Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo

I've been a diehard Winnie the Pooh fan since birth (or close enough), and I refuse to grow out of the Winnie the Pooh franchise. I know that it's for everyone and you're never too old for Pooh Bear, but I thought I'd still say that anyway. This isn't my #1 favorite Pooh movie, but it is a sweet and enjoyable movie regardless! I watch it every Easter and sometimes other times too, and it brings nostalgia to me every time. There were already Pooh movies for Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Valentine's Day before this came along, and it was high time there was a Pooh Easter movie.

For the longest time, I had no idea this was a parody of A Christmas Carol. It's very different from most other Christmas Carol parodies and adaptations I've come across, and it has more originality: it's about Easter rather than Christmas. Rabbit is Ebenezer Scrooge, Roo is Tiny Tim, Tigger is the Ghost of Christmas Past, the narrator is the Ghosts of Christmas Present and Future, and the rest of the characters are themselves. I like the idea of Rabbit being Scrooge because he's the main antagonist of the Pooh franchise and the closest thing to a villain that it has. I assume this was supposed to be an experiment to see if a Christmas-themed Pooh/Christmas Carol parody would work.

This is a fun and sweet story all about the appeal of Easter! It shows that Easter is all about having fun with your friends and family, hunting eggs, eating candy, and showing your pals that you care, with no limits or boundaries! Now that's festive! The characters have their own favorite Easter items that make the holiday more special to them; Pooh has an Easter honey pot, Eeyore has fluffy bunny ears, Tigger has an egg that looks like him, Piglet has a pink Easter basket, and Roo has his egg hunts. I like the idea of Rabbit being the Easter Bunny because he is a bunny, possibly the only bunny in the Hundred Acre Wood. Easter is a special day that's meant to be shared in special ways, as shown here (more about that later). Watching Springtime with Roo is like finding a colorful Easter egg in a hidden spot.

I really like how Roo is portrayed in this story! Rabbit decides to cancel Easter and replace it with Spring Cleaning Day. As a result, Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore have an unhappy Easter, which makes Roo sad. Roo is not only sad for himself but also for his friends. He realizes that the chance to show his pals that he cares and have fun with them has been taken away because of the removal of Easter. This is an unselfish way to feel! Coincidentally, I learned from the Pajanimals that feeling sad when a loved one is sad and trying to cheer them up are signs that you care about them. I never realized this till now, but the same message is shown here. Roo's actions remind us that being a good friend means being there for others, especially when they need it most.

He handles the situation very well, especially for someone his age. He and Tigger do the best they can to fix everything, and the former encourages the latter to talk to Rabbit about the situation, and he does. Also, Roo is the first one to realize that Rabbit is feeling sad and misses his favorite day of the year deep down inside. The latter got his position as the Easter Bunny taken away, and the former recognizes that he (Rabbit) doesn't truly hate Easter. Roo uses his love and wisdom to help his friend overcome his fears of Easter and expresses willingness to do anything to make him happy again.

He (Roo) realizes that Rabbit isn't truly a bad guy and wants to be a happy good guy deep down. This is sweet to see because he's giving the "bad guy" a chance, isn't mad at him, and recognizes that he's misunderstood. Roo and his friends make a new Easter Bunny hat for Rabbit because the old one got destroyed, which touches both Rabbit's heart and mine and brings him to tears. I don't think Roo being the voice of reason is out of place at all because little kids can be the voice of reason too. When I was little, I'd feel sad whenever a loved one was sick or sad and do the best I could to make others happy, and I still do. This isn't the only time he's the voice of reason. He also has this position in Pooh's Heffalump Movie. Who said that only adults could be the voice of reason?

The story is not only sweet, festive, and fun, but it also has heartfelt morals about sharing special days in special ways, being a good friend, and thinking of others. During the previous Easter, Pooh and his friends made mistakes but still had fun. Rabbit made too many rules for them to remember, which made the holiday harder. He treated the day like a professional occasion instead of a fun holiday and rudely demanded his friends to do things his way. This led to them leaving Rabbit's house and Tigger becoming the new Easter Bunny. Tigger led a fun Easter egg hunt with no rules and without Rabbit, and Pooh and company helped Roo have a happy Easter. On the night of the present Easter, Rabbit has a nightmare about the future, where everyone else in the Hundred Acre Wood moves away because of his behavior, much to his loneliness. When he wakes up the next morning, he gives his friends the egg hunt they were hoping for, makes a no-rules rule, gives them their favorite Easter items back, and promises to be a better friend from now on. This shows that Rabbit became a better friend, unselfish, and more accepting of others' differences. Additionally, some people, including yours truly, find it easier or more comfortable to do some things differently than others, and the population of the Hundred Acre Wood are no exception.

You're probably thinking that it's mean of Pooh and company to leave Rabbit out of their Easter celebration. Yes, but Rabbit was mean to them first, and that's payback for it. Besides, they were tired of his bossy and selfish behavior, and I can't blame them. Being a bad friend and not cleaning up your act can lead to losing friends and feeling lonely, similar to Rabbit's situation. Additionally, Tigger feels bad when he realizes that their actions hurt him and tries to talk some sense into the latter and reconcile with him, even though he failed. Unfortunately, Rabbit stubbornly refuses to admit he's wrong and doesn't take responsibility for his actions until it is almost too late.

The songs are good. My favorite one is Easter Day with You because it's a bouncy, upbeat song all about the joy of giving to your friends, showing them how much you care, and throwing parties, which I can relate to. The lyrics briefly consist of "Bright and sunny honey of an Easter," but I don't know what that's supposed to mean. Is that when the sun shines brightly on honey on Easter? Sniffly Sniff is another one of the best songs. It's a song Pooh Bear sings about letting out a great big sneeze. I read in a comment on a YouTube upload of the song that only Pooh Bear can make sneezing into a song. I'm sure others could too if they tried, but I think the commenter was trying to say, "Who better than Pooh to sing a song about sneezing?" or "What better song about sneezing than this?" I couldn't agree more! I don't know what else to say about it.

Springtime with Roo is not without its flaws. 1) Rabbit can be quite unkind sometimes, especially in this movie, but it's likely intentional so he can learn from his mistakes. He gets upset when he thinks his friends don't listen to him on "Spring Cleaning Day," but they do follow his instructions before the Easter celebration. He even throws them out of his house, which isn't very nice. During the previous Easter, he forced them to see Easter the same way as he did and didn't consider their feelings. However, I appreciate that the ending shows him redeeming himself and his friends giving him a second chance. 2) Tigger stole the eggs from Rabbit for his friends to hunt during the previous Easter, which seems unnecessary. 3) Christopher Robin is absent, but if he was present, he could have provided new eggs, eliminating the need to steal. 4) The characters move away without telling Rabbit in the nightmare sequence, which seems out of place. 5) The title is slightly misleading as it's more about Easter than spring. Despite these flaws, it's a great movie, perfect for Easter! I highly recommend it!