The Tigger Movie

Walt Disney's animation of A A Milne's teddy-bear-in-the-woods saga will make purists puke. Everyone else can settle into 80 minutes of songs, sentiment and silly walks.

The soft toy, who sleeps in a tree and signs himself "Tiggr", lives for bouncing, a peculiar springy motion he does with his tail. No one can imitate this, except Roo, Kanga's son, who wants to be Tigger's pal. The bouncing is disruptive and dangerous, because the big stripey cat knocks into things, such as Eeyore's house, which means Rabbit has to brought in to rebuild it.

Tigger's real problem is having no family. He sings, "I'm the onlyest one," and looks sorry for himself. Searching for his family tree, where a crowd of singing/dancing tiggers are waiting (or so he believes) is the theme of the story.

For the very young, the film has charm. For the slightly older, it has angry bees, painful accidents and an avalanche. What matters most, of course, is that no one is left unhappy. Tigger may be stupid, but he has a wonderful capacity to see the bouncy side. Winnie the Pooh, on the other hand, is a junkie. Scoring honey is all he thinks about. Rehab? Next time.