Watching Piglet's Big Movie, I chuckled at the familiar characters of the Hundred Acre Wood being themselves. Sometimes when cartoon characters age over the decades, the animators and storytellers behind them lose track of who they really are. But Winnie the Pooh and his friends appear to be timelessly delightful and lovable. When Pooh pauses to decide whether he should save his honey or his life, or when Tigger proclaims that something is "Tiggerrific!" I have to smile.

At the same time, I miss the animated shorts from the 1970s that somehow told stories meant for little kids in ways that adults can enjoy, too. I liked Piglet's Big Movie, but make no mistake: this aims younger than any of the Winnie the Pooh movies. It crams in almost more sentiment than even this series usually gets away with, and the songs by Carly Simon are almost all terrible. I particularly disliked the end credits, which cut between scenes from the movie and live-action shots of Simon in a Hundred Acre Wood-like setting. Probably it's not all that great of a flaw, but a live-action music video is just not what Pooh is about.

But I enjoyed the movie. And despite its narrow audience focus, I found the film sweet and touching anyhow. Maybe it's just because my affection for the characters has already been established. Perhaps I would not recommend this to newcomers to this world. But going into it from established ground, the humor and, yes, even all the syrup felt genuine. And that's a quality all too rare today.