If you, your family, or friends grew up watching Winnie the Pooh, chances are you will want to see Disney’s latest movie, Christopher Robin.
Disney’s Christopher Robin takes inspiration from the classic stories created by A.A. Milne, but this adaptation is quite different from the Winnie the Pooh you may be used to seeing.
At Christian Life Daily, we review both Christian and secular content from a Christian perspective. We’ll let you know whether the content is appropriate and safe for your family but more importantly whether it is edifying for your relationship with God.
Christopher Robin is live action, not animated, and follows the latest Disney trend in turning their animated hit-classics into a live-action adaptation.
Not only is the movie format different, but the storyline is also quite different, following the journey of an adult Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) who struggles to balance work and family, which leads to tension with his wife Evelyn (Hayley Atwell).
Before you go out and see this movie, you may be wondering if this movie is appropriate for my family to see? Is it beneficial for them? And, what lessons, if any, does this movie teach?
This is not a specifically Christian movie, but it does speak to some specifically Christian themes.
But while the movie is rated PG and there is not any bad language or inappropriate behavior in the film, the themes touched on do seem to be targeted toward an adult audience.
In addition, the first half of the film starts a bit slow and may fail to truly capture the attention of a younger audience who may not connect with the issues faced by the characters. It isn’t until about halfway that the movie really starts kicking off.
Overall, it is a great family film that tells the story of how important family really is.
Throughout the film we see a recurring theme of Christopher Robin struggling to balance work, family, and his marriage.
He works long hours trying to get ahead to the detriment of his family. His wife tries desperately to get him to see that his long hours away mean he is missing important moments in his life that he can never get back.
As things get worse and worse, and Christopher Robin doesn’t know what to do to fix this situation, Winnie the Pooh shows up completely unexpectedly.
I don’t want to spoil the story, but Christopher Robin is drawn back into the Hundred Acre Woods and reunited with his childhood friends, Piglet, Eeyore, and the others.
Throughout their adventure, Pooh reveals surprising wisdom from his “little brain” that he claims to have.
Pooh’s childlike simplicity reminds me of Matthew 18:3 where Jesus says “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Slowly Christopher Robin realizes through the help of his Hundred Acre Woods friends that sometimes we must “become like children” to see the big picture in front of us and what is truly important in our lives.
It is then through becoming like a child that Christopher Robin can then fix his issues of his family and marriage.
He was so wound up in work, he never took time to just simply relax, have fun, and see the world with the childlike simplicity needed to see what was truly important instead of worrying about all the things that distract us in life.
Jesus also tells us in Matthew 6:26, “ look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
We can get so caught up on the cares of this world that we start to miss what is truly important in our lives.
Not only does this movie have good lessons for us to learn, but it’s just plain fun. If you or your family members love the Winnie the Pooh characters, you will love this movie. It brings about that nostalgic feeling you loved from the classic films but in live-action.
The film is very heartwarming, full of laughter, and may even make some teary-eyed. It is a great movie that shares an important lesson, has some enjoyable moments, and is a film I think the whole family will enjoy.
Make sure to see Disney’s Christopher Robin if you have not yet already!
