Piglet's Big Movie

Last updated

Piglet's Big Movie
Piglets big movie teaser.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Francis Glebas
Screenplay by
Based on Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner created
by A. A. Milne (Books)
Produced byMichelle Pappalardo-Robinson
Starring
Edited byIvan Bilancio
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release dates
  • March 16, 2003 (2003-03-16)(Premiere)
  • March 21, 2003 (2003-03-21)(United States)
  • July 29, 2003 (2003-07-29)(Disney DVD and video)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States [2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$46 million [3]
Box office$62.9 million [4]

Piglet's Big Movie is a 2003 American animated musical adventure comedy-drama film released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 21, 2003. The film features the characters from the Winnie-the-Pooh books written by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard and is the third theatrically released Winnie the Pooh feature. In this film, Piglet is ashamed of being small and clumsy and wanders off into the Hundred Acre Wood, leading all of his friends to form a search party to find him.

Contents

Piglet's Big Movie was produced by the Japanese office of Disneytoon Studios and the animation production was by Walt Disney Animation Japan, Inc. with additional animation provided by Gullwing Co., Ltd., additional background by Studio Fuga and digital ink and paint by T2 Studio.

Plot

Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Rabbit are working on a plan to get honey from a beehive by tricking the bees into leaving their hive. Piglet arrives and wants to help, but is told that he is too small to help. The plan goes awry when the bees see through the plan, but Piglet manages to divert the bees into a new hive and trap them. Unfortunately, Piglet's friends take all the credit for themselves when they fail to notice Piglet's heroism, making him leave dejectedly. After the bees break free, Pooh, Rabbit, Tigger, and Eeyore escape to Piglet's house. When they notice that Piglet is missing, they decide to find him after being joined by Roo. Using Piglet's scrapbook as a guide, the five use the pictures to tell the stories depicted therein, leading to several flashbacks.

The first story told is when Kanga and Roo first moved to the Hundred Acre Wood. Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Rabbit are afraid of the newcomers and Rabbit concocts a plan to use Piglet as a decoy, so they could ransom Roo to force Kanga to leave. When Kanga finds out about the plan, she plays along by pretending that Piglet is Roo, where Piglet learns of how nice she is. Meanwhile, Roo and Rabbit get along and, realizing how nice they are, everyone agrees to let Kanga and Roo stay.

The second story is of the expedition to find the North Pole. When Roo falls into the river, Piglet uses a long stick to launch him out. Unfortunately, his heroism is overlooked when he gives the stick to Pooh to try to catch Roo (where he is caught by his mother), and Christopher Robin credits Pooh with finding the North Pole (the stick). Back in the present, the friends regret not sharing the praise with Piglet.

The third story concerns the building of the House at Pooh Corner. Piglet gets the idea of building Eeyore a house in an area they named "Pooh Corner" and are joined by Tigger to build it. As Tigger and Pooh build the house after finding some neatly stacked sticks, Piglet struggles to keep up and every attempt to build the house falls apart. Tigger and Pooh go to inform Eeyore of the bad news, leaving Piglet behind. When they find Eeyore, he says that he already built himself a house out of sticks, revealing that the sticks Pooh and Tigger found was his house. Piglet then arrives and leads them back to Eeyore’s newly completed house. Once again, Piglet’s contributions are overlooked as the wind gets the credit for moving Eeyore’s house.

Back in the present, an argument between Rabbit and Tigger ends with the scrapbook falling into a river. Without their guide, the friends return to Piglet's house and, after making drawings of Piglet's heroism, the friends again resolve to find Piglet. During their search, they come across several pages from the scrapbook, which have floated downstream, where they find the book's bindings suspended on a hollow log looming over a waterfall. Pooh goes to retrieve it, but he falls into a hole in the log, and the others are unable to reach him. At that moment, Piglet arrives and helps pull Pooh to safety just as the log begins to break in half. Eeyore, Rabbit, Roo and Tigger manage to escape, but the front half breaks off, making the survivors believe that Piglet and Pooh perished. Fortunately, Pooh and Piglet managed to get out in time by jumping into the bottom half of the log and reunite with their friends, but the scrapbook itself is destroyed by the fall.

Although saddened by this loss, Piglet's friends take him back to his house to show him their new drawings. During a party the next day, Pooh takes Piglet to Eeyore's house, revealing that he changed the sign to read "Pooh and Piglet Corner". When everyone else arrives, Pooh claims that "it's the least [they] could do for a very small Piglet who has done such very big things." The camera pulls back to show a large shadow of Piglet behind everyone.

