''Pooh's Heffalump Movie'' (also known as ''The Heffalump Movie'' in the working title) is a 2005 American

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

musical

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

produced by the Japanese office of Disneytoon Studios and released by

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...

. Featuring characters from

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

's ''

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''Win ...

'' stories, the film is the fourth theatrical animated film in Disney's ''

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

'' franchise and DisneyToon Studios's third adaptation of ''Winnie the Pooh'' stories, following ''

The Tigger Movie ''The Tigger Movie'' is a 2000 animated musical comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation with animation production by Walt Disney Animation (Japan), Inc., written and directed by Jun Falkenstein from a story by Eddie Guzeli ...

'' (2000) and '' Piglet's Big Movie'' (2003). The film was released theatrically on February 11, 2005.

Plot

One day,

and his friends Piglet, Tigger, Roo, Rabbit and Eeyore hear a strange noise and find a set of large, circular footprints in the Hundred Acre Wood. The friends believe that there is a strange creature known as a "heffalump" in the woods. Rabbit organizes an expedition to go try to catch it. Roo wants to come along, but the others tell him he is too young and small to go. Despite this, Roo slips out on his own in search of the heffalump. He finds one; a playful young creature named Heffridge Trumpler Brompet Heffalump IV—"Lumpy" for short. Roo is afraid of his captive at first but the two quickly become friends and play. Meanwhile, Rabbit and his friends enter Heffalump Hollow to find and capture the heffalump, Eeyore get left behind carrying all the supplies. After a while, Lumpy hears his mother calling for him to come home. Roo wants Lumpy to meet all of his friends first, and they head towards the Hundred Acre Wood. Lumpy hesitates, thinking that the "creatures" that live there are scary, but Roo reassures him. Meanwhile, Pooh and his friends hear a noise in the forest, thinking it is the heffalump they run away but it turns out to be Eeyore who is left behind again. When Roo and Lumpy arrive, the Hundred Acre Wood is deserted, as everyone else is still out searching for the heffalump. Roo and Lumpy continue playing, making a mess of Pooh's house and Rabbit's garden. The two friends hear Lumpy's mother calling him again. They search for Lumpy's mother, but she is nowhere to be seen. Lumpy uses his trunk to call to her, but it does not work. After hours of searching, Lumpy assumes that they will never find her, and starts to cry. Roo consoles Lumpy with a song he learned from Kanga. Then, Roo gets an idea: they could go find ''his'' mother, and see if she can help Lumpy. Meanwhile, the others return home to find Pooh's house and Rabbit's garden a mess. They conclude that the heffalump has invaded. When Lumpy and Roo are discovered, Rabbit thinks that Lumpy has captured Roo. He and the others chase Lumpy through the heffalump traps they set up earlier in the film. Lumpy evades the traps, but Roo gets caught in the last one as Lumpy escapes into the woods. Roo frees himself from the trap, and runs to find Lumpy trapped in a giant cage. Lumpy is upset and hurt, thinking that Roo has lied to him about the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood being friendly. Roo tries to free Lumpy and apologizes for everything. Finally, Roo notices a rope at the top of the cage. He climbs up and unties it, freeing a very grateful Lumpy. Kanga, watching the two interact from behind a nearby tree, realizes that the heffalump is her son's friend. Rabbit, Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet arrive and lasso Lumpy. Roo yells at them to stop. They refuse to listen, but Kanga tells them to have Roo explain himself. He tells the others that Heffalumps are not scary or mean. While Roo is explaining this, Lumpy stumbles and accidentally knocks Roo into a pile of giant, heavy logs forming a makeshift bridge over a ditch. Lumpy and Roo's other friends try to rescue Roo, but the logs are too heavy for them to move. Lumpy gets an idea, and tries to call out to his mother. After a few tries, he finally gets it right. Lumpy's mother comes and tosses the logs aside, freeing Roo. Lumpy's mother is very proud that he has learned how to call out to her. Pooh explains to Rabbit why the heffalump was in their wood; she was only looking for her baby. They apologize for their misjudgment and befriend Lumpy and his mother. Roo and Lumpy get a little more time to play together before Lumpy has to go home. During the credits, Eeyore finally catches up to Pooh and his friends and Lumpy has his adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood, including meeting Christopher Robin.

