Well, he likes nothing better than to climb inside his mother.
Kanga is an overprotective single mother. Roo, lacking any significant father figure, will probably grow up to be a disaffected delinquent.
What’s sad about this is the elimination of Christopher Robin. That character was the author’s son, the reason the books were written in the first place. Now he’s disposable, replaced by some committee’s character concept (in a bicycling helmet, no less), on the off chance it might generate a few more nickels. Talk about contempt for the creator’s vision. What is Disney going to do next? A field trip to the graveyard so all the Mouse execs can piss on Milne’s grave?
I can’t say I’m really surprised though. For years I’ve done my damnedest to avoid any of the Disneyfied Pooh materials. I’ll stick to Milne’s text, Shepherd’s illustrations–anything else is not canon.
As for that helmet, now that I think about it, I bet it’s not even for bicycling–there will probably be a skateboard involved in this travesty. Very Little Brain indeed.
Oh, yeah–if you’re going to get into the subject of mental illness in the 100 Acre Wood, I think this article is the last word on that diagnosis. (This article has been referenced on this site before, but the link is here for any who haven’t read it.)
I didn’t mind a manifestation of the Heffalumph. After all, when Christopher Robin gets a new stuffed animal, the Hunnerd Acre Woods gains a new inhabitant. And done properly (I don’t know if it was or not, not having seen it) it could teach some valuable lessons about predjudice. All of the other animals have built up the idea of Heffalumph as boogeyman, and then the actual Heffalumph (from what I understand) turns out to be a decent sort of fellow.
This, though, is wrong. The Hunnerd Acre Woods is Christopher Robin’s world. He’s the subcreator, the lynchpin that holds it all together. It would be bad enough to add a new human (male or female) to CR’s private, personal world, but to replace him altogether? No.
Incidentally, I agree about the animation. It’s so glaringly computer-generated that it’s almost painful, and there’s none of the charm of the originals, or even of the hand-animated Pooh that’s been a Disney mainstay for lo these many years. I’m quite confident that we have the technology to do far better than that, even on a cheap TV show’s budget.
I disagre. People want to know what disorder she will have? Well, I think that Disney will take the time to make a well-written story filled with Pop-culture references that will sail over the heads of most kids, but which will include jokes to apease them as well. Also, they want to expand geneder roles. Thus, I believe she is [spoiler]The Kid with the Helmet, as seen in:
From Clerks The Cartoon, Episode 5, “Dante and Randal and Jay and Silent Bob and a bunch of new characters and Lando take part in a whole bunch of movie parodies including, but not exclusive to, The Bad News Bears, The Last Starfighter, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, plus a high school reunion.”
Dante: Oh my god, the kid in the helmet.
Leonardo Leonardo: Look at him. [/spoiler]
A heffalump doesn’t offend the reverse-PC movement like a girl does. Those are the folks most prone to internet whining.
Get Rid Of Slimey GirlS!
I never caught any of those Clerks cartoons, Scott Plaid, but I’ll take your word for it if you say the reference is sufficiently perverse.
You could make a case for the Heffalump, because it dates back to the original books (if only in Pooh and Piglet’s imagination)–it has a place in the 100 Acre Wood, though not as a fully realized character.
Not so with Helmet Head. She doesn’t belong. And that helmet makes me certain she’ll be “proactive” and “totally in my face.” Especially if they rastafy her by about 10%. Gack!
[Christopher Robin]
THE BEAR AND THE PIG TOLD ME TO KILL ALL THE WHORES! [/CR]
Some of you may be interested in Skippy’s response over here…
Not to mention the fact that Christopher Robin did have a little girl friend. She wasn’t in the stories, but she was mentioned, and pictured, in several of the poems in Now We Are Six. Her name was Anne, and she had brown hair in that '20s style, I forget what it’s called? Anyway, she could be updated and brought into the Disney version as CR’s friend. But that would require knowledge – hell, caring for – the source material. Which is long gone.
Well, she WAS wearing a helmet in that screencap. Low-functioning autistic, maybe?
About that screencap…CGI? Not photorealisic, or even just cel-rendered? Cripes, that’s near sacrelidge. They couldn’t even spring for a half-decent anime version? At least that would be an interesting take on the mythos (until everyone died at the end of the story arc, anyway. Or it degenerated into 12-minute long lessons on how to play the Pooh CCG).