Winnie l'ourson

1966 was the year when the first animated short of Winnie the Pooh and his friends came out. These characters immediately became a phenomenon of popularity and they're still just as popular nowadays. It all started with "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" in 1966, followed by many other Winnie the Pooh's shorts, all of them taking place in the magical and childish world of the Hundred Acre Wood.

This first adventure introduces us these adorable characters, as well as Winnie the Pooh, the little bear obsessed by hunny (honey), lovingly called «silly old bear» by Cristopher Robin. However, Piglet and Tigger's first appearance is only in the following short "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day". Anyway, we can see right from the start how the characters's personalities are.

A delightful story, lovely songs (such as "Little Black Rain Cloud", "Up, Down and Touch the Ground", "Rumbly in My Tumbly" and "Winnie the Pooh"), great artwork and animation, charm and classic humor are another attribute here.

The story is amusing and focus mostly on Pooh's determination to get some honey. Although he is a bear with very little brain, he's not the sort of bear to give up easily. It's funny how he often thinks of something, but no matter how hard he tries to think, the only thing that comes to his simple mind is honey. And it's funny that he does physical exercises, but not for the reasons you could think. You think he does physical exercises to get thinner? You better think again, he he he! He does physical exercises to get hungry, as an excuse to eat honey.

The Gopher (who is not in the book) is hilarious, especially whenever he falls down his hole. That is spectacular! The nervous Rabbit can be unfair at times, but he does the right thing when he stops the Gopher from feeding Pooh with honey.

As for Eeyore, his pessimistic personality is obvious right from the beginning, when he says «If it's a good day, which I doubt».

Like the other three Pooh shorts that made up the feature film of the Many Adventures released in 1977 and on video in the 80s, the Honey Tree short was one of those works I've watched countless times. It does have its 'valuable lesson' for the kids, but it's also just very silly, cute entertainment that ranges from jokes so absurd they work for some adults ("You messed up my moose" is a line I still quote today, the Gopher material is also rather off-key for a children's short), to the suspenseful moments that, for lack of a better description, capture kid's imaginations. And the whole structure of it being a book-as-animated short give it an inventiveness that don't come with other adaptations of books to Disney animation. Here, Rabbit becomes irate and near impatient as Pooh gets stuck in his rabbit-hole after consuming more honey than needed. Pooh then is stuck for a week until he can loose the excess baggage, where a very climactic and momentous pull of Pooh is lead in song and action. All of this is very clever, and even for little kids its got nothing at all complicated about it- even if all the points and little jokes aren't caught the thrust of the storytelling and joyous nature even in the safer moments are near-perfect. And unlike what apparently is meant for current pre-K programming today (Teletubbies aren't on anymore at least), the whole mood is very pure without being pandering. There's no overt vulgarity, and the over-the-top moments don't get old ("Don't feed the bear" is another quotable phrase). Highly recommended.

If memory serves, the original Steiff toy belonging to the late Christopher Robin Milne, "Winnie the Pooh", now resides in Manhattan, either at the New York Public Library or at publisher E.P. Dutton's headquarters. The symbolism is obvious: a British children's classic has made the transatlantic leap.

Disney scriptwriters have been heavily criticized for de-emphasizing the Britishness of Pooh, beginning with this first film in what became a series of theatrical short subjects. Most of the voices - Christopher is an exception - are American. Sterling Holloway became so identified with the title role that it is hard to imagine anyone else, British or American, taking it over.

The best thing about "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" is that it is adapted directly from Alan Milne's printed work. As I did in 1966, a child today seeing this film for the first time could ask for the book version and receive something unusually congruent with the screenplay.

Christopher Robin Milne, bookshop owner and authors' rights heir, had notoriously mixed feelings about his father's creation. In particular, he had his doubts about the effect Disney's version might have on the original.

Not to worry: the Disney machine has generated far more positive attention for Pooh than a global army of publishers.

This is the first of the 4 Winnie the Pooh short films, and a really great one at that, too! Everything is introduced into this short classic, and the storyline fits perfectly. The animation is great and the songs are catchy. The voice cast is perfect, as well. But let me tell you this. I may be in my teenage years, but ANYONE would love Winnie the Pooh. By the way, this is the one out of the four I enjoyed the most through my whole life. Seriously. I do enjoy the other three, too, but if you want to make sure, see my reviews for the others. But you'll find this one more than satisfying. I highly recommend this, as well as the others.

Wonderful classic tells the story of Winnie the Pooh's honey craving and the lengths he will go to in order to get some. It's a fun story with the memorable image of Pooh stuck in the door to Rabbit's house that everybody is familiar with. The characters, as always, are lovable and memorable. In addition to Pooh and Rabbit, there's Kanga, Eeyore, Owl, Roo, Gopher, and, of course, Christopher Robin. Piglet and Tigger would appear in the next Pooh short from Disney. The animation is excellent and there's some great songs by the Sherman Brothers. Let's not forget Sebastian Cabot's terrific narration. It's a great cartoon and would appear later in "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh," which is where I first saw it.