In the wake of Shrek, a plague of the most grating, arbitrary, insulting kind of "attitude" swept over children's entertainment, imbuing even pabulum as otherwise old-fashioned and corny as Racing Stripes with the bizarre delusion that kiddie fare must be hip, with-it, and filled with vaguely postmodern gags. It's a bit of a relief to encounter a film as quaint and quiet as Pooh's Heffalump Movie, which is wholly devoid of attitude, pop-culture references, ubiquitous hit songs, celebrity voices (Brenda Blethyn is the film's biggest voiceover name), or the scatological humor adults seem to think no kids' film can do without. It's as notable for what it isn't as for what it is, but in a field full of loud, obnoxious fare, its easygoing affability qualifies as a welcome change of pace.
Shifting the focus away from Winnie the Pooh to supporting marsupial Roo, Pooh's Heffalump Movie begins as a sort of kid-film cross between The Village and The Twilight Zone's classic science-fiction allegory "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street," with the residents of Hundred Acre Wood distraught about a possible invasion of Heffalumps, a mysterious race about which little is known but much suspected, all of it bad. Manic Tigger, depressive Eeyore, aggressively non-threatening Pooh and Piglet, and bossy Rabbit all set out on a Heffalump hunt, but little Roo is the one who finds, then befriends a Heffalump whose exuberant British accent skirts being obnoxiously adorable without quite crossing the line. The Hundred Acre Woodsmen fear the Heffalumps because they have no first-hand knowledge of them, affording the film a nice, timely opportunity to show how ignorance and xenophobia breed fear, paranoia, and hatred that personal friendships can help alleviate. That's the kind of unobjectionable message most kids' films possess, but the filmmakers handle it relatively gracefully, and the social and political ramifications of the film's gentle humanism are clear.
The animation of Pooh's Heffalump Movie is serviceable, though not particularly kinetic or distinguished, and there are plenty of Carly Simon songs to please the grandparents of the film's target audience. At a time when most kids' films twist themselves out of shape trying to please kids and adults alike, often pleasing neither in the bargain, it's nice to see a pleasant trifle that's content to be a nice little movie for nice little nippers. Make no mistake: like the late, lamented ODB and the Wu-Tang Clan, Pooh's Heffalump Movie is strictly for the children. A good rule of thumb is that anyone old enough to go to the movies alone is probably already too old for it.