The Tigger Movie

The Tigger Movie
The Tigger Movie film.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jun Falkenstein
Produced by	Cheryl Abood Jennifer Blohm Richmond Horine
Screenplay by	Jun Falkenstein
Story by	Eddie Guzelian
Based on	Characters created  by A.A. Milne
Narrated by	John Hurt
Starring	Jim Cummings Nikita Hopkins John Fiedler Ken Sansom Peter Cullen Andre Stojka Kath Soucie Tom Attenborough
Music by	Harry Gregson-Williams
Studio	DisneyToon Studios
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)
Running time	78 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$96,159,800

The Tigger Movie is a 2000 American animated musical comedy film co-written and directed by Jun Falkenstein. Part of the Winnie-the-Pooh series, this film features Pooh's friend Tigger in his search for his family tree and other Tiggers like himself.

The film was the first feature-length theatrical Pooh film to not be a collection of previously released shorts.

This is also the first film in the series where Tigger is voiced by Jim Cummings (who also voices Pooh), replacing the retired voice actor Paul Winchell, who officially retired from the role in 1999 after A Valentine for You and died in 2005. Cummings had already substituted for Winchell as Tigger in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue and the final 2 seasons of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

The film features original songs from the Sherman Brothers.

The film was originally slated for a Direct-to-video release until Disney CEO Michael Eisner heard the Sherman Brothers' score and decided to release the film in theaters worldwide.

Plot

Tigger searches through the Hundred Acre Wood for somebody to bounce with him, but all of his friends are too busy getting ready for the coming winter. While he searches for a playmate, Tigger accidentally destroys Eeyore's house with a boulder. He later wrecks the complex pulley system that Rabbit has rigged up to remove the boulder and sends his friends flying into a mud puddle. Rabbit is very furious and yelling at Tigger for destroying his Rock Remover hurting his feeling, and the rest of Tigger's friends admit they are not very bouncy as he is because they are not Tiggers. After being yelled at by Rabbit, Tigger tearfully wanders off on his own crying, wishing there was somebody else like him.

Roo, who wants to play with Tigger, catches up to him and asks if Tigger has got a Tigger family he could bounce with. Tigger is fascinated by the idea and the two go to visit Owl for advice on finding Tigger's family. Owl shows them portraits of his own family and mentions the concept of family trees. Tigger accidentally knocks the portraits over. When he quickly hangs them back up, all of owl's ancestors appear to be perched on a single tree. Tigger concludes that his family tree must be a real tree and he and Roo go searching for it.

After searching the wood without turning up any giant, Tigger-striped trees, Tigger and Roo have gone back to Tigger's house to search for clues to his family's whereabouts. They find a heart-shaped locket that Tigger hopes will contain a picture of his family, but it is empty, making him a bad Tigger. Roo suggests that Tigger try writing a letter to his family, which Tigger is supposed to. During this scene, Tigger teaches Roo the awesome Whoop-de-Dooper-Loop-de-Looper-Alley-Ooper Bounce.

When Tigger's letter gets no response, Roo gathers Tigger's friends together to write him a letter. Everyone contributes a bit of friendly advice and they sign it "your family." Tigger is overjoyed to receive the letter, but, "reading between the lines", misinterprets it and announces that his whole family is coming to visit him tomorrow. Tigger's friends have got no the heart to tell Tigger that the letter is from them, so they disguise themselves as Tiggers and attend his family reunion. Rabbit does not join in, but, rather, berates them for not getting ready for the approaching winter storm and slams off.

Tigger is completely taken in by the costumes until Roo attempts Tigger's complex Whoop-de-Dooper-Loop-de-Looper-Alley-Ooper Bounce, crashes into the closet and knocks his mask off. Believing that his friends are mocking him, Tigger furiously goes out in a fierce snowstorm to search for his family after a final "TTFE, Ta-ta forever!!"

Tigger's friends form an expedition to find him and convince Rabbit to lead them. They find Tigger sitting in a large tree with patches of snow on the trunk that resemble stripes. Rabbit insists that Tigger come home, but Tigger furiously refuses to leave his "family tree" until his Tigger family returns. They argue and Tigger's very enraged shouting causes an avalanche. Tigger bounces all of his friends to safety in the tree branches, but is swept away by the snow himself. Roo performs a perfect Whoop-de-Dooper-Loop-de-Looper-Alley-Ooper Bounce and rescues Tigger.

