Winnie l'ourson dans le vent

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Oscar-winning short from Disney has Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and the rest of the gang being forced to leave their homes after a storm with heavy rainfall comes through. I'll admit right up front that I'm really not that big of a Pooh fan. I didn't care too much for him as a kid and my tolerance level hasn't grown much more in the three decades that followed. With that said, I think even a person who hates Pooh would still find this film to be a winner simply because of the imagination that's on full display. The greatest sequence in the entire film happens during a dream sequence where the term psychedelic would certainly fit. The song is a very good once but the wonderful use of colors is what really makes this sequence jump off the screen. There are also some very funny bits to be found in the film including one inside Owl's house where everyone keeps sliding around the place. The animation quality is certainly very high but that's exactly what you expect when it comes to Disney. Fans of Pooh will certainly love this film but even those non-fans should be entertained.

Winnie The Pooh is probably Disney's most successful adapted franchises. Walt sought to do a feature in the early 60s, but decided to dole out adaptations in short subjects, because American audiences were not familiar with the British source material. The first featurette was an excellent introduction which captured the warm nostalgia for early childhood whimsy.

This featurette, the second one, is a more atmospheric, action driven adaptation, which goes back to Disney's earlier filmmaking roots. It almost feels like a Wilfred Jackson directed film overall, with the touch of perilous action and you feel that blustery wind. The sequence with Owls house swaying back and forth and Piglet sliding on the chair out the door and back inside is well executed. It's like Clyde Geronimi's sense of tight comic timing. Both Jackson and Geronimi had left the studio a decade earlier, but their influence is strongly felt in this film.

While the three featurettes that would make up the compilation feature The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh have not been in circulation since the VHS era, it is good to view them the way they were originally released to get a sense on how Americans were first introduced to these timeless characters. Even though the feature was the initial vision. Aside from unique opening and end titles, nothing is missing from the feature.

In the 90s both the compilation feature and the original featurettes were available simultaneously.

This was one of the last animated projects Walt greenlit.

Not surprisingly, this is the one featurette that won an Oscar. The story, pacing, songs, execution, make this the strongest Pooh.

Winnie the Pooh has always been a favorite of mine. The original stories are in the realm of the Mary Poppins stories, i.e., difficult to translate to film. In this instance, Disney has managed to transfer the charm of the Pooh stories intact to the screen. Winnie is simply adorable as an animated character, and Sterling Holloway gives him the perfect voice. All the other characters are voiced with perfection, too, especially Tigger, who makes his debut in this short film. Tigger almost steals the show from Pooh; when he's onscreen, you don't notice anything else. Sebastian Cabot adds just the right touch as the narrator.

The entire film has the feel of the pink elephant sequence in Dumbo; inspired, creative and unforgettable. During the storm, pages from the book blow away as the wind rises, rain washes text down the page and away into a stream, etc. Everyone should love this adaptation; Disney soon cranked Pooh out as a series, and it got tedious and sloppy. But this early effort is a real masterpiece.

"Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day", the second of the Winnie the Pooh's shorts, introduces us the characters that were missing in the first one: Piglet (who becomes Pooh's best friend) and the very humorous and super-amusing Tigger.

It has all of the qualities already seen in the first one, including cheerful songs such as "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers", "Hip Hip Pooh-ray!" and "The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down".

This one has a funny plot as well. In the first part of the story, Winnie the Pooh wishes a «Happy winds-day» to his friends (because it's a very windy day), starting with Piglet. The second part of the story takes place later, while Pooh's in bed and hears strange noises and decides to open the door anyway (after all, he's not the smartest bear in the world). This visit is... Tigger! Tigger is so funny! I love his remarkable personality, his sense of humor, his singing and his bounces! It's impossible not to like Tigger! During the third part of our story, there's a rain storm and a Hero Party that becomes a Two Hero Party, celebrated by Cristopher Robin and his pals.

The Owl is a character that loves to talk. Once he starts, he doesn't stop and he dislikes to be interrupted, although he is always polite.

The Gopher appears in this one too, but he's not in the book, you know. My favorite Piglet's line is «Oh, dear! Oh, d-d-d-dear-dear!».

My least favorite part is Pooh's dream about "hefalumps and woozels" trying to steal his honey. Nevertheless, it's bizarre, original and creative. I can't help but think of the "Pink Elephants" sequence from "Dumbo", because they're both so odd.

Initially I had doubts about the sex of Rabbit and Piglet because their voices sound somewhat feminine.

Well, T-T-F-N! Ta-ta for now! :D

This is the second of the four Winnie the Pooh featurettes. Not only this is enjoyable, but it's also memorable and successful. This probably had the most songs in one short film, and all of them are really memorable. What also made me happy about this film is that although I didn't know this little fact until about a few years ago, It won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Cartoon Short! I am very happy for Winnie the Pooh to win this award. The score is also memorable, too. What didn't satisfy me was that it didn't include the Winnie the Pooh theme song. Does anyone know why? Anyway, in conclusion, Walt Disney died during the production of this short and the Academy Award was given posthumous. So see it for him if you haven't already, because I'm very sure he would've liked it.