Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish - reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!
Last week, I reviewed the radio play of The Canterbury Tales, brought to us by the creators of The Archers. Becky reviewed The Murder of Patience Brooke by J.C. Briggs (the first of a new mystery series starring Charles Dickens as the investigator), Ivanhoe by Walter Scott, and Lost in the Antarctic: The Voyage of the Endurance by Tod Olson. Gaele reviewed Summer in the Orchard by Fay Keenan and The Light Over London by Julia Kelly.
I completely confused Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017) and Christopher Robin (2018) - two films with similar titles but very different takes on the story of Christopher Robin.
Goodbye Christopher Robin is a bio-pic of A.A. Milne, author of the Winnie-the-Pooh books which are loosely based on his son's playful interactions with his stuffed animals. Goodbye Christopher Robin is very realistic, complete with A.A. Milne's World War I experiences and a portrayal of both the good and bad sides of being a famous author and that author's son.
The Disney film, Christopher Robin, on the other hand is fantasy, borrowing only a couple of elements from the real Christopher Robin Milne's adult life.
Our grown-up Christopher is burdened by his job and doesn't pay enough attention to his family. We all know the plot of this oft-told story. The charming parts of this version, of course, are Pooh and his friends, brought to life in realistic CGI.
The wise words that help Christopher see what's really important to him are from a bear of very little brain, Winnie the Pooh. Pooh and his friends naturally gravitate to Christopher's daughter, Madeline, who eventually gets to play a part in saving the day and her family.
We were enchanted by the scenes of the countryside. Ashdown Forest was the filming location for the Hundred Acre Woods scenes, just as it was the original inspiration for A.A. Milne.
I enjoyed both films, for completely different reasons. Goodbye Christopher Robin suited my mood in November when we watched it around the time of the centennial observation for the end of World War I. Christopher Robin suited the holiday season mood when we watched it last month.
Have you watched one or both of these films? What did you think?
About Joy Weese Moll
a librarian writing about books
