Marc Forster directs Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell and Jim Cummings in this children’s film that imagines an adult Christopher Robin being revisited by a forgotten Pooh and friends when his life hits a rut.

Whoah! This starts bleak. And I’m not taking about the brutal few shots that started Up or the finale of Toy Story 3. I’m talking a full hour of abandonment, bereavement, drudgery and depression before the pace even begins to pick up. Beautifully rendered muddy, scruffy versions of A.A. Milne’s iconic characters amble about, are ignored and criticised. This is heartbreaking stuff. As we reach the home stretch it becomes a bit more of a romp, there’s dashing around and larks. But that first hour… What kids wants to sit through naive Pooh deluding himself that Christopher Robin still loves him or cares about his nuisance making? With gorgeous shots that resemble Terrence Malick at times and the performers (human and animated) putting you through some emotionally complex feels, I cannot discount the ambition or effect this contains. But lord only knows what kids make of it.

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