Seeming to follow in the Paddington series’ unexpected renaissance of adorable, jarred-sweet-loving bears in Britain, Christopher Robin looks like, well, a shockingly good Winnie the Pooh movie. Starring Ewan McGregor, the film centers on an adult Christopher Robin, now a father himself and a resigned corporate man. When his heartless boss pushes him too far, a furry old friend from the past comes back to visit ol’ Chris. And you’d better believe it’s a bear with the strained voice of a man’s dying words.
But while the film updates the Pooh stories we know and love with a Ted angle, it seems to just as much borrow the earnestness of Hook. This isn’t Eeyore struggling to use an iPad while Piglet gyrates to an Ariana Grande track; it’s the Hundred Acre Wood cast at its most endearing, with charming character models that find a middle-ground between the Disney cartoon versions and the original stuffed toys that inspired their tales.
We’ll see whether someone still managed to sneak some scat humor into Pooh’s old honey tree when Christopher Robin hits theaters August 3.