Cast

Production

Piglet's Big Movie was produced by Disneytoon Studios, Walt Disney Animation (Japan), Gullwing Co., Ltd, Studio Fuga, and T2 Studio.

The film was originally intended as a direct-to-video release, in February 2002 Disney announced that the film and The Jungle Book 2 would be released theatrically. [5]

Music

Piglet's Big Movie (Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by
Carly Simon
ReleasedMarch 18, 2003
Recorded2002–2003
Length43:02
Label Walt Disney Records
Producer
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]

American singer-songwriter Carly Simon wrote seven new songs for the film, and performed six of them ("If I Wasn't So Small", "Mother's Intuition", "Sing Ho for the Life of a Bear", "With a Few Good Friends", "The More I Look Inside", and "Comforting to Know"), as well as recording her own version of the Sherman brothers' "Winnie the Pooh" theme song. [7]

"The More It Snows" features Jim Cummings and John Fiedler, as Pooh and Piglet. Simon was accompanied by her children Ben Taylor and Sally Taylor on many of the songs. Renée Fleming accompanied Simon on the song "Comforting to Know". On "Sing Ho for the Life of a Bear" Simon was accompanied by the cast. [8]

The soundtrack also features five tracks of the film's score by Carl Johnson, as well as five of Simon's original demonstration recordings.

Songs

Original songs performed in the film include:

No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Winnie the Pooh" Carly Simon, Ben Taylor, Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman 2:53
2."If I Wasn't So Small (The Piglet Song)" Carly Simon 1:57
3."Mother's Intuition" Carly Simon 2:38
4."Sing Ho for the Life of a Bear" Carly Simon & Cast1:37
5."The More It Snows (Tiddely-Pom)" Jim Cummings & John Fiedler 1:02
6."With A Few Good Friends" Carly Simon, Ben Taylor & Sally Taylor 2:38
7."The More I Look Inside" Carly Simon 4:22
8."Comforting to Know" Carly Simon & Renée Fleming 4:37

Reception

Box office

Piglet's Big Movie was number seven on the box-office charts on its opening weekend, earning $6 million. The film domestically grossed $23 million, [4] half the amount of what The Tigger Movie earned, [9] and it grossed nearly $63 million worldwide. [4]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a rating of 70% based on 77 reviews, and an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus is "Wholesome and charming entertainment for young children." [10] On Metacritic the film has a score of 62/100 based on reviews from 23 critics. [11] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A, on a scale of A+ to F. [12]

Film critic Stephen Holden of New York Times called the film an "oasis of gentleness and wit". [13] Nancy Churnin of The Dallas Morning News stated that Piglet's Big Movie was "one of the nifty pleasures in the process", despite her belief that "Disney may be milking its classics". [14]

Accolades

AwardCategoryRecipientResult
Annie Awards [15] Outstanding Effects AnimationMadoka YasueNominated

Games

In 2003, Disney released Piglet's Big Game for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance, as well as a game on CD-ROM that was also entitled Piglet's Big Game. The latter was developed by Doki Denki Studio and involves helping Piglet assist in the preparation for a "Very Large Soup Party". [16] In their review, Edutaining Kids praised various features including the adventure/exploration aspect (the game is linear instead of using a main screen) and many of the activities (such as the color mixing, which they said offers an incredible variety of hues), but noted that it is much too brief and that Kanga and Roo are absent. [17]

Sources

The film's plot is based primarily on five A. A. Milne stories: "In which Piglet meets a Heffalump," "In which Kanga and Baby Roo Come to the Forest, and Piglet Has a Bath," and "In which Christopher Robin Leads an Expedition to the North Pole" (chapters 5, 7, and 8 of Winnie-the-Pooh ); and "In which a house is built at Pooh Corner for Eeyore" and "In which a search is organized and Piglet nearly meets the Heffalump again" (chapters 1 and 3 of The House at Pooh Corner ).

Releases

Marketing

Disney released a teaser trailer of Piglet's Big Movie in May 2002 on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 25th-anniversary edition DVD home video releases and on the Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year DVD release in November 2002. The teaser was later attached to theatrical screenings of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron , Lilo & Stitch , The Powerpuff Girls Movie and Stuart Little 2 . The next trailer for the film was released with the theatrical screenings of Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie , Treasure Planet , The Wild Thornberrys Movie and The Jungle Book 2 . The trailers for the film were later attached to other Disney home video releases.

Theatrical

The film premiered March 16, 2003 and opened in theaters on March 21, 2003.

