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.,[3] written and directed by Jun Falkenstein from a story by Eddie Guzelian, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on February 11, 2000. It is the second theatrical Winnie the Pooh film after The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and features Pooh's friend Tigger as the main protagonist searching for his family tree and other Tiggers like himself. The film was the first feature-length theatrical Pooh film that was not a collection of previously released shorts.

The Tigger Movie
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJun Falkenstein
Screenplay byJun Falkenstein
Story byEddie Guzelian
Based onCharacters created
by A. A. Milne
Produced byCheryl Abood
Starring
Narrated byJohn Hurt
Edited by
  • Makoto Arai
  • Robert Fisher, Jr.
Music byHarry Gregson-Williams
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date
February 11, 2000
Running time
77 minutes
CountriesUnited States[2]
Japan (animation services)[3]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million[4][5][6]–$30 million[7]
Box office$96.2 million[7]

It is also the first in the original films in which Tigger is voiced entirely by Jim Cummings (in addition to Pooh) following the retirement of Tigger's original voice actor Paul Winchell in 1999. Winchell was originally cast as Tigger but was dropped after the studio considered his voice to be too raspy. Cummings had previously shared the role with Winchell since 1989 and provided his singing voice in most later projects with Winchell as the character's speaking voice.

The film features original songs from the Sherman Brothers. Originally, the film was slated for a direct-to-video release in 2001, until then–Disney CEO Michael Eisner heard the Sherman Brothers' songs and decided to release the film in theaters worldwide a year early. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was the highest-grossing film in the Winnie the Pooh franchise until it was surpassed by 2018's Christopher Robin.

The film received three nominations on the Annie Awards, including the Annie Award for Directing in a Feature Production, the Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production, and the Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production.

Plot

The beginning of the story is interrupted by Tigger, who is tired of most of the stories being about Pooh. After rearranging the title page the spell out the movie's title, the story then continues. In the Hundred Acre Wood, Tigger searches for someone to bounce with him, but all of his friends are busy preparing for the upcoming winter; Roo, his closest friend, wanted to play with him, but arrives too late to do so. While searching for a playmate, Tigger inadvertently destroys Eeyore's house with a boulder. Rabbit builds a mechanical pulley system to remove it, with little success. Tigger attempts to help his friends, but although he succeeds in moving the boulder, his actions also end up destroying the machine and sending everyone into a large mud puddle. Frustrated, Rabbit and the rest of Tigger's friends reprimand him for his troublesome rambunctious nature, hurting his feelings. Roo, seeing Tigger's sadness and alienation, asks him if he has any family members of his own. Tigger is fascinated by the concept and decides to search for his family, hoping to finally be within a similar company.

Misunderstanding Owl's advice, Tigger and Roo begin searching for his family tree, mistakenly believing it to be a centuries-old tree covered in stripes and with many Tiggers upon it. Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore decide to help Tigger by forming their own search for this family; Rabbit refuses to help as he is too busy. They mistake striped frogs and a swarm of bees for Tiggers, but Pooh's attempt to get honey from the bees' hive causes the angry swarm to chase them. After the search fails, Tigger and Roo return to Tigger's house where they soon find a gold heart-shaped locket that seemly has a picture of Tigger's family inside it, but it was empty. Roo then suggests that he writes a letter to his family and he does so. He lets the wind carry it away with hopes that it will reach his family, but receives no response after days of waiting and begins to lose hope. Tigger's friends sympathetically decide to write him a letter; everyone contributes a bit of friendly advice and signs it "your family". Tigger misinterprets the content of the letter and comes to believe that his family exists and is intending to visit him, with the others unable to tell him the truth. He organizes a large and absurd party in preparation for a family reunion. Roo, wishing to uphold Tigger's spirits, encourages his friends to disguise themselves as Tiggers and attend his party. Rabbit arrives and berates them for not preparing for the harsh conditions ahead before storming off, but Roo convinces everyone to continue with the plan.

After a great effort in disguising themselves and learning to behave like Tiggers, Tigger's friends arrive at his party. He completely falls for the disguises until Roo's mask falls off after an attempt to imitate a complex bounce that Tigger had taught him earlier. Tigger, disappointed, angry, and betrayed by his friends' deception, sets out into a blizzard in search of his real family, taking his letter and the locket with him. He eventually finds an immense tree that the snow has whitened with stripes, convincing him that it is the family tree he had sought, but is saddened when he finds no one waiting for him there. Pooh, Piglet, Roo, Rabbit, and Eeyore set out on an expedition in search of him, but they fail to persuade him to come home. Their argument causes an avalanche, which drives Tigger to rescue his friends by carrying them into the giant tree's branches, but could not save himself. When Tigger is swept towards a cliff, Roo successfully performs Tigger's bounce and saves him. The two then perform the bounce together to escape the avalanche and land back on the tree with their friends. When the avalanche subsides, Owl, Kanga, and Christopher Robin find them. When Pooh explains everything to Christopher Robin, he tells Tigger that he didn't need to search for his family. Tigger tries to show him the letter to prove their existence, but realizes that he lost it in the avalanche (it was actually lost before the avalanche happened). Tigger's friends then reveal their authorship of the letter by reciting their contributions. Tigger finally realizes that his friends are his true family and he throws a new party in honor of them, giving everyone gifts: a new house for Eeyore made from the family room that Tigger built for his nonexistent family, a toy plane for Christopher Robin, a yo-yo for Owl, a new hat for Kanga, a large amount for honey for Pooh, a big supply of firewood for Piglet, a promise to Rabbit that he will watch where he's bouncing from now on, and the locket for Roo (whom he accepts as a brother figure). Christopher Robin then takes a picture of everyone to put inside the locket. The film ends with the camera backing up from the locket's picture as it closes.