Cast

* Jim Cummings as

/ Tigger * Nikita Hopkins as Roo * Kyle Stanger as Lumpy the Heffalump *

Peter Cullen Peter Claver Cullen (born July 28, 1941) is a Canadian voice actor. He is best known as the voice of Optimus Prime in the original 1980s ''Transformers'' animated series, reprising the role many times since 2007. He has also voiced many other ...

as Eeyore *

Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM), a radio station in ...

as Kanga *

John Fiedler John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

as Piglet *

Ken Sansom Frank Kenneth Sansom (April 2, 1927 – October 8, 2012) was an American actor. Among his best known roles, Sansom voiced Rabbit in animated television series, television specials, and films for Disney's ''Winnie the Pooh'' franchise from 1988 to ...

as Rabbit * Brenda Blethyn as Mama Heffalump

Production

The film was originally intended as a

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

release. Heffalumps were first mentioned in the original

books. They appeared in a nightmare sequencealong with their fellow scary creatures, the woozlesin 1968's ''

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day ''Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day'' is a 1968 American animated featurette based on the third, fifth, ninth, and tenth chapters of ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' and the second, eighth, and ninth chapters from ''The House at Pooh Corner'' by A. A. Milne ...

''. Though heffalumps and woozles have appeared in other Disney Pooh media, such as the '' New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' TV series, this was the first theatrical film to feature a "real" heffalump. Lumpy's design is similar to the heffalumps seen in the 1968 featurette and the song "The Horribly Hazardous Heffalumps!" is in the same style as "Heffalumps and Woozles" from ''Blustery Day''. Carly Simon came up with Lumpy's full name, Heffridge Trumpler Brompet Heffalump, IV. This was the final theatrically released film to feature voice actor

as Piglet. It also marked the final ''Pooh'' film to be released in Fiedler's lifetime, as he died four months later from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. This was also the final production of

Walt Disney Animation Japan The Walt Disney Company has owned and operated several animation studios since the company's founding on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; the current Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, Ca ...

. Once the film was completed, Disney closed the studio in June 2004, eight months before the film's release.

Home media

''Pooh's Heffalump Movie'' was released on DVD and VHS on May 24, 2005 in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the film was released on July 11, 2005, and later in a trilogy DVD on November 7, 2011, along with ''

'' and ''

''.

Music

American singer-songwriter Carly Simon wrote five new songs exclusively for the film and performed four of them ("Winnie the Pooh", "Little Mr. Roo", "Shoulder to Shoulder", and "In the Name of the Hundred Acre Wood"), while in "The Horribly Hazardous Heffalumps!" Simon is accompanied by Jim Cummings,

, and Nikita Hopkins. "The Name Game" features Kyle Stanger and Nikita Hopkins as Lumpy and Roo. Two songs from Simon's earlier soundtrack for '' Piglet's Big Movie'' are also included on the soundtrack, "Winnie the Pooh (Theme Song)" and "With A Few Good Friends", in which Simon is joined by her children Ben Taylor and Sally Taylor. The soundtrack also features one instrumental track entitled "The Promise" by

Joel McNeely Joel McNeely (born March 28, 1959) is an American composer, arranger, musician, lyricist, and record producer. A protégé of composer Jerry Goldsmith, he is best known for his film and television scores. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Ou ...

, as well as seven classic Winnie The Pooh songs written by The Sherman Brothers.

Songs

Original songs performed in the film include:

Reception

Box office

The film made $5.8 million in its opening weekend, a per theater average of $2,296 from 2,529 theaters. The film ended up with a final gross of $18.1 million in North America and $34.8 million internationally, bringing the total worldwide gross to $52.9 million.

Critical response

Reviews were generally positive, resulting in a "Certified Fresh" rating of 80% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on reviews from 89 critics with a 6.54/10 rating. The site's consensus states, "A charming and delightful walk through the Hundred Acres Woods for young viewers."

Sequel

A sequel, '' Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie'', was released direct-to-video on September 13, 2005.

References

External links

* * * * {{Carly Simon 2005 animated films 2005 films 2000s American animated films 2005 comedy-drama films 2005 fantasy films 2000s musical films 2000s English-language films American buddy films American children's animated adventure films American children's animated comedy films American children's animated drama films American children's animated fantasy films American children's animated musical films American comedy-drama films Animated drama films Animated musical films Animated buddy films Children's comedy-drama films American animated feature films Winnie the Pooh (franchise) DisneyToon Studios animated films Films scored by Joel McNeely Animated films about elephants Films with screenplays by Evan Spiliotopoulos Walt Disney Pictures films Winnie-the-Pooh films Animated films about friendship 2000s children's animated films