I've been a diehard Winnie the Pooh fan since birth (or close enough), and I refuse to grow out of the Winnie the Pooh franchise. I know that it's for everyone and you're never too old for Pooh Bear, but I thought I'd still say that anyway. This isn't my #1 favorite Pooh movie, but it is a sweet and enjoyable movie regardless! I watch it every Easter and sometimes other times too, and it brings nostalgia to me every time. There were already Pooh movies for Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Valentine's Day before this came along, and it was high time there was a Pooh Easter movie. For the longest time, I had no idea that this was a parody of A Christmas Carol. It's very different from most other Christmas Carol parodies and adaptations I've come across, and it has more originality; it's about Easter rather than Christmas. Rabbit is Ebenezer Scrooge, Roo is Tiny Tim, Tigger is the Ghost of Christmas Past, the narrator is the Ghosts of Christmas Present and Future, and the rest of the characters are themselves. I like the idea of Rabbit being Scrooge because he's the main antagonist of the Pooh franchise and the closest thing to a villain that it has. I assume that this was supposed to be an experiment to see if a Christmas themed Pooh/Christmas Carol parody would work.
This is a fun and sweet story all about the appeal of Easter! It shows that Easter is all about having fun with your friends and family, hunting eggs, eating candy, and showing your pals that we care, with no limits or boundaries! Festive, isn't it? The characters have their own favorite Easter items that make the holiday more special to them; Pooh has an Easter honey pot, Eeyore has fluffy bunny ears, Tigger has a striped egg that looks like him, Piglet has a pink Easter basket, and Roo has his egg hunts. I like the idea of Rabbit being the Easter Bunny because he is a bunny, possibly the only bunny in the Hundred Acre Wood. I especially like Roo's portrayal here! Rabbit cancels Easter and replaces it with Spring Cleaning Day, and Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore have an unhappy Easter because of that, which makes Roo sad. He's sad not just for himself, but for his friends as well, and he realized that the opportunities to show his pals that he cares and have fun with them have been taken away because of the removal of Easter; now that's an unselfish way to feel. I heard on the Pajanimals that feeling sad when a loved one is sad and trying to cheer them up are signs that you care about them, and I never realized this till now, but the exact same message is shown here. Roo handles that situation very well; he and Tigger do the best they can to fix everything, and the latter talks to Rabbit about it. The former was the first one to realize that Rabbit misses his favorite day of the year deep down inside, got his position as the Easter Bunny taken away, and doesn't truly hate Easter. He uses his love and wisdom to help his friend go deep inside himself and discover that special days are meant to be shared in special ways, and he said he'd do anything to make Rabbit happy again. He makes a new Easter Bunny hat for him because the old one got destroyed, which touches the latter's heart and brings him to tears. I don't think Roo being the voice of reason is out of place at all because little kids can be the voice of reason too. Heck, even when I was little, I'd feel sad when a loved one was sick or sad and do the best I could to make others happy, and I still do. This isn't the only time he's the voice of reason, he also has this position in Pooh's Heffalump Movie. Who said that only adults could be the voice of reason?
The story is not only sweet, festive, and fun, but it also has heartfelt messages about special days being shared in special ways (as I mentioned earlier), being a good friend, and thinking of others instead of just yourself. During the previous Easter, Pooh and friends made little mistakes and still had fun, much to Rabbit's chagrin, and the latter made a lot of rules for the characters to remember due to it being Roo's first Easter, which made the holiday harder for them. Rabbit treated the day like a professional occasion instead of the fun holiday it's supposed to be, and he rudely demanded his friends to color and hunt eggs his way and took their favorite Easter items away, much to their chagrins. These circumstances led to them leaving Rabbit's house, Tigger becoming the new Easter Bunny, him leading a fun Easter egg hunt with no rules and without Rabbit, and helping Roo have a happy Easter. Yes, it was mean of them to leave Rabbit out, but he was mean to them first, and that's payback for it. Tigger was a better Easter Bunny than Rabbit, though it makes more sense for the latter to be the Easter Bunny. The former does feel bad when he realizes that their actions hurt him, but the latter doesn't take responsibility for his actions until it is almost too late. Later, Rabbit has a nightmare about his future, where Spring Cleaning Day becomes an official holiday and everyone else in the Hundred Acre Wood moves away without telling him so they won't have to put up with his bossy and selfish behavior anymore, much to his loneliness; that's the trouble with not being a good friend and another punishment for being mean to Pooh and company. The narrator calls him out for thinking only of himself and not being a true friend. When he wakes up the next morning, he gives his friends the egg hunt they were hoping for, makes a no rules rule, gives them their favorite Easter items back, and promises to be a better friend from now on. This is a sign that not only has Rabbit become a better friend, but also unselfish and more accepting of other's differences. Some people, including yours truly, find it easier or more comfortable to do some things differently than others, and the population of the Hundred Acre Wood are no exception.
The songs are good. My favorite one is Easter Day with You because it's a bouncy, upbeat song all about the joy of giving to your friends, showing them how much you care, and throwing parties, which I can relate to. "Bright and sunny honey of an Easter" are some of the lyrics, but I don't know what that's supposed to mean. Is that when the sun brightly shines on honey on Easter? Sniffly Sniff is another one of the best songs. It's a song Pooh Bear sings about letting out a great big sneeze. I read in a comment on a YouTube upload of the song that only Pooh Bear can make sneezing into a song. I'm sure other people could too if they tried, but I think the commenter was trying to say, "Who better than Pooh to sing a song about sneezing?" or "What better song about sneezing than this?" I couldn't agree more! I don't know what else to say about it.
Springtime with Roo is not without its flaws. Rabbit can be a big jerk at times, but he's at his worst here, though this is likely intentional so he can learn from his mistakes. Thankfully he redeems himself at the end and changes for the better. He thinks his friends didn't do what he told them to on "Spring Cleaning Day," but they did before they started the Easter celebration, and to make matters worse, he literally throws them all out of his house (ouch!). During the previous Easter, he forces his friends to see the Easter rules the same way as him (e.g., he disowns Roo after the latter says he doesn't care whether or not the eggs are decorated). Yes, he always tries to be organized and practical and keep his associates on their toes, but he goes overboard with it here, and Easter is supposed to be a fun holiday, not a boring, professional occasion. Ironically, he stubbornly refuses to admit that he misses Easter when Roo sings the reprise of Easter Day with You, and he doesn't even shed a tear. Some of these negative comments about Rabbit's portrayal may sound weird to you, with me saying how sweet it was of Roo to feel sad for him, but there's usually a strong reason as to why meanies like him behave the way they do, and if he's happy and not so mean, Pooh and company are happy too, and they wouldn't be missing out on the opportunities to have fun and show how much they care about one another. Did Tigger seriously have to steal the eggs in order for his friends to hunt them? Christopher Robin isn't in this at all, but he could've given them new eggs if he was. It feels out of place for the characters to move away without telling Rabbit. You'd expect them to warn him about it ahead of time, but no. The title is slightly misleading: it's clearly about Easter rather than spring. Eastertime with Roo would be a better title. This is still a great movie, and it's perfect for Easter! I highly recommend it!
0 out of 0 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
