The Crosby Chronicles: A Pooh-fect family film

With my oldest son away on a boy scout camping trip, I’ve had some one-on-one time with my youngest son.

The house has been much quieter this week since no compromises have had to be made between the two brothers in terms of video game playing time and TV show choices.

I was able to take my 7-year-old to see the new Winnie the Pooh film, something I couldn’t drag my other son to. Boy, what a surprise that movie is.

No foul language, no sexual innuendo, not even a flatulence comment or sound. An old-fashioned G-rated movie that’s imaginative, not boring or condescending. Oh, and two other unusual aspects to the film: it’s not in 3-D, and it’s not computer animated. How strange this film must appear to young children who have grown up solely on a diet of computerizedanimation.

Besides “The Simpsons” and “Spongebob Squarepants,” almost all cartoons are created on computers these days. There is something comforting to watch images that are hand-drawn. And there’s something gentle about Winnie the Pooh. I wish this modestly budgeted film didn’t open the same weekend as the final Harry Potter installment, so the film unfortunately may disappear.

However, I highly encourage those of you with children to take them to see this film. It has the old Winnie the Pooh songs as well as some tuneful new ones. Plus, it’s barely over one hour in length.

Brian Crosby is a teacher at Hoover High School and the author of Smart Kids, Bad Schools and The $100,000 Teacher. He can be reached at brian-crosby.com.