughter, his encounter with her, frantically travelling to London with her father’s briefcase and his papers, an amusing but disastrous taxi ride, with the others being bounced about in a box banging the London streets.

The ending is never in doubt. It is just the interest in the way in which it will happen, Christopher Robin getting a brainwave about how to improve the luggage business. (Answer, create opportunities where everybody can go on holidays not just the wealthy, and they will all buy luggage!). And there is an amusing song with everybody at the beach during the final credits highlighting this.

(For those who were introduced to Winnie the Pooh’s world as children, the film would be most engaging. For those who were not, it may (as for this reviewer) take rather a long time to get used to characters who had not been endearing from childhood.)

1. The popularity of the stories by A.A.Milne? The characters from the Hundred Acres, Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Rabbit, Roo, Owl?

2. Response of audiences who were introduced to the characters as children, their charm, joy of seeing them again? The contrast with those not familiar with the characters from childhood? How attractive at first glance in this story?

3. The opening, the farewell to Christopher Robin? His age? The range of characters, the celebration?

4. The period after World War II? London, companies, luggage? Offices, work? The pressures on the workers, the bid for efficiency, for profits? Christopher Robin and the war experiences, his work and supporting his family? The effect on his wife, on his daughter?

5. The pressures of work, Christopher Robin in the park, the presence of Pooh? The conversations? Christopher Robin and his having forgotten his childhood and the characters?

6. Pooh, the comment about his not being bright, his being hungry, stomach rumblings, wanting only? The ingenuous remarks? The effect on Christopher, the pressure of the son of the boss, his working on the plans? Going to the station, Pooh wanting the balloon, losing Pooh at the station, finding him, getting on the train, working in the carriage, excluding other travellers?

7. Journey back to the house, his wife’s response, seeing his daughter, her disappointment at his being away?

8. Going back to the woods, getting stuck in the tree trunk, the fear of the other characters, fearing that he was a half-full up, his going to the woods, falling in the trap? The other characters emerging, your and his being pessimistic and rather indolent, the island’s comments, Room, Piglet?

9. Christopher and his reminiscences, starting to place the characters, the past relationship? His needing to get back to work, his explanation of his briefcase, the irony of its being emptied? Passing the house, Evelyn and her comments, his hurrying to the train?

10. Madeleine, upset, her encounter with the characters, wanting to get the briefcase to her father? The carriage, the characters, in the train, travelling through London, the taxi and the bewilderment in the accident, in the box, the box banging on the street? Evelyn in pursuit in the car? The characters landing on the car?

11. Christopher, going to the meeting, the head and his demands, his son and his snide remarks, Evelyn arriving, hurrying and finding Madeleine, the papers all distributed? One page left, his getting the insight?

12. Going to the office, the explanation about holidays, more holidaymakers, the need for luggage? The head of the company and his affirmation, doing nothing to get something! His rebuking his son?

13. Pooh, his involvement, the contribution of the others? The family returning home, Christopher Robin learning his lesson, going out into the woods and the celebration?