Cast
Main article: List of Winnie-the-Pooh characters

Production

Jun Falkenstein directed the film, in her own feature length debut, following her work on A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving in 1998.[8] The film began production in April, 1998.[8] Many scenes, totaling up to 60% of the film, were completed by Walt Disney Animation, Japan.[8] Drawing inspiration from the end of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too when Tigger agrees to not bounce anymore, the film crafted a fuller character arc that "[showed] a range of emotions" for the Tigger.[8]

Voice Cast

Paul Winchell, the original voice of Tigger, was originally cast to voice Tigger for the film, which was then titled Winnie the Pooh and the Family Tree.[9] During Spring 1998, Winchell participated in a single recording session for the film. However, he was dropped from the project after the studio found his voice too raspy.[9][10] The role was given to Jim Cummings, who was already voicing Winnie the Pooh for the film, and had voiced Tigger on various Disney television shows and for Disney consumer products.[9] When the Disney Imagineers heard about Winchell's dismissal, they hired him to perform the voice of Tigger for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction at the Magic Kingdom, which opened a year before The Tigger Movie's release; it was Winchell's final performance before his retirement from acting in 1999 and his death in 2005.[9]

Music

The songs for The Tigger Movie were written by Robert and Richard Sherman who had not written a feature for Disney in over 28 years. Their last fully original feature film score was for the Oscar nominated film, Bedknobs and Broomsticks which was released in 1971. The Tigger Movie would also be the last film work for the Sherman Brothers and Robert B. Sherman due to his death on March 6, 2012. Originally slated for video or television release, the score was so well received (in demonstration form) by then Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, that the project's priority level moved up to feature theatrical release. This was due in great part to the perceived caliber of the song score throughout the studio. The score of the film is composed by Harry Gregson-Williams with additional music by Klaus Badelt and Steve Jablonsky and the score was conducted by Nick Glennie-Smith.

All the songs were original ones created for the film except for "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" which was originally written in 1968 for the featurette, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (released in 1968). That song was also by the Sherman Brothers. The "punch line" of the song: "But the most wonderful Thing About Tiggers is I'm the only one..." provides the basis of The Tigger Movie's storyline. The vast majority of the songs, including "Someone Like Me", "Whoop-de-Dooper Bounce", "Pooh's Lullabee", and "Round My Family Tree" were performed by Jim Cummings, while "How to Be a Tigger" was performed by the cast.

"Your Heart Will Lead You Home" was the last song written for the film and is a collaborative effort between the Sherman Brothers and singer Kenny Loggins. Richard Sherman described the song as "a song about the picture, as opposed to songs of the picture." It marks the only time the trio worked together on a song.[11]

The original theatrical trailer for the film featured the song "Semi-Charmed Life" by alternative band Third Eye Blind. A Disney spokeswoman said that she was not aware of the sexual content within the song's lyrics.[12]

Songs

Original songs performed in the film include:

No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers"Jim Cummings 
2."Someone Like Me"Jim Cummings 
3."Whoop-De-Dooper Bounce"Jim Cummings & Nikita Hopkins 
4."Pooh's Lullabee"Jim Cummings 
5."Round My Family Tree"Jim Cummings 
6."How to Be a Tigger"Cast 
7."Your Heart Will Lead You Home"Kenny Loggins[1] 

Release

Marketing

Disney released a teaser trailer for The Tigger Movie in August 1999, during theatrical screenings of The Iron Giant. The teaser was later attached to theatrical screenings of The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Toy Story 2 and Stuart Little. The teaser trailer was included on the Winnie the Pooh Seasons of Giving home video release.

