The challenge with Winnie the Pooh-type whimsy is that if you don’t calibrate the tone just right, it can be an unbearable slog, tedious and treacly and dopey. Perhaps I’m being a curmudgeon or wasn’t in the right headspace, but that’s how I felt about “A Very Merry Pooh Year.”
The hourlong special is broken into two half-hour shorts, one Christmas-themed and one New Years-themed. The former was tough for me to get through, with Pooh bumbling through sending a letter to Santa and delivering half-assed presents to his friends in Santa’s stead. The second story was a slight improvement, with some funny bits of characters impersonating other characters.
On the plus side, the animation and the voice-work are passable for a TV special, and there are occasional flourishes that made me smile. (Jim Cummings as Tigger mispronouncing New Years resolutions as “restitutions” with a thick, spitty enunciation made me chuckle every time.)
But, overall, “A Very Merry Pooh Year” didn’t do it for me.
Is It Good?
Not Good (2/8)
Note: This review was originally published elsewhere. Please excuse brevity or inconsistencies in style. If you have questions or feedback, please leave a comment or contact me.
Dan is the founder and head critic of The Goods. Follow Dan on Letterboxd. Join the Discord for updates and discussion.