Goodbye Christopher Robin

I think it was a silly old bear who once said, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” I think he also said, “A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.” That Pooh bear sure was wise. Or maybe it was his inventor, A.A. Milne — the subject of the upcoming biopic Goodbye Christopher Robin, which examines the life of the man behind everyone’s favorite tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff. And judging by this new trailer, you’re going to need to buy some tissues in bulk.

Filmmakers love the story beyond the story; biopics about authors making the great works of literature that have inspired generations. Maybe it’s an easy way to give a mainstream marketing hook to an otherwise crusty and “arty” awards-fodder biopic? There was Finding Neverland and Saving Mr. Banks and now Goodbye Christopher Robin, the tale of how author A.A. Milne (played in the film by Star Wars’ Domhnall Gleeson) created the world of Winnie the Pooh.

Disney’s concept for Christopher Robin — a live-action reimagining of the happy tales of Winnie the Pooh and the rest of the Hundred Acre Wood gang — was kind of weird from the start. The idea was that the film would rejoin Pooh’s young pal Christopher Robin as a family man swept up in his professional life, with Pooh returning to remind the jaded grown-up of the wonderment of childhood. Perhaps Disney recognized what a tricky sell that might be, and accordingly decided to throw all the talented people they could at this. They brought in acerbic indie-circuit favorite Alex Ross Perry to draw up a script, and then hired eclectic director Marc Forster (responsible for everything from World War Z to Stranger Than Fiction to Finding Neverland to Quantum of Solace) to head up the operation.

One of Disney’s more curious live-action updates is their upcoming Winnie the Pooh film, scripted by Queen of Earth director Alex Ross Perry. In addition to that film, Fox Searchlight has a Hundred Acre Wood-adjacent project in the works exploring the life of Pooh creator and author A.A. Milne, giving audiences a chance to get to know the man who brought everyone’s favorite chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff to life.