Home media

The film was released on VHS and DVD on July 29, 2003. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tigger</span> Fictional tiger-like character

Tigger is a fictional character in A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books and their adaptations; an anthropomorphic toy tiger. He was originally introduced in the 1928 story collection The House at Pooh Corner, the sequel to the 1926 book Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne. Like other Pooh characters, Tigger is based on one of Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed toy animals. He appears in the Disney animated versions of Winnie the Pooh and has also appeared in his own film, The Tigger Movie (2000).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piglet (Winnie-the-Pooh)</span> Fictional character

Piglet is a fictional character from A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books. Piglet is Winnie‑the‑Pooh's closest friend amongst all the toys and animals featured in the stories. Although he is a "Very Small Animal" of a generally timid disposition, he tries to be brave and on occasion conquers his fears.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roo</span> Character in Winnie-the-Pooh

Roo is a fictional character created in 1926 by A. A. Milne and first featured in the book Winnie-the-Pooh. He is a young kangaroo and his mother is Kanga. Like most other Pooh characters, Roo is based on a stuffed toy animal that belonged to Milne's son, Christopher Robin Milne. Though stuffed, Roo was lost in the 1930s in an apple orchard somewhere in Sussex.

<i>The Tigger Movie</i> 2000 animated Disney film directed by Jun Falkenstein

The Tigger Movie is a 2000 American 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 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 sidekick 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.

<i>The House at Pooh Corner</i> 1928 book by A. A. Milne

The House at Pooh Corner is a 1928 children's book by A. A. Milne and illustrated by E. H. Shepard. This book is the second novel, and final one by Milne, to feature Winnie-the-Pooh and his world. The book is also notable for introducing the character Tigger. The book's exact date of publication is unknown beyond the year 1928, although several sources indicate the date of October 11.

<i>Poohs Heffalump Movie</i> 2005 animated film directed by Frank Nissen

Pooh's Heffalump Movie is a 2005 American animated musical adventure comedy-drama film produced by the Japanese office of Disneytoon Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Featuring characters from A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories, the film is the fourth theatrical animated film in Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise and DisneyToon Studios's third adaptation of Winnie the Pooh stories, following The Tigger Movie (2000) and Piglet's Big Movie (2003). The film was released theatrically on February 11, 2005. The film was followed by a direct-to-video Halloween sequel titled Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie which came out seven months after the film's release.

<i>Welcome to Pooh Corner</i> American TV series or program

Welcome to Pooh Corner is a live-action/puppet television series that aired on Disney Channel, featuring the characters from the Winnie the Pooh universe portrayed by actors in human-sized puppet suits, except Roo, who was originally a traditional puppet. The animatronic costumes used for the characters were created by Alchemy II, Inc., headed by Ken Forsse who later created Teddy Ruxpin. The show was first aired on April 18, 1983, the day The Disney Channel was launched. Its timeslot for its early run was at 8:30 a.m. Eastern/Pacific Time, making it the third program of The Disney Channel's 16 hour programming day. Reruns of the show aired on The Disney Channel until May 30, 1997.

<i>Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day</i> 1968 short film directed by Wolfgang Reitherman

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. The featurette was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company on December 20, 1968, being shown in theaters with The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. This was the second of the studio's Winnie the Pooh theatrical featurettes. It was later added as a segment to the 1977 film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The music was written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. It was notable for being the last Disney animated short to be produced by Walt Disney, who died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966, two years before its release.

<i>Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too</i> 1974 film directed by John Lounsbery

Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too is a 1974 American animated featurette based on the third chapter of Winnie-the-Pooh and the fourth and seventh chapters of The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne. The featurette was directed by John Lounsbery, produced by Wolfgang Reitherman, released by Walt Disney Productions, and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. It was released on October 21, 1974, and released again as a double feature on December 20, 1974, with the live-action feature film The Island at the Top of the World. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, but lost to Closed Mondays.

<i>Springtime with Roo</i> 2004 animated film by Saul Andrew Blinkoff, Elliot M. Bour

Springtime with Roo is a 2004 American direct-to-video Easter animated musical fantasy adventure comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and DisneyToon Studios, and animated by Toon City Animation in Manila, Philippines.

<i>Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore</i> 1983 animated short film directed by Rick Reinert

Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore is a 1983 American animated featurette based on the sixth chapter of both books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne. Produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution, the short initially received limited release on March 11, 1983, before expanding to a wide release on March 25 as part of a double feature with the re-issue of The Sword in the Stone (1963), which it accompanied in most countries except Australia where it accompanied a reissue of Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). Directed by Rick Reinert, the featurette featured the voices of Hal Smith, John Fiedler, Will Ryan, Ralph Wright, and Paul Winchell.

