Themes: Cultural Diversity, Fantasy Lands, Getting Along
Main Cast: Jim Cummings, Jim Cummings, John Fiedler, Nikita Hopkins, Kath Soucie, Ken Sansom, Peter Cullen
Release Year: 2005
Country: US
Run Time: 67 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Plot
A.A. Milne's famous stuffed bear and his pals learn something about acceptance and understanding when a new animal comes to the Hundred Acre Woods in this animated comedy. When Winnie the Pooh (voice of Jim Cummings) hears a strange noise in the woods, he and his friends are convinced that the dreaded Heffalump -- a critter not unlike an elephant -- has come to the woods to do them harm. Pooh, Piglet (voice of John Fiedler), and Tigger (also voiced by Cummings) set out to capture the fearsome beast, but Roo (voice of Jimmy Bennett), who is told he's too small to join the search party, meets Lumpy the Heffalump face to face and discovers he's not the bad guy he's been made out to be. Pooh's Heffalump Movie features four new songs from singer and songwriter Carly Simon. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Winnie the Pooh and his friends hear a strange noise and find a set of large, perfectly circular footprints in the Hundred Acre Wood (and, in Tigger's case, a major earthquake in the middle of the night, causing his house to be severely damaged). They jump to the conclusion that the noise and prints are from a heffalump, and Rabbit organizes an expedition to go try to catch it; but Roo is told to stay behind, as everyone believes the expedition is too dangerous for one as young as he.
Roo slips out on his own in search of the heffalump, and soon finds one, a playful young four-footed creature named Heffridge Trumpler Brompet Heffalump IV (nicknamed "Lumpy"), colored lavender and having a Southern English accent and a trunk like an elephant, but being not much larger than Roo. Roo is afraid at first but the two quickly make friends and play. Roo asks Lumpy to come home with him to meet all of Roo's friends; Lumpy is afraid because of what he thinks they might be like, but Roo reassures him and they return to the Hundred Acre Wood, which is deserted, as everyone else is still out searching for the heffalump. Roo and Lumpy become great friends and find that they're not so different.
The pair eventually meet up with the rest of Roo's friends, who are frightened and immediately try to "rescue" Roo and capture the Lumpy. Lumpy runs away; in running after him Roo ends up in a tight spot, and it's up to Lumpy's mother to save Roo and show everyone that heffalumps are nice and not to be feared.
The film was not very successful at the American box office, making just $5,805,559 in its opening weekend for an average of only $2,296 from 2,529 theaters. The film ended up with a final gross of $18,098,433 in North America. However, the film did do much better in foreign markets, managing to make $34,760,000 internationally, bringing the total worldwide gross to $52,858,433, thereby making the film a moderate success. Despite the tepid box office numbers, reviews were generally positive, resulting in a "Certified Fresh" rating of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
