The school holidays are here, which means there will be a flood of children’s movies hitting your local cinema.
Some will be fine, some will be excruciating for adults and others will be so charming the whole family will genuinely enjoy them.
Christopher Robin absolutely falls into the latter category.
The film is starkly different to the similarly named Goodbye Christopher Robin, which was released last year.
That film delved into the real lives of Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne and his son, the real Christopher Robin. It wasn’t really a children’s film and was actually quite depressing in parts.
But this new film is dripping in charm and full of heart.
It follows the (fictional) Christopher Robin once he has grown up and forgotten all about his childhood friends Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo.
He is married to Evelyn with a bright young daughter, Madeline.
But, much like Peter Pan in the classic Steven Spielberg movie Hook, Christopher has become too engrossed in his own work, which he doesn’t even enjoy, and has forgotten the frivolity that made him an imaginative child.
So, in his hour of desperation, Christopher (played brilliantly by Ewan McGregor, of Moulin Rouge fame) receives an unexpected visit from Pooh, in the real world.
Everything about Christopher Robin is lovely and heart-warming.
The storybook characters are beautifully brought to life as animated stuffed animals, and they are voiced to perfection.
Brad Garrett (best known as Robert Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond) is particularly great as the despondent donkey Eeyore.
Adults and kids will be equally enamoured by this film.
The kids will love the fun antics of the toys, while adults will appreciate Christopher Robin’s difficulty balancing work and home commitments, and losing all the fun in his life.
Christopher Robin is directed by Marc Forster, who has previously delivered gems like Finding Neverland and Stranger Than Fiction.
If you’re taking the kids to the flicks these holidays, you can’t go past Christopher Robin.
