DVD Review: My Friends Tigger & Pooh – Super Sleuth Christmas Movie

Writer: Janna King Kalichman
Director: N/A
Cast: Dee Bradley Baker, Jim Cummings, Chloe Moretz, Travis Oates, Ken Sansom, Max Burkholder, Oliver Dillion
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Walt Disney Studios
Release Date: November 20, 2007

I have met my fair share of Winnie the Pooh purists who are not fond of the My Friends Tigger & Pooh series. At first, I was not sure I would be a fan either. The show is made in CGI and I felt that would hold back my interest some. I am used to the old versions of Pooh and the gang and thought I would not like the CGI enhanced group.

Others are not fond of it because of the lack of comparison to the original Pooh books and series. The lack of Christopher Robin and the addition of Darby are off-putting to many. However, it is important to realize that this is not meant to be that original Pooh that so many of us know and love. This is meant to be something new and while different, it still proves to be as enjoyable as the original.

Release Information:
My Friends Tigger & Pooh – Super Sleuth Christmas Movie was released on DVD on November 20, 2007. The series began in 2007 and airs on the Disney Channel. The show targets pre-school age children with a Dora the Explorer type of mystery show where kids follow the Super Sleuths to solve a mystery.

The My Friends Tigger & Pooh – Super Sleuth Christmas Movie Plot:
My Friends Tigger & Pooh – Super Sleuth Christmas Movie is an enjoyable movie for children and one that was much better than I expected. As I wasn’t sure if I would like it, there was some slight trepidation, but that soon ended when the movie began. My Friends Tigger & Pooh – Super Sleuth Christmas Movie is incredibly adorable. The Super Sleuths include Pooh, Tigger, and Darby. The gang all dresses up in disguises (Pooh has a cape and eye gear and Tigger has goggles). They head off to save mysteries in order to save the day.

The plot for My Friends Tigger & Pooh – Super Sleuth Christmas Movie revolves around Santa’s missing bag of presents. Roo and Lumpy find the missing bag of presents and soon after they find a baby reindeer named Holly that’s stuck on a tree branch in the snow. The Super Sleuths, along with friends Rabbit and Eeyore, head off to find the North Pole and Santa Claus in order to give back his bag of presents and save Christmas from being ruined!

Tigger’s Super Sleuth glasses break when the group is in a dangerous situation and he loses his Super identity when he feels he needs it the most. It’s not long before everyone is ready to go home because they think they are wasting their time. When all hope is lost, Darby refuses to give up and eventually things turn around for the gang.

My Friends Tigger & Pooh – Super Sleuth Christmas Movie lasts for 44 minutes. This ensures that it’s long enough to tell the story properly and quick enough to hold the attention of most young children, even those that might have flighty attention spans. If you approach the film from a non-traditional Pooh movie standpoint you will like it so much more than if you’re focusing on the negative that you feel is there. This is Pooh for a new, CGI generation. The result is lovely, colorful, and fun to watch.

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Audio/Visual:
The audio and video qualities of My Friends Tigger & Pooh – Super Sleuth Christmas Movie are excellent. The video aspects come with an aspect ratio of 1.77:1. The colors are vibrant and the film is sharp the entire way through. You will not see any blur or grain while watching this. It comes through absolutely beautifully.

Sound options include languages in English, French, and Spanish. The English sound is available in Dolby Digital 5.1 and sounds wonderful. The characters sound as if they are right in your living room. The dialogue is easy to hear and the music is absolutely adorable.

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Bonus Features:
Most Disney features for younger children come with Fast Play. This allows kids to pop in the DVD and watch it from front to back without having to hit any buttons. There are numerous trailers on the disc, offering news about upcoming and recently released Disney movies. In addition to the trailers, there are two episodes of My Friends Tigger and Pooh. One is Christmas related (Pooh is on the hunt for two identical snowflakes) and the other is not (Rabbit has a spring symphony). These two shows last for about 30 minutes.

A game, The 100 Acre Wood Downhill Challenge, rounds out the list of special features. In this game you will pick a race course and then you will get to play a game where you match the present to the character with whom it belongs. The game is cute and it’s a nice addition compared to some of the other games that I have seen on children’s DVDs.

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Bottom Line:
My Friends Tigger & Pooh – Super Sleuth Christmas Movie is a great addition to a child’s Christmas movie library. The new Tigger and Pooh are as adorable and loveable as the old ones. The main difference is that they just look a little bit more realistic. This Christmas movie sneaks in some learning, offers plenty of laughs, and has the ability to be fun for the whole family, not just the little ones.

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