When the avalanche subsides, Tigger realizes he has lost the letter from his family. All his friends each recite their parts of the letter from memory and Tigger finally sees that they are his real family. He throws a new family reunion party with presents for everyone, including a beautiful new home for Eeyore. Roo receives the heart-shaped locket and Christopher Robin takes a picture of Roo, Tigger, and the rest of their family to go in it.

Cast

• Jim Cummings as Tigger and Winnie-the-Pooh
• Nikita Hopkins as Roo
• John Fiedler as Piglet
• Kath Soucie as Kanga
• Ken Sansom as Rabbit
• Peter Cullen as Eeyore
• Andre Stojka as Owl
• Tom Attenborough as Christopher Robin
• John Hurt as the narrator
• Frank Welker as Bees and Frogs (Additional Voices)

Production

The film was animated by Walt Disney Animation Japan.^{[citation needed]} Tokyo Movie Shinsha, a Japanese animation studio, took part in some of the animation.

Paul Winchell, the original voice of Tigger, was originally set to voice Tigger for the film, but his voice had become too old and scratchy that he was replaced by Jim Cummings, the voice of Winnie the Pooh. After this, Winchell retired and Cummings continued to voice Tigger. Winchell died on June 24, 2005.

Release

The film was released theatrically on February 11, 2000.

Home media

The film was originally released on August 22, 2000, on both VHS and DVD formats. The VHS and DVD included the Kenny Loggins music video "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" as well as the DVD counterpart, which contained more special features. The film was then re-released on a 2-disc DVD on August 4, 2009 to coincide with the film's 10th anniversary. It includes a DVD and a digital copy. It contained all the 2000 DVD bonus features, but has more language tracks and special features. The film was also re-released as a Bounce-a-rrrific special edition on Blu-ray on August 21, 2012.

Reception

Critical reception

The Tigger Movie received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 62% of critics gave the film "fresh" reviews on 71 reviews with a 5.9 rating. The site's consensus states, "The Tigger Movie may lack the technological flash and underlying adult sophistication of other recent animated movies, but it's fun and charming."

Box office performance

The film opened at #4 at the North American box office making $9.4 million in its opening weekend. The film was a box office success, earning $45,554,533 in the United States alone while making $50,605,267 overseas and $96,159,800 worldwide against a budget of $30 million.

Accolades

The film was nominated for numerous awards in 2000 including the following:

• Annie Award

for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production"

Jun Falkenstein

for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production"

Richard M. Sherman (music and lyrics)

Robert B. Sherman (music and lyrics)

For the song "Round My Family Tree"

for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Feature Production"

Nikita Hopkins

As the voice of "Roo".

• Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards

The Sierra Award for "Best Family Film"

It was also given an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award.

Soundtrack

The songs for The Tigger Movie were written by Robert and Richard Sherman who had not written a feature for Disney in over 28 years. Their last fully original feature film score was for the Oscarnominated film, Bedknobs and Broomsticks which was released in 1971. Originally slated for video or television release, the score was so well received (in demonstration form) by then Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, that the project's priority level moved up to feature theatrical release. This was due in great part to the perceived caliber of the song score throughout the studio. All the songs were created new for the film except for "The Wonderful Things About Tiggers" which was originally written in 1968 for the featurette, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (released in 1968). That song was also by the Sherman Brothers. The "punch line" of the song: "But the most wonderful Thing About Tiggers is I'm the only one..." provides the basis of The Tigger Movie's storyline. "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" was the last song written for the film and is a collaborative effort between the Sherman Brothers and singer Kenny Loggins. Richard Sherman described the song as "a song about the picture, as opposed to songs of the picture." It marks the only time the trio worked together on a song.

Song titles include:

• "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" – Tigger
• "Someone Like Me" – Tigger and forest animals
• "Whoop-de-Dooper Bounce" – Tigger and Roo
• "Pooh's Lullabee" – Pooh
• "Round My Family Tree" – Tigger
• "How to Be a Tigger" – Roo, Owl, Piglet, Eeyore, Pooh and Kanga
• "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" – Kenny Loggins

External links

• Official website
• The Tigger Movie at AllRovi
• The Tigger Movie at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Tigger Movie at Internet Movie Database

Category:2000 films Category:2000s adventure films Category:2000s comedy films Category:2000s musical films Category:Films about tigers Category:American animated films Category:Buddy films Category:Musicals by the Sherman Brothers Category:DisneyToon Studios animated films Category:Walt Disney Pictures films Category:Films featuring anthropomorphic characters Category:Films with live action and animation Category:Sequel films Category:Winnie-the-Pooh films Category:Film soundtracks Category:Walt Disney Records soundtracks Category:Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh Category:2000s American animated films Category:Animated musical films