Winniepedia
Advertisement
Winnie the Pooh - Heffa Nice Day Poster

Theatrical release poster

Pooh’s Heffalump Movie is a 2004 Winnie the Pooh film directed by Frank Nissen, with a screenplay by Brian Hohlfeld and Evan Spiliotopoulos. The film focused on heffalump-hunting expedition organized by Pooh and the others after a strange disturbance in the Hundred Acre Woods. It was released on February 11, 2005 in cinemas.

Story

Winnie the Pooh and the others are woken one morning by strange noises and Pooh fell down and got stuck in his honey pot. Rabbit recognizes the noise that they heard as a heffalump and decides to organize an expedition to Heffalump Hollow. Roo thinks that heffalumps sound "neat," but Rabbit tell him that they are most certainly not neat. He and the others outline the dangers of heffalumps in song-- that they have "fiery eyes and a tail for a spike." Despite these supposed dangers, Roo still thinks that the idea of the expedition is "ever-neat" but is told that he is too young to go on the expedition by his mother, Kanga. Roo, not wanting to be left out on the fun, travels to Heffalump Hollow in secret, while the others have their expedition. There, he stumbles into a young heffalump who goes by "Lumpy" and looks like a cute elephant. Roo playfully captures him and they get to talking about their interests. Lumpy reveals that he doesn’t yet have his special trumpet, which will signify that he is growing up. Roo takes Lumpy to the Hundred Acre Woods, which Lumpy thinks is a scary place, but Roo shows him that it isn't so scary, it’s his home. Meanwhile, the others have been bumbling in their attempts to capture a heffalump, but when they discover Roo with Lumpy, they panic and it scares off Lumpy, who ends up getting captured in one of the traps that they set. Kanga is alerted that Roo is missing and Roo discovers Lumpy and manages to coax him to calm down and free him from the trap. Then the two are chased again by Pooh and the others and Roo ends up falling into a small crack and becoming trapped, but in danger of falling. Lumpy finally discovers his special call and summons his Mama Heffalump, who is able to rescue Roo. Everyone realizes that their fear of each other was only a misunderstanding and they all become friends.

Characters

For a complete list of crew who worked on the film Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, please see the list of Pooh's Heffalump Movie crew.

Songs and Music

The film's score was composed Joel McNeely, with songs performed by the cast and Pooh mainstay Carly Simon. The film's songs were released to the album The Best of Pooh & Heffalumps Too, also featuring music from other Pooh films.

Reception

Pooh’s Heffalump Movie bothered some Pooh purists, who felt that heffalumps should remain imaginary as in A.A. Milne's original stories, something that tormented the imagination of Pooh and his friends, but were never seen. Lumpy, however, proved to be a popular character, later featured in the direct-to-DVD sequel Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie and made a semi-regular character in the Playhouse Disney series My Friends Tigger & Pooh. The film garnered approximately $18 million at the U.S. box office, nearly enough to make up its $20 million dollar budget, but also earned well over $30 million dollars in non-U.S. markets. The film was a critical success, certified Fresh with 80% favorable reviews at the popular film review website Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 4.5/5 stars at Amazon.com, with over fifty 5 star reviews.

Fast Facts

Length: 68 Minutes

  • U.S. Release Date: February 11, 2005
  • U.S. DVD Release Date: May 24, 2005
  • Tagline: Heffa Nice Day
  • Working Title: The Heffalump Movie
  • Christopher Robin appears only in scenes shown during the film’s closing credits.
  • This was one of the final Disney films to be released to VHS.
  • Not in the Disney vault, still generally available for purchase
  • The film was going to be released in theaters April 2004, then it planned to be released in theaters October 1, 2004, but was ultimately released in theaters February 11, 2005 (1 year before).
  • Owl only appears in the bonus features.

Notes

More to Explore

Advertisement