The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh *** (1977, voices of Sterling Holloway, Paul Winchell, Sebastian Cabot, Junius Matthews, Barbara Luddy) – Classic Movie Review 8194

Walt Disney Productions’s 1977 animated feature The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is the 22nd Disney animated feature film and is distributed by Buena Vista. Basically the feature is a collection of animated Disney short films based on the beloved stories and characters by A A Milne. The directors are John Lounsbery and Wolfgang Reitherman.

Sterling Holloway provides the voice of Winnie the Pooh the bear and Paul Winchell provides the voice of Tigger. Sebastian Cabot is the narrator, in his final film before his death from a stroke five months after its release. Christopher Robin is voiced by Bruce Reitherman, Jon Walmsley and Timothy Turner, Piglet is voiced by John Fiedler, Eeyore, is voiced by Ralph Wright, Roo is voiced by Clint Howard and Dori Whitaker, Kanga is voiced by Barbara Luddy, Tigger is voiced by Paul Winchell, Rabbit is voiced by Junius Matthews, Owl is voiced by Hal Smith and Gopher is voiced by Howard Morris.

What we have here are three previously released animated Disney short films – Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974) – plus linking material to merge the stories into each other. A fourth short film, with Jon Walmsley as Christopher Robin, was added to end the film.

All three shorts have vintage songs by the Sherman Brothers including ‘Winnie the Pooh’ and ‘The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers’.

Walt Disney intended to make a Winnie the Pooh feature film but decided to make shorts instead — after production had begun, apparently to popularise the characters with American audiences. It was the last film involving Walt Disney (5 December 1901 – 15 December 1966) personally, though only Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree was released in his lifetime.

It was released in a double bill with Disney’s British-made live action Escape from the Dark [The Littlest Horse Thieves] on 11 March 1977.

Its popular characters spawned a franchise of sequels and TV shows, clothing, books, toys, and attractions at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland.

Walt Disney Productions followed it up with a nine-minute educational short Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons (1981), as well as a fourth cinema released short film featurette Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore, released in cinemas on 11 March 1983.

As a film producer, Walt Disney holds the record for most Academy Awards earned by an individual, with 22 Oscars from 59 nominations.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8194

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