Welcome to Pooh Corner

I've been a diehard Winnie the Pooh fan since birth (or close enough), but I didn't grow up with Welcome to Pooh Corner because 1) it's from long before my time, 2) it didn't have reruns on TV at all during my lifetime, and 3) I never had any of the video releases. Only three of the episodes are on YouTube, and I've seen all of them. However, I've also seen numerous other episodes on other sites. This is the worst or least good Pooh show of all. I don't like Welcome to Pooh Corner, I don't hate/dislike it, it's a mixed bag. Allow me to explain why.

Premise/format: The show is faithful to the cartoons for the most part, but it's very different in some ways. A little too different, but not a whole lot: Christopher Robin never appears (though he is mentioned in one episode), Roo's shirt is red instead of blue, Eeyore's house more closely resembles a tipi, etc.

I assume that a Christopher Robin costume/puppet would've been hard to make, and I'm guessing that's why he never appears. However, a kid actor with no fursuit could've played him.

At the end of various episodes, the characters would teach random stuff to the audience, which often had nothing to do with the story.

A lot of great morals are present, like be yourself, too much of a good thing is not a good thing, you're the best at what you do best (that's a new one!), try and try again, and more.

Characters: Their personalities are mostly the same, but they feel a little less like themselves. Pooh is a lot smarter than in the cartoons, despite still being called a bear of very little brain. For example, he knows that it isn't always a good idea to talk to strangers and what to do if one were to ever end up in stranger danger. This doesn't make any sense because the Hundred Acre Wood doesn't encounter many strangers, and the animals in the Hundred Acre Wood don't go into the "real" world very much.

Owl can be whiny at times, even though he's supposed to be an old, wise figure, not a child. For example, in one episode, he whined over not being invited to swim with his friends.

Rabbit is more relaxed, but he still gets irritated by his friends at times. For some reason, he is a magician who has a scary habit of randomly appearing and disappearing out of nowhere with his magic wand. I'd be scared if anyone around me randomly appeared or disappeared out of nowhere, and I'm sure you would too. I don't recall him liking magic in any other incarnation.

Tigger should've been the magician instead because it fits him better. I remember him putting on a magic show in a book, an episode of The Book of Pooh, and an episode of My Friends Tigger and Pooh.

However, I find Rabbit more likable here than in the cartoons for the most part, and his flanderization is a positive flanderization, minus the part about him being a magician and appearing and disappearing out of nowhere. Pooh and Owl's flanderizations are barely noticeable, and they were still themselves for the most part. The rest of the characters were still likable, had barely changed, and were not the tiniest bit flanderized.

Visuals: Most of the episodes were recorded with a green screen or blue screen and had custom backgrounds from the cartoons, which I like because that gives me stronger Pooh cartoon vibes. Also, the backgrounds and special effects make it look like the characters are actually in those specific environments and scenarios, and they don't look the tiniest bit fake. I find exceptionally impressive because that probably isn't something you'd expect out of a show from the 80s!

However, the camera quality is a bit dark, dull, and not so bright and colorful, which slightly creeps me out. I find that somewhat justified due to the time this was made.

The characters are a tad bit creepy, and that's one of the main reasons why I don't like Pooh Corner as much as the other Pooh incarnations. Pooh Bear, Kanga, and Roo have whites in their eyes for some reason, which makes them as creepy as they are. If Tigger and Piglet could still have dots for eyes, why couldn't Pooh Bear, Kanga, and Roo?

Piglet's design is accurate, but something about the way his face was built creeps me out. I can't put my finger on it.

Pooh Bear has the creepiest design of the whole cast, and Eeyore and Rabbit look the least creepy.

For some reason, Roo was originally a traditional puppet, while Piglet was a costume with animated eyes and an animated mouth for the entire series, like the rest of the characters. Both of them are much smaller than the rest of the cast in the other incarnations, and Piglet is slightly taller than Roo. They could've both been traditional puppets, or they could've both been costumes for the entire series. However, this problem was fixed later: Roo became a costume like everyone else.

Voice acting: The voices are on par with the cartoons for the most part, but they have a few hiccups. Piglet's voice is the worst offender, which I find hard to believe because he was voiced by Phil Baron, who also voiced Teddy Ruxpin, another one of my favorite fictional characters. His voice is too high-pitched and feminine.

Tigger's voice is decent, but it sounds like a hybrid of his cartoon voice and Grubby's voice from Teddy Ruxpin. He was voiced by Will Ryan, who also voiced Grubby, which explains a lot. I'm surprised that John Fiedler and Paul Winchell didn't return as Piglet and Tigger.

The only voice actors from the cartoons who reprised their roles here were Hal Smith (Pooh and Owl), Will Ryan (Rabbit), and Laurie Main (the narrator). If you're confused, Tigger and Rabbit were voiced by the same person in the show.

Songs: The songs are actually good! The theme song is the same tune as the theme song from the movies, but most of the lyrics are different. That's a plus because this is the only TV series to feature the franchise's theme song! I like it better than the regular Pooh theme song because it gives a brief description of each character, and Pooh sings a few lines in it. Don't get me wrong, I still love the regular theme song too.

All the characters have their own signature songs here, which is another plus because Pooh and Tigger are the only characters who have signature songs in the cartoons for some reason. My favorite is Eeyore's song, "Just Say Yes, I Can," because it surprisingly has a very positive message about never giving up and not focusing on what you can't do.

