Christopher Robin on Blu-ray – A Rundown of All the Bonus Features!
The magic of the Hundred Acre Wood was brought back into our lives this past summer with the theatrical release of Christopher Robin (You can read my spoiler-free review of the movie here). This fantastical re-imagining of Winnie the Pooh and all his stuffed animal friends was an absolute delight that touched the memories of parents and created new memories for children. Now that magic is available at anytime as Christopher Robin comes to home video on Blu-Ray and Digital Streaming on Movies Anywhere. And not only will you be able to relive the wonderful performances of Ewan McGregor and Jim Cummings, but the home release also comes with some fantastic, never-before-seen bonus featurettes about the making of the film!
The first feature, “A Movie is Made for Pooh,” goes through the entire production of the film, detailing the fantastic artistry in taking Christopher Robin’s stuffed friends and bringing them to life through the magic of film. Great details went into the 3D recreation of the actual stuffed animals like Pooh and Tigger, to the point where it was impossible to tell the difference between the actual toy and the digital character! Life was further added to the characters through their interaction with actor Ewan McGregor, who absolutely shined as the adult Christopher Robin, acting against digital effects while still retaining the charm and heart of Christopher’s friendship with Pooh.
In “Pooh and Friends Come to Life,” actress Bronte Carmichael (who played Christopher’s young daughter Madeline Robin) narrates the process of the film’s designers and engineers creating fully alive characters from their stuffed beginnings to their less-than-magical appearances on-set (oftentimes rubber molds of the characters, used simply to give the live action actors an accurate eye-line) to their fully animated selves in the finished film.
In “Pooh Finds his Voice,” we watch as voice actor Jim Cummings describes his personal connection to the voice of Winnie the Pooh, as he also pays tribute to the originator of Pooh’s voice, the late Sterling Holloway (Cummings admits the voice is not his own and insists that he is merely “borrowing” the voice from Holloway).
And finally, in the final feature “Pooh and Walt Become Friends,” we hear the story of how Walt Disney himself became interested in making the first of the Winnie the Pooh films. As with many of his endeavors, it started with his daughter Diane’s love of the A.A. Milne stories of Pooh. The featurette tracks the series of animated shorts, which were later compiled into a feature-length film, as the characters from the Hundred Acre Wood quickly became enduring characters underneath the Disney brand, with continuing films, television shows, and theme park attractions being born from the stories of Milne’s silly old bear.
These features give such great insight to the making of this instant classic film. They are without a doubt required viewing for any fan of the Hunny-loving bear! You can get more insight on the making of Christopher Robin reading my interview with Jim Cummings, and enjoy a family movie night with these free printable coloring pages!
Disney’s Christopher Robin is now available on Blu-ray:
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