<i>Seasons of Giving</i> 1999 film

Seasons of Giving is a 1999 American direct-to-video Christmas animated musical film which included A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving, and two episodes from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. It features new songs by The Sherman Brothers.

<i>A Very Merry Pooh Year</i> 2002 film

A Very Merry Pooh Year is a 2002 American direct-to-video Christmas animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The film features the 1991 Christmas television special Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too, as well as a new film, Happy Pooh Year. The film animation production was done by Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd., and Sunwoo Animation, (Korea) Co., Ltd.

<i>Poohs Heffalump Halloween Movie</i> 2005 animated film by Saul Andrew Blinkoff, Elliot M. Bour

Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie is a 2005 American direct-to-video Halloween animated fantasy adventure comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and DisneyToon Studios, featuring the characters from Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise, and it was the sequel to Pooh's Heffalump Movie. This was the final Winnie the Pooh film to be produced by DisneyToon Studios before they moved to Tinker Bell films.

<i>Piglets Big Game</i> 2003 video game

Disney's Piglet's Big Game is a 2003 action-adventure game developed by French developer Doki Denki Studio and Hulabee Entertainment, and published by Gotham Games, Disney Interactive Studios, and THQ. The game centers around Piglet and how he tries to show how he can help. The game is loosely based on Piglet's Big Movie.

<i>Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too</i> 2009 film

Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too is a 2009 American direct-to-video animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The film is based on the hit Playhouse Disney series My Friends Tigger & Pooh. In the film, Darby, Tigger and Pooh make a musical concert for the Hundred Acre Wood.

<i>A Valentine for You</i> 1999 American film

Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You is a Valentine's Day special based on A. A. Milne's stories, originally broadcast on ABC on February 13, 1999. A Valentine for You was released on VHS in 2000, 2001, and 2002, and on DVD in 2004 and 2010. It was made available for streaming on Disney+ on February 11, 2022.

<i>Winnie the Pooh</i> (2011 film) Disney animated film

Winnie the Pooh is a 2011 American animated musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the book series of the same name written by A. A. Milne and illustrated by E. H. Shepard. The film is a revival of Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise and the fifth theatrical Winnie the Pooh film released, and the second in the Disney Animated Canon. It was directed by Stephen Anderson and Don Hall and produced by Peter Del Vecho and Clark Spencer, based on a story that Anderson and Hall conceived with Clio Chiang, Don Dougherty, Kendelle Hoyer, Brian Kesinger, Nicole Mitchell, and Jeremy Spears.

<i>Winnie the Pooh</i> (franchise) Disney media franchise

Winnie the Pooh is a media franchise produced by The Walt Disney Company, based on A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard's stories featuring Winnie-the-Pooh. It started in 1966 with the theatrical release of the short Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.

References

  1. 1 2 "Piglet's Big Movie (2003)". Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Piglet's Big Movie (2003)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Piglet's Big Movie (2003)". The Wrap . Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Piglet's Big Movie 2003". boxofficemojo.com. May 29, 2003. Archived from the original on March 15, 2009. Retrieved March 6, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Disney bets on Piglet's prospects". February 19, 2002.
  6. ↑ "AllMusic review". AllMusic . Archived from the original on March 30, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Carly Simon Official Website – Piglet's Big Movie". Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Piglet's Big Movie". AllMusic . Archived from the original on March 30, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  9. ↑ "The Tigger Movie 2000". boxofficemojo.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved March 6, 2009.
  10. ↑ Piglet's Big Movie (2003), archived from the original on June 5, 2020, retrieved September 15, 2020
  11. ↑ Piglet's Big Movie, archived from the original on May 18, 2021, retrieved September 15, 2020
  12. ↑ "Cinemascore :: Movie Title Search". February 6, 2018. Archived from the original on February 6, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  13. ↑ Holden, Stephen (March 21, 2003). "Film in Review; 'Piglet's Big Movie'". The New York Times . Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2009.
  14. ↑ Churnin, Nancy (March 18, 2003). "Piglet's Big Movie". The Dallas Morning News . Retrieved March 6, 2009.
  15. ↑ "31st Annie Awards (2004)". Annie Awards. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Disney Piglet's Big Game (CD-ROM)". Children's Software Online. Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
  17. ↑ "Children's Software Review: Disney: Piglet's Big Game". Edutaining Kids.com. April 2009. Archived from the original on August 14, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  18. ↑ "Video Releases". Chicago Tribune. July 3, 2003. pp. 5–7. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.