The film's aggressively retro nature doesn't end there; where the studio's latter-day Pooh vehicles like The Tigger Movie and Pooh's Heffalump Movie introduced new characters and storylines into the world created by A.A. Milne some 80 years ago, this one only features the core cast of critters that populate the Hundred Acre Wood (as well as Christopher Robin's bedroom) and is based directly on three tales from the author's beloved novels. Even the title is meant to echo the first Pooh feature (actually an anthology of previously released shorts starring the silly, willy nilly old bear all stuffed with fluff), 1977's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which served as a video babysitter for an entire generation of moviegoers who now have kids of their own to instruct in the Tao of Pooh. It's almost as if Disney wants these viewers to know that, in these uncertain times, they can rest assured that everything remains the same within the peaceful refuge that is the Hundred Acre Wood.

You may have sensed that there's a "but" coming and here it is: while Winnie the Pooh is an almost pitch-perfect recreation of Disney's vintage Pooh shorts, as with all second-generation dubs, it lacks some of the clarity of the original. The earlier cartoons were whimsical meanderings that moved at a gentle, kid-friendly pace without seeming dull or overly cutesy. This one aims to achieve a similar effect, but it's not as sure-footed. It's plodding and deliberate in a way that its predecessor wasn't. Maybe that's just my own nostalgia talking, but having revisited Many Adventures recently, that film's charms remain very natural and unforced. Watching Winnie the Pooh, I had the nagging sense that directors Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall were trying a little too hard to recreate the viewing experience of that earlier film exactly, rather than finding ways to make their own creative contributions to the material while still remaining faithful to what has come before.

All that said, I'd be hard pressed to argue against recommending the movie to parents looking for gentle G-rated fare for their tykes. The under-5 set in particular should enjoy Pooh's goofy antics -- which include the honey-crazed bear attempting to find a new tail for perpetually gloomy donkey Eeyore and teaming up with Piglet, Rabbit and the rest of the gang to rescue Christopher Robin from a dreaded monster known as "Backson" (a mispronunciation of the words "Back Soon," which young Chris wrote in a letter to his pals before heading off to school) -- as well as the short 68-minute runtime. The vocal cast is quite good as well, with Jim Cummings expertly matching Sterling Holloway's throaty tenor as Pooh Bear, Craig Ferguson adopting the right high-and-mighty tone for Owl and Tom "Spongebob Squarepants" Kenny nailing Rabbit's flibbertigibbet hysterics. And as a fan of Zooey Deschanel's musical career as one half of the duo She & Him, I was happy to hear several of her original compositions gracing the soundtrack. (Those adults that can't stand their brand of folk-pop should remember to bring earplugs.) Winnie the Pooh is exactly the kind of movie parents can feel great about taking their children to. But, just to be clear, that's slightly different from saying it's a great movie.

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