Winnie the Pooh: Springtime With Roo – Retro Review
On this Easter Sunday, we’re going to take a look back at the only film on Disney+ to specifically deal with Easter, “Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo.”
This “Winnie the Pooh” takes a look at Roo’s excitement for Easter and Rabbit’s insistence that Easter Sunday is “Spring Kleening Day.” In just under an hour we learn Rabbit is opposed to Easter because of the previous year’s activities with Roo proclaiming Tigger as the Easter Bunny, something that was supposed to be Rabbit’s job. Rabbit’s feelings are hurt, but rather than talk about it, he’s lashing out at his friends. Eventually, through the help of the Narrator, Rabbit learns if he keeps this up, he’ll lose his friends. Meanwhile, Roo has come up with a way to make Easter special for Rabbit again, because Roo loves the precious Easter and wants Rabbit to love it again too.
Despite being a “Winnie the Pooh” movie that specifically mentions Roo in the title, Rabbit is the focal point of this film. Yes, Rabbit’s relationship with Roo is an important part of the story, but this is Rabbit’s story. It makes the title feel misleading as I was expecting more about Roo and his love of Easter. But, the conflict, especially Rabbit’s feeling of insecurity after overhearing Roo’s appreciation for Tigger is understandable given his obsessive-compulsive disorder. It’s not relatable for me, but it’s understandable.
In the pantheon of “Winnie the Pooh” films, it’s one of the better ones I’ve seen that were straight to DVD releases. I sat and watched it with my son and it kept his attention the entire time. He’s not the biggest Winnie the Pooh fan, so the film needed something special to keep his attention. It was released in 2004 when I was 19. It’s not a film that I would’ve checked out then, but now that I have kids, it’s a lot of fun to share with them. It’s a nice way for a family to spend an hour together or a parent to sit down and watch with their kids. I won’t throw it on just any time, but I’d watch this once per year around Easter.
Ranking: 3 stars out of 5
Do you like “Winnie the Pooh” films? “Have you seen “Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo?” What did you think of it?