If you’ve ever read the original Pooh stories by A.A. Milne (circa 1926), you’ll remember that, firstly, they are endearing; and, secondly, there was no Heffalump, per se. There was, of course, the bothersome worry that a Heffalump might exist, and that the monstrosity was tromping through the Hundred Acre Wood. This caused both Pooh and Piglet a great amount of fret, and they hit upon the Clever Idea to dig a Very Deep Pit and to capture the awful creature. When no Heffalump was to be found — ho ho! tra la la! — an embarrassed Piglet briefly considered running off to sea to become a sailor.

Pooh’s Heffalump Movie introduces new additions to the Hundred Acre Wood, Lumpy and his mother, Mama Heffalump. All images © 2005 Disney Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.

How do you find something that doesn’t exist, whether it’s a unicorn or weapons of mass destruction? Simple. Never stop believing. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. In the case of Disney, it is a time-honored tradition to draw upon (and expand upon) the world’s folktales and literature in creating its cartoon mythos.

Walt Disney had bought the rights to the Pooh books in 1961, and the first featurette starring the huggable characters, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, was released in 1966. A second featurette, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), went on to win an Academy Award for Best Cartoon Short Subject. Two other featurettes — Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974) and Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983) — along with numerous holiday specials and a long-running television series extended the Pooh province.

Usually, I am not a fan of interminable sequels. From a business standpoint, sure, it makes sense. (The executive banter in my head: “How are we going to keep the franchise flourishing? How are we going to wring every last nickel from this intellectual property?”) But from an artistic standpoint, I am a little wary — if not just weary. The idea of sequels, with some notable exceptions, bores the heck out of me.

Not so with Pooh’s Heffalump Movie. I liked it. It was cute. And, not unimportantly, I saw it for free. There were some definite “aww” moments among the mixed-age crowd, and I am comfortable enough with my masculinity to admit that I even got a little teary-eyed there (just for a second!) toward the end. Maybe it was the smog.

I remember when this movie was just wee storyboards, still dressed in diapers, alternately giggling and ready to crap itself. The consensus of those who have worked on the film, and audiences who have seen it, is that the movie is wholesome fun. Settling into the squeaky seats and sticky floors of the local cinema house, I was happy as a tummy full of honey to see some decent hand-drawn animation on the silver screen.

When DisneyToon Studios closed its Tokyo animation unit in June 2004 — which had previously produced Piglet’s Big Movie (2003) and The Tigger Movie (2000) — the Japanese artists and management soon re-grouped under the independent auspices of The Answer Studio. Pooh’s Heffalump Movie was the last project of the team before being dispatched, and now the Pacific Rim job of producing DVD-premieres and smaller theatrical releases falls mostly to Disney’s Australian animation facility.

Even though the state of the industry may at times be “unbearably scareably,” it would seem that reports of the demise of hand-drawn animation have been exaggerated. Who wouldn’t want to spend an afternoon in the Hundred Acre Wood, and to be home by teatime?