My words will be inadequate to describe how good "Welcome to Pooh Corner" is. No other children's show comes close to the quality of this series. I would be willing to pay big bucks to have the entire series (all 120 episodes) on DVD. If that ever happens, I hope it will include bonus materials to tell us how it was done--who wrote the scripts, did the music, manned the characters, did the voices, etc.

Every episode had warmth, humor, and charm, and taught good values. This show appeals to adults as well as children. The songs were fabulous. How did the actors make those puppet heads convey such emotion and how did they synchronize the voices with the facial expressions? The backdrops and scenery were beautiful also. What an amazing bunch of talented people worked on this show! I watched "Welcome to Pooh Corner" with my sons when they were little and now with my granddaughter. I wish I had recorded every episode from the Disney Channel, but I only got 9 of them. Then I bought the 6-volume tape series. But all my videos are worn out from repeat viewing, so I would dearly love to have this on DVD. All 120 episodes, please! I would buy copies for grandchildren and friends, as well as myself. This is too good to disappear. Please bring it back!

Just to add a few comments to what's already been written...

I, too, really loved this show when I was a kid. It aired on The Disney Channel back in the days when the entire channel was built around Disney characters (now it seems aimed at young teenagers and tries to compete with Nickelodeon).

This show used full-bodied costumes with animatronic heads for all of the Pooh characters except Roo (who was sometimes a sophisticated puppet, and at other times was played by a dwarf in a small body costume).

The show did not use traditional sets in most cases but instead was filmed against blue-screen. However, unlike most mid-80s use of blue screen technology, this actually looked quite realistic and did not have the awkward or fake look that most blue-screen of the era exhibited. This show had a companion show called "Dumbo's Circus" that was made a few years later and used the same technology very effectively (that show had Dumbo and a bunch of new characters that were never seen outside this series).

The show had an interesting structure. Each episode opened with an older-British-guy host (not Sebastian Cabot, though) who would begin reading from a Pooh story book and then you would go into the story.

The main story lasted about 20 minutes, and then there were two more segments. The first was a music video for one of about ten or so songs they used over and over. The last segment was usually some sort of game, educational segment, or craft demonstration with one of the Pooh characters would speak directly to the camera and interact with the voice-over of the narrator. This was supposed to be a "practical" segment that taught something kids could learn and use, as opposed to just entertainment. Then there was a very catchy closing song that was used every day (the lyrics went something like "Toodle-oo, So Long, and Goodbye," and it was the best kids' closing song I can think of besides "The Song That Doesn't End" from Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop).

Unlike most of the other Disney-produced Pooh shows, this one had original stories that did not come directly from the A. A. Milne books. It was really well-written and could entertain adults as well as children. It was not a baby-ish show. There were numerous holiday-themed episodes - I have specific memories of watching this show on Christmas morning.

This show is really unique, original, and timeless. It has a visual sense unlike anything I've seen before or since (except it's sister show "Dumbo's Circus"). I'm not sure why Disney doesn't use this technology anymore becuase it doesn't look dated at all. What was so impressive about this show's look was that the colors were so vibrant and sparkled so brightly. As others have suggested, I wish Disney would re-run it or at least put it out on DVD.

When Disney was blazing the trails of the relatively new cable market, "WELCOME TO POOH CORNER" was the cornerstone on which the young channel survived.

The show itself is borrowed from a 1930s Americanized version of Pooh stories which were first performed by the then famous, Sue Hastings Marionettes, at Radio City Music Hall, in New York. That was when audiences heard Pooh's voice for the very first time. newly adapted from Milne's text.

For the next twenty years or so, Ms. Hastings and her marionettes, under license from Stephen Slesinger, Inc., performed Winnie the Pooh at Children's Theatres around the country and for many prominent children's charitable events. In 1946 a filmed version of the marionette shows was aired on experimental television in New York City.

Slesinger chose marionettes to dramatize Milne's stories and verses, principally because animation was too costly. Apparently Disney chose this medium for the same reason when launching the Disney Channel.

The rights to perform Pooh on television was licensed to Disney in 1961 and in 1983 by Stephen Slesinger, Inc. who still owns those underlying rights, among other media and trade rights.

Evident within the textural composition of each episode of "Welcome to Pooh Corner" is a younger and more comfortable Disney Company as well. These shows were produced just before the company was propelled to the front lines of the mega media conglomerates. But their charm still shows right through, even though much slicker technologies flood our senses today.

Enjoy these early Disney Channel shows. They aren't making them like this any more.

This said, I don't really consider Welcome to Pooh Corner as just a "kids" show. It is just a wonderful show, that appeals to both kids and adults.

I loved the colourful settings/sceneries, and all the characters apart from perhaps Roo occasionally all look convincing. The songs are simply fabulous, the melodies are inspired are the lyrics are relate-able and delightfully droll.

Welcome to Pooh Corner was also superbly written, with original thoughtfully-written story lines with interesting and important lessons and the dialogue humorous and charming.

All the characters are engaging and have distinct personalities, and the voice acting is consistently good particularly Hal Smith(for me the best Pooh voice after Sterling Holloway) as Pooh.

Overall, a wonderful show and one of the best "kids"(though adults will find much to like about it too) shows there ever was. 10/10 Bethany Cox