The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

Directed by John Lounsbery and Wolfgang Reitherman
Written by Larry Clemmons, Ralph Wright, Vance Gerry, Xavier Atencio, Ken Anderson, Julius Svendsen, Ted Berman, and Eric Cleworth. Based on Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne.

Premiered March 11, 1977
74 minutes
Rated G

Synopsis
Three previously released shorts featuring young Christopher Robin's (Bruce Reitherman, Jon Walmsley, Timothy Turner) gluttonous stuffed bear Winnie the Pooh (Sterling Holloway) and his companions neurotic Piglet (John Fiedler), practical Rabbit (Junius Matthews), manic Tigger (Paul Winchell), depressed Donkey Eeyore (Ralph Wright), astute Owl (Hal Smith), kind-hearted Kanga (Barbara Luddy) and her son Roo (Clint Howard, Dori Whitaker) are combined into one film and narrated by Sebastian Cabot.

Before We Begin
First, a little history: the three shorts that make up The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh were originally released in 1966, 1968, and 1974. Walt Disney intended to make a full length film featuring Pooh & co., but he wanted to familiarize Americans with the characters first hence the shorts. However, Walt died in late 1966. By the mid 70s, Disney animation was struggling hardcore and thought, "Hey, you know what worked so well before when we were in the middle of a shit show? Packaging together shorts."

But this time it worked. You have the same group of characters, same animation style, same charming themes, same song writers. It doesn't feel forced, bless its heart.

It wasn't so long ago that I "reviewed" 2011's Winnie the Pooh and in that post, I explained my history and relationship with A.A. Milne's classic characters--that it basically didn't exist until I finally forced myself to watch 1977's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh while in the midst of my Disney Animated Feature glom. I was surprised that I actually liked it, Pooh bear and his ilk being a favorite among preschoolers and childish women with no fashion sense.

You might also recall that 2011's Winnie the Pooh was formerly in my Something Amiss category and was bumped up to On the Fence. Given that epiphany, maybe The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh should be elevated to the next category as well. I know I like this one more than that one, even without a rewatch. But frankly, I am rather tired of the package/segmented films, so I am going with my original gut reaction: On the Fence.

But why? I'm guessing it has something to do with Tigger.

Mötley Müsings
• I'm watching this on Netflix because I am too lazy to hook up my VCR at this moment. Also, I want to see if it looks any better. (Of course it does.)

• Live action room!

• Don Bluth worked on this... tsk, tsk, tsk

• Sebastian Cabot! Love his voice.

• Sandy Pit Where Roo Plays. Clever name.

• Yeah. Fuck this looks good for something animated in the 60s.

• Segment #1 -- "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree". In which Pooh searches for honey, pisses of some bees and then eats so much he gets stuck in Rabbit's doorway.

• "I improve my appetite when I exercise."

• "I am short, fat, proud of that."

• He has a framed picture of a honey pot.

• "Only reason for being a bee is to make honey. And the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it." Sound logic.

• I sing this "Rumbly in My Tumbly" song. I also say "Oh bother" a lot.

• Christopher Robin is wearing Mary Janes. And he has an American accent. But sometimes he tries to do British.

• "It's not much of a tail. But I'm sort of attached to it."

• "I'm a little black rain cloud, of course."

• "Tut, tut! It looks like rain!"

• "Honey rhymes with bunny, and bunny rhymes with..." "Rabbit?"

• Rabbit! Disney needs more bunnies!

• Condensed milk on bread. This is the second time I've heard of that. Wonder if it's any good...

• At least Rabbit has a second exit.

• I think I prefer Craig Ferguson's Owl.

• "After all, he's not in the book, you know." Yeah. Gopher isn't in the book. Let's draw attention to it.

• Dont FEED the Bear.

• Segment #2 -- "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day". In which Owl's house is destroyed by a "mild spring zephyr", Pooh gets a visit from Tigger, then has a nightmare about Heffalumps and Woozles, and the Hundred Acre Wood gets flooded.

• This one won an Oscar for Best Animated Short!

• Those reeds are from The Old Mill.

• Oh. Gopher's in this one too.

• "Windsday".

• Hey, Piglet wasn't in the last one. Bummer.

• It's a rather blustery day out here!

• "Thanks for noticing me."

• Awesome treehouse, Owl.

• Just noticed Pooh is wearing V-neck now.

• Oh no. Oh no. It's...Tigger.

• "I'm Tigger!" "You said that."

• I need a drink.

• Psychedelic nightmare with ties to "Pink Elephants on Parade". Whoa. Well, it was the 60s.

• This does not further the plot.

• "The rain rain rain came down down down...!"

• So Tigger's part of the gang now?

• Eeyore finds a house for Owl, but it's Piglet's house! Why doesn't Piglet (or any of the others) speak up? What is this nonsense! And it's not like Piglet owes Owl anything! Does he? Did I miss something?

• "Hip Hip Pooh Ray" sounds like "Hail the Princess Aurora".

• Segment #3 -- "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too". In which Tigger is annoying so Rabbit demands he stop bouncing.

• This one did not win an Oscar, but it was nominated.

• "Now, is the next chapter all about me?" "No, it's mostly about Tigger. "Oh bother." Oh bother, indeed.

• Yeah, Tigger! You wrecked Rabbit's garden! You're a dickweed!

• Break his spirit, eh? Works for me.

• But of course it's going to backfire.

• Am I imagining things or is that chomping caterpillar from "Bongo"?

• I like this changing of the seasons...probably spring or summer in "Honey Tree", definitely fall in "Blustery Day" and now winter.

• There haven't been any new songs yet.

• Tigger is not invincible! He has a fear of heights!

• Rabbit is the epitome of schadenfreude. He brings it out in me, too.

• Don't write checks your butt can't cash, Tigger.

• And now Tigger's going to convert Rabbit with bouncing...which makes sense given that he's a bunny.

• Segment #4 -- "Chapter X: In Which Christopher Robin and Pooh Come to the Enchanted Place and We Say Goodbye"

• This is last segment was created to wrap it all up. Very sweet and necessary.

• "...and where a place called Brazil is."

• "You know something Pooh? I'm not going to do just nothing any more." "You mean, never again?" "Well, not so much." Growing up sucks.

Final Thoughts
Um...Yeah...I think I'm right about The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh being On the Fence.

Don't get me wrong, I adore this movie. It is perfectly charming and pleasant and much like curling up with your favorite blanky. Sometimes regression can be a comfort. But...it suffers the same way Ichabod and Mr. Toad does--by putting the best segment first. I completely understand and respect Disney for ordering the segments chronologically. It obviously doesn't make much sense having "Tigger Too" come before Pooh's first meeting of him in "Blustery Day". However, I think the "entertainability" goes down hill from the first to the second to the third. That's just a bummer. Also, Tigger bugs me.

And the ending of "Blustery Day" gets my knickers in a twist.

Favorite Character

Rabbit

Favorite Moment -- Rabbit decorates Pooh's kiester.
Favorite Song -- "The Rain Rain Rain Came Down"