The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Release Date: March 11, 1977

Watch Date: July 29 – July 30, 2024

“Celebrate the magical tales that started the Pooh tradition. These charming stories are filled with timeless Hundred Acre Wood adventures: the first meeting between Pooh and Tigger, Pooh getting stuck in Rabbit’s house from eating too much hunny and the lovable characters’ flurry of activity on a windy day. Accompanied by the engaging songs that endeared Winnie the Pooh and his friends to fans of all ages, such as ‘Little Black Rain Cloud’ and ‘Rumbly in My Tumbly,’ these classic moments continue to enchant children and Pooh-loves alike.”

---

   Did I give up my pick to our three-year-old? Yes. But it was a for sure way for us to watch a film, and I kind of like Winnie the Pooh, so I wasn’t too broken up about it. Bob knows Winnie the Pooh, because who doesn’t, but he’d never watched the original Disney movie, the one (like the blurb says) that started it all. But our daughter? She watches it all the time. She loves Winnie the Pooh. She goes to my parents’ house and makes them put it basically on loop. So I knew, if I picked this film and put it on, I’d get to actually sit down and watch a movie. Now, of course, bedtime interrupted our film – bad timing on my part – but still. I did, for two days, get to just sit and watch a movie.

   And it’s so much fun. I grew up reading the original Winnie the Pooh books, and one of my favorite things about this film is how true it is to the books, but also how it keeps that feeling of you reading a book consistent through the whole narrative. Not only do we constantly pull back to see the book we’re reading, the narrator discusses page count, the characters interact with the words, even being saved from falling at one point. During those pulled back moments you can see the words the narrator is reading on the page. It takes the opening sequence of movies like Snow White and Cinderella and deepens the experience.

   The songs are classic. I know every one by heart. I sing them as I go about my day. At least now Bob knows where they’re from, and why my daughter will occasionally start going off about the wonderful things about being a Tigger, or being rumbly in her tumbly, or why I’m suddenly a little black rain cloud, or doing exercises so I can eat more.

   Bob loved it because he could pop in and out, I think we’d gotten some new fish that day so he was pretty heavily focus on them – but because we have an open floor plan in our home he could also shift his focus back to the television every few minutes and, in his words, be just as entertained as the last time he looked. He asked if there was an overarching plot, and there isn’t, it’s short little vignettes but they’re done right and much better than the anthology films where you get three unrelated stories smushed together.

   This is a film that I would be surprised if it didn’t bring you back to your childhood. In someway, I feel, most people in western society have interacted with Winnie the Pooh growing up, either through the shows, the movies, the books, the toys, but on a more fundamental level everyone can relate to playing with their toys, the stories they created, the personalities, and the adventures they went on. And in the end, that’s all these stories are. A father who loved his son, and created something magical for him using the toys the boy already loved, and played with, and went with adventures on every day. And that’s truly magical.