Winnie the Pooh (2011)
Based on the book series Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne and a revival of Disney’s 1977 film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Intro song (“Winnie the Pooh”). Christopher Robin and his animal friends live inside a storybook, whose text can be seen around many frames of the film. These letters are sometimes interacted with by the characters.
Winnie the Pooh wakes up one day to find that he is out of honey ("The Tummy Song"). While out searching for more, Pooh discovers that Eeyore has lost his tail. Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo come to the rescue ("A Very Important Thing To Do") while Tigger has his bouncing fun. Christopher Robin decides to hold a contest to see who can find a replacement for Eeyore's tail. The prize for the winner is a fresh pot of honey. After everyone else's failed attempts to replace Eeyore's tail ("The Winner Song”), Kanga suggests that they use a scarf. This is declared the winner, but it soon unravels.
Later on, Pooh still has not been able to find any honey. He goes to visit Christopher Robin, and finds a handwritten note reading "GoN OUT BIZY BACK SooN c.ʀ.", a misspelling of "Gone Out, Busy, Back soon" with Christopher Robin's initials. Pooh is unable to read the note, so he asks for Owl's help. Owl's poor reading comprehension skills lead Pooh and his friends to believe that Christopher Robin has been abducted by a ruthless and mischievous creature they call the "Backson" ("The Backson Song"). Rabbit plans to trap the beast by leaving a trail of items leading to a pit. Meanwhile, Tigger, who wants a sidekick to help him defeat the Backson, recruits a reluctant Eeyore to be a second Tigger ("It's Gonna Be Great"). He dresses up like the Backson and tries to teach Eeyore how to fight. Eeyore manages to escape from Tigger and hides underwater, where he discovers an anchor.
After a failed attempt to get honey from a bee hive, Pooh's imagination and hunger get the better of him ("Everything is Honey"); he accidentally eats some mud, and falls into the trap meant for the Backson. Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Owl, and Piglet use Eeyore's anchor "replacement tail" as a rope to try to get Pooh out, but its weight pulls everyone but Piglet into the pit. Piglet tries to help them out, but consistently over-interprets Rabbit's instructions, leading to the destruction of the only rope he has with him. He goes to find more rope, but runs into Tigger. Mistaking Tigger's training costume for the actual monster, Piglet uses a red balloon to fly away from Tigger, inadvertently knocking some of the storybook's letters into the pit.
After the chase, Tigger and Piglet fall into the trap as well. Eeyore reminds Tigger that he, being "the only one", is "the most wonderful thing about Tiggers." Eventually, Pooh figures out how to use the fallen letters to form a ladder, and his friends are able to escape the pit. Christopher Robin, returning from having gone to school, finds his friends, and explains his note's true meaning; Owl flies away, embarrassed. The honey pot prize is given to the red balloon from earlier, much to Pooh's dismay.
Later, Pooh visits Owl for honey, and discovers that Owl, not recognizing what it was, had found Eeyore's tail and was using it as a bell pull. Owl offers Pooh some honey for lunch, but Pooh, ignoring his tummy's loud rumbling, hurries to give Eeyore his tail back. Christopher Robin is proud of Pooh's selflessness; as a reward for his kindness, Pooh is given a pot of honey twice as tall as he is ("Pooh's Finale”). He and Christopher Robin walk off into the sunset together (“So Long”).
In a post-credits scene, a genuine Backson arrives, but is actually a very nice and gentle creature. He finds the trail of items left for him, including a drawing of himself; not recognizing himself, he calls it a "scary looking fella". Deciding to return the items to Christopher Robin, he starts picking them up, but ends up falling into the pit.
TRIVIA
Technology
Instead of using live-action book scenes as was used in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), the book scenes are CGI-animated with the characters interacting with the text (such as when they escape the pit they wanted to trap the “Backson” in).
The production would also use the same software utilized for Princess and the Frog, Toon Boom Animation's Harmony, to digitally ink and paint the drawings.
Music
Zooey Deschanel performed the Winnie the Pooh theme song, "A Very Important Thing to Do" and an original end-credit song "So Long".