A gently reworked 'Winnie the Pooh'

Where are the pop-culture references, disco numbers and potty jokes in "Winnie the Pooh," which Disney is calling its first animated Pooh feature in 35 years? The movie is refreshingly free of the things we've come to expect from a children's cartoon. Rather, it's determinedly old-fashioned: hand-drawn, filmed in just two dimensions and more intent on capturing the imagination than providing a distraction.

Loosely based on three A.A. Milne stories, the new "Pooh" gently reworks Disney's 1977 feature "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh," which itself threaded together three previously released featurettes. The plot-points are familiar, if slightly tweaked: Pooh, while hunting for his favorite snack (still spelled HUNNY), also helps Eeyore search for his missing tail and defends the Hundred Acre Wood against an imaginary invader (the dreaded Backson, rather than the Woozle). John Cleese replaces Sebastian Cabot as the avuncular narrator; Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, of the indie band She & Him, contribute to the lovely, nostalgic soundtrack.

The splendid voice cast includes Bud Luckey as the bummed-out Eeyore, Craig Ferguson as the professorial Owl (now writing his memoirs) and Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants himself) as the high-strung Rabbit. Piglet (Travis Oates), perhaps out of a new sensitivity, has mostly overcome his stutter; Jack Boulter, 10, makes an endearing Christopher Robin.

The real star, though, is Jim Cummings, who pulls double duty as the scratchy-tonsiled Pooh and the irrepressibly punchy Tigger. These are two of cartoondom's most memorable voices, originated by Sterling Holloway and Paul Winchell, and Cummings mimicks them with almost supernatural accuracy. (He's had practice in various Pooh projects for the Disney Channel.)

Gentle of spirit, never too scary and running a wiggle-proof 68 minutes (including a pre-feature short), "Winnie the Pooh" seems ideal for brand-new moviegoers. The potty jokes can wait.