Christopher Robin

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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What happens when you grow up and leave your favorite toys behind. Like in “Toy Story,” do they continue to have a life of their own?

One of our favorite tales about a boy and his stuffed toys is “Winnie-the-Pooh,” a 1926 collection of stories by British author A.A. Milne. That, and the books that followed, told the adventures of a boy named Christopher Robin and his anthropomorphic honey-loving teddy bear.

If you never read Milne’s charming stories, you’ve surely seen Disney’s animated movies about Pooh Bear.

Now, we get to look at the story from the grown-up boy’s viewpoint. In a new film titled “Christopher Robin,” we find that the little boy from the Winnie-the-Pooh stories, is now an adult (and looks just like Ewan McGregor). Having grown up, he has of course lost his imagination. But – surprise! – his old teddy bear and other toys turn up to help him rediscover a sense of wonder.

The Robin family (McGregor, Hayley Atwell, and Bronte Carmichael) are invaded by Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings), Tigger (Cummings again), Eeyore (Brad Garrett), Piglet (Nick Mohammed), Kanga and Roo (Sophie Okonedo and Sara Sheen), along with assorted other toys.

“Christopher Robin” is currently having a play date at Tropic Cinema.

As a footnote, the character Christopher Robin was named after Christopher Robin Milne, the author’s son. And Winnie-the-Pooh got his name from a teddy bear owned by Christopher.

The rest of Milne’s characters – Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga and Roo – were also based on his son’s favorite toys.

Christopher’s toy bear was named after a Canadian black bear that he saw at the London Zoo. Being a Canadian bear, the bruin had been dubbed Winnie after the town of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Directed by Marc Forster, this is a live-action/CGI extension of Disney’s Winnie the Pooh franchise. Don’t confuse it with a recent British biopic titled “Goodbye Christopher Robin.”

Will you like this new “Christopher Robin” movie? To quote Winnie the Pooh: “It’s always a sunny day, when Christopher Robin comes to play.”

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com