The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
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| The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh | |
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| Directed by | Wolfgang Reitherman John Lounsbery |
| Produced by | Wolfgang Reitherman |
| Written by | Larry Clemmons A.A. Milne (books) |
| Starring | Sterling Holloway Sebastian Cabot Junius Matthews John Fiedler Paul Winchell Bruce Reitherman Hal Smith Barbara Luddy Howard Morris Ralph Wright Clint Howard Jon Walmsley Timothy Turner Dori Whitaker |
| Music by | Richard M. Sherman (songs) Robert B. Sherman (songs) |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
| Release date(s) | March 11, 1977 |
| Running time | 74 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997) |
| IMDb profile | |
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a full-length animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions and first released on March 11, 1977. It is the twenty-second animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. The movie is based upon the Winnie the Pooh books by A. A. Milne.
The film is actually composed of material from three previously released animated shorts:
- Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966)
- Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968)
- Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! (1974)
In addition, versions seen today on television and DVD/VHS feature an additional short worked into the continuity:
Because of this, it is seen by some as the last of the Disney "package films" (movies consisting of two or more short segments) the bulk of which were produced by the studio to keep costs down during World War II. "Pooh" was produced for similar economic reasons. This is also the last film in the Disney canon in which Walt Disney had personal involvement, since one of the shorts ("Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree") was released during his lifetime, and he was involved in the production of "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day."
Its characters have spawned an industry of sequels, television programs, clothing, books, and toys. The film differs from the three individual shorts by having newly-created linking material, and an ending to give closure to the stories (based off of the final chapter of The House at Pooh Corner). It was always Walt Disney's intention to create a feature film, but he decided to make shorts instead — after production had begun — to familiarize US audiences with the characters. All three shorts as well as future feature films boast classic songs by the Sherman Brothers including "Winnie The Pooh" and "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers".
The film also inspired an attraction of the same name at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Hong Kong Disneyland. A much more elaborate attraction, also based on the film, opened in Tokyo Disneyland as "Pooh's Hunny Hunt".
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[edit] Characters
- Winnie the Pooh, voiced by Sterling Holloway.
- Tigger, voiced by Paul Winchell.
- Rabbit, voiced by Junius Matthews.
- Piglet, voiced by John Fiedler.
- The Narrator, voiced by Sebastian Cabot.
- Christopher Robin, voiced by Bruce Reitherman (Honey Tree), Jon Walmsley (Blustery Day) and Timothy Turner (Tigger Too!).
- Eeyore, voiced by Ralph Wright.
- Owl, voiced by Hal Smith.
- Gopher, voiced by Howard Morris.
- Roo, voiced by Clint Howard (Honey Tree and Blustery Day), and Dori Whitaker (Tigger Too!).
- Kanga, voiced by Barbara Luddy.
[edit] Home video
The Many Adventures Of Winnie the Pooh was first released on VHS and laserdisc in the early 1980s. In 1996, it was re-released on VHS as part of the Masterpiece Collection. It was released on DVD for the first time in 2002 as a 25th Anniversary Edition, with digitally restored picture and sound. The individual shorts had also been released on their own on VHS in the 1990s (Blustery Day was also included as a bonus feature on the US DVD release of Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin).
The film is scheduled for a "Friendship Edition" DVD re-release in June 2007. Special features are said to include games, a sing-along, and an all-new episode of Playhouse Disney's forthcoming computer-animated series My Friends Tigger & Pooh. [1]
[edit] Trivia
- Every time multiple pages are turned in the book, the text on every page (except the start and finish pages) is exactly the same. In most cases, the text has little - if anything - to do with the existing story, although most of the text does come from the initial stories by A.A. Milne.
- The text just before, or just after, a picture shown in the book is the same text as is read out by the Narrator.
- For a long while, this was the only Disney film, since Bedknobs and Broomsticks, to include songs written by the Sherman Brothers until The Tigger Movie.
- Unusually for narrated stories, during the film, Tigger interacts directly with the narrator, begging him to help get Tigger down from the tree. In addition, Pooh and Piglet often speak directly to the narrator during the film. This interaction with the Narrator becomes standard fare in The Book of Pooh and some other Pooh films.
- The original one-sheet poster for the film incorrectly touts it as "an all-new cartoon feature," when it is in fact a compilation of three already-existing shorts.
- Four of Disney's theme parks have attractions based on the film. In Disneyland, Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, and Hong Kong Disneyland the attraction goes by the same name. In Tokyo Disneyland, it is Pooh's Hunny Hunt.
- Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Roo, Owl, Kanga, Eyore, Rabbit and The 100 Acre Wood are all featured in all three installments of Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series of video games. The 100 Acre Wood is featured as one of the worlds, in the form of a story book which the player must find missing pages to which unlock new areas and gradually complete the world.
- Last roles for Sebastian Cabot, Junius Matthews and Barbara Luddy. It is also the last time Sterling Holloway was the voice of Winnie the Pooh.
- The "Heffalumps and Woozles" sequence is very reminiscent of the "Pink Elephants on Parade" sequence from Dumbo - very surreal. In fact, the way the brown elephant in the tuxedo and the pink elephant in the tutu and pearls dance mirrors the way two stylized elephants dance in the older movie.
[edit] Soundtrack Listing
- "Winnie the Pooh" Written by Richard and Robert Sherman Performed by the Disney Chorus
- "Up, Down, Touch the Ground" Written by Richard and Robert Sherman Performed by Sterling Holloway
- "Rumbly in my Tumbly" Written by Richard and Robert Sherman Performed by Sterling Holloway
- "(I'm Just A) Little Black Raincloud" Written by Richard and Robert Sherman Performed by Sterling Holloway and Bruce Reitherman
- "Mind Over Matter" Written by Richard and Robert Sherman Performed by Sterling Holloway, Bruce Reitherman, Junius Matthews, Ralph Wright, Clint Howard, Barbara Luddy, John Fiedler and Hal Smith
- "What a Rather Blustery Day" Written by Richard and Robert Sherman Performed by Sterling Holloway
- "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" Written by Richard and Robert Sherman Performed by Paul Winchell
- "Heffalumps and Woozles" Written by Richard and Robert Sherman Performed by the Disney Chorus
- "The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down" Written by Richard and Robert Sherman Performed by the Disney Chorus
- "Hip Hip Pooh-ray!" Written by Richard and Robert Sherman Performed by Sterling Holloway, Paul Winchell, Jon Walmsley, Junius Matthews, Ralph Wright, Clint Howard, Barbara Luddy, John Fiedler and Hal Smith
[edit] Goofs
- In the book, the words don't match the story.
- Pages 32-39: You don't get a buzzing noise, just buzzing and buzzing, without meaning something. The only reason for making a buzzing noise is because you're a bee.
- Page 40: Oh bother, I better go back.
- Pages 73-74: It rained and rained and rained. And Piglet so told himself If that he had never seen in all his life, never he had seen so much rain. Days and days and days. So the Hundred-Acre Wood got floodier and floodier and the water got higher.
- In the Honey Tree segment, Rabbit sit down and starts humming. The hum is in Pooh's voice.
