Friday, October 24, 2008

Piglet's Own Movie

By Fabian Toulouse

Piglet has always felt a little scared, a tad inadequate, because of his size. In A.A. Milne's original "Winnie The Pooh," the poor little one is quoted as saying, "WHAT?", with a jump, to show that he hadn't been frightened, he jumped up and down once or twice more in an exercising sort of way. In Chapter Seven, "It is hard to be brave," said Piglet, sniffling slightly, "when you're only a very small animal." In Chapter Nine, Piglet says, "It's a little anxious," he said to himself, "to be a very small animal entirely surrounded by water." Piglet's catchphrase was, "Oh, dear! Oh, d-d-d-dear-dear!

Released in 2003, Piglet's Big Movie is an animated feature based on the characters in the Winnie-The-Pooh books and opened as #7 on it's opening weekend and a total box office for the movie run of over 23 million dollars. It was preceded by "The Tigger Movie" in 2000 and followed by "Winnie The Pooh: Springtime with Roo," released in 2004. The plot involves Piglet feeling ashamed of being small. Thanks to his friends and Christopher Robin, he learns you don't have to be big to do big things.

Through the course of three flashback sequences, Piglet is allowed to recast himself as the hero of some of the original Winnie the Pooh adventures. Indeed, he comes to realize that one need not be big to do big things. The film is a moving testament to friendship and fun. It is a film filled with adventure, laughter and heart-felt moments.

As Winnie and friends set forth to harvest honey from the hives in the forest, Piglet is told he is too small to come along. Distraught, Piglet decides to strike out on his own and sets out into the Hundred Acre Wood. When the honey hunters return, they can't find Piglet anywhere, just his scrapbooks of their adventures of the past. As they look through the books, Winnie and his pals realize how much Piglet means to them and how much they've taken him for granted. They set out to find Piglet using his scrapbook for clues, to "think, think, think" for clues as to where he might have gone, and ask him to come home, and along the way the little pig makes a big difference when his pals need him.

"Piglet's Big Movie" enjoys a heavy rotation on Disney's Playhouse. Fearful little Piglet proves the point that size doesn't matter when it comes to accomplishing big things. It is a pointed lesson that not only children can learn from, but it's a good one for adults, even if it is from a Winnie The Pooh character. - 15431

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