Theatrical

After a Hollywood red carpet premiere on February 6, 2000 at El Capitan Theatre,[13] the film was released theatrically on February 11, 2000. The movie was on screens for 23 weeks.[7]

Home media

The Tigger Movie was originally released on August 22, 2000, on both VHS and DVD.[14] Both included the Kenny Loggins music video "Your Heart Will Lead You Home." The DVD included additional special features. The film was later re-released on a 2-disc DVD on August 4, 2009 to coincide with its 10th anniversary. The 2-disc release includes a DVD and a digital copy. It contains all the 2000 DVD bonus features, but has more language tracks and special features. The film was also re-released as a Bounce-a-rrrific special edition on Blu-ray on August 21, 2012. It contains the Kenny Loggins music video "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" and "Round My Family Tree" sing-along song video but includes the 10 Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh segments.[15]

Reception

Box office

The film opened at number 4 at the US box office making $9.4 million in its opening weekend. The film was a box office success, earning $45,554,533 in the United States and Canada and a further $50,605,267 overseas, resulting in a worldwide gross of $96,159,800.[7] Its budget is estimated at between $15 million[4][5] and $30 million.[7] On its initial release on home video, it earned $90 million.[16]

Critical reception

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 62% of critics gave the film positive reviews on 71 reviews with a 5.9 rating. The site's consensus states, "The Tigger Movie may lack the technological flash and underlying adult sophistication of other recent animated movies, but it's fun and charming."[14] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on twenty three critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[17] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[18]

William Thomas of Empire gave the film a three out of four stars, saying: "And while the one-dimensional nature of the plot is unlikely to entertain anyone over the age of 11, the end result certainly includes enough pre-pubescent prerequisites to ensure that the furry fella will never bounce alone."[19] Common Sense Media gave the film a three out of five stars and said: "Tigger's bouncy quest will appeal to younger viewers."[20]

Accolades
AwardCategoryRecipientResult
Annie Awards[21] Annie Award for Directing in a Feature Production Jun Falkenstein Nominated
Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production Nikita Hopkins as Roo
Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman for the song "Round My Family Tree"
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards Best Family Film Jun Falkenstein and Cheryl Abood
Golden Tomato Awards 2011[22] Best Animated Film The Tigger Movie 4th Place
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award[23] Best Animated Feature Jun Falkenstein Nominated

In other media

Sequels

Disney released various theatrical and direct-to-videos in the years that followed. There were two theatrical animated films: Piglet's Big Movie in 2003 and Pooh's Heffalump Movie in 2005. Two direct-to-video animated films also followed, Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo in 2004 and Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie in 2005.

References
  1. Newman, Kim (2000). "The Tigger Movie (2000)". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  2. "The Tigger Movie (2000)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  3. Ball, Ryan (September 23, 2003). "Pencils Down at Walt Disney Animation Japan". Animation Magazine. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  4. Orwall, Bruce (December 14, 2000). "Disney Hopes to Get Its 'Groove' Back in Suffering Family Films". The Walt Street Journal. Archived from the original on July 5, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015. February's "The Tigger Movie," produced for a bargain-basement $15 million,...
  5. Natale, Richard (February 14, 2000). "Moviegoing's Much More Than a 'Scream'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015. The low-budget ($15-million) "Tigger"...
  6. "The Tigger Movie (2000) - Financial Information". The Numbers. $20 million
  7. "The Tigger Movie Summary". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  8. The Tigger Movie Press Kit Handbook. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. 2000. pp. 18, 20, 30.
  9. Hill, Jim (June 27, 2005). "Remembering John Fiedler (1925-2005)". Jim Hill Media. Archived from the original on July 19, 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  10. Graham, Jefferson (November 25, 1998). "Original Tigger voice bounced from 'Pooh'". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2015. Fiedler completed that movie, but Disney let Winchell go after his first day, telling the actor's representative that Winchell's voice was now too "raspy."
  11. Susan King, The Pair Who Write Songs for Nannies and Pooh Bears" Archived 2012-11-28 at Wikiwix, Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2000.
  12. Kim, Ellen (2000) [1999]. "NEWSMAKERS: 'Veronica's Closet' star offers settlement". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  13. McCarthy, Todd (February 10, 2000). "Review: 'The Tigger Movie'". Variety. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  14. "The Tigger Movie - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on August 3, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  15. "Amazon.com: The Tigger Movie: Bounce-A-Rrrific Special Edition (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack in Blu-ray Packaging): Jim Cummings, Nikita Hopkins, Ken Samson, John Fielder, Peter Cullen, Andrew Stojka, Kath Soucie, Tom Attenborough, Jun Falkenstein: Movies & TV". Amazon. August 21, 2012. Archived from the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  16. "Top 2000 Homevideo titles". Variety. January 8, 2001. p. 79.
  17. "The Tigger Movie". Metacritic.
  18. "Home". CinemaScore. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  19. "The Tigger Movie". August 28, 2023.
  20. "The Tigger Movie - Movie Review". May 19, 2003.
  21. "28th Annual Annie - Award Nominees and Winners (2000)". Annie Awards. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  22. Tapley, Kristopher (March 2018). "2nd Annual Golden Tomato Awards". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on December 2, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  23. "Early School Years: Feature-Length Films". Oppenheim Toy Portfolio. Archived from the original on October 26, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
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