A BEAR NAMED WINNIE

A BEAR NAMED WINNIE (2004)

RATING-PG for thematic elements & brief language. A VERY FAMILY FRIENDLY FILM.

THEME: A true story

STORY: Did you ever wonder where the beloved Winnie the Pooh stories originated? I confess I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about that but now I know. Winnie (short for Winnipeg) became a mascot of the Veterinary Division in the Canadian Army during WWI. On their way to training in the Canadian wilderness, the train stopped in a small town and one of the soldiers saved Winnie, a cub at that time, from being killed by the hunter who killed her mother. The rest of the movie is about the adventures of Winnie and her unit and the Colonel who tries to get rid of her before they leave for England to train with the British and eventually on to France to fight the Prussians. How Winnie ends up at the London Zoo and becomes world famous is tied into the story. It's a wonderful story and a terrific period piece about this particular slice of WWI and the Canadian contribution. While mostly fun and heartwarming there is the element of war and not all the main characters survive. Fun for the whole family. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 9/5/2007

LINKS: IMBD AMAZON