Hello and welcome back. Today, we once again continue our visit to The Hundred Acre Wood as I once again delve in The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh as I take a look at the sequel episode to yesterday's episode as I review A Bird In The Hand. Now this episode is also a sequel to the episode, The Great Honey Pot Robbery as our villains, Stan The Woozle and Hef The Heffalump first appeared in that episode. With this out of the way, let's get started.
Episode Title
A Bird In The Hand
I have to say that I'm not as big a fan of this title as the last one. It's okay, I guess and it does relate to what happens to our friends but compared to Find Her, Keep Her it just seems generic. Now this isn't a bad thing and the title is said in the episode but I just feel that Find Her, Keep Her summed up the episode better than the title for this episode. I know this seems like an odd complaint and at best, it's a nitpick but I do like looking at the episode titles when I do episode reviews because sometimes they can give you an idea of the episode and while you get that here, a tad, I'm just not a fan.
The Plot
In this episode, we open on Rabbit preparing a welcome home party for Kessie. Though, he's disappointed when she returns as she has grown up and Rabbit is delusional to that and wants to treat her the same as when she was a baby bird. Meanwhile, Stan and Hef, our aforementioned villains see the honey that Pooh brought along and hatch a plan to steal it that involves kidnapping Kessie as ransom but they don't need to as Kessie ends up running away as she can't stand Rabbit not treating her like an adult and she goes looking for a nest as she runs into Stan and Hef, who kidnap her anyway and leave a ransom note on Pooh Bear's door, who of course can't read and this is after Rabbit thinks that Kessie is playing hide and seek and is upset that she has gone so far from home. He is taken in by Stand and Hef as well. While Piglet, Pooh, and Tigger go looking for Rabbit and Kessie. One by one, they're kidnapped and it's up to Kessie to save the day as she starts to act like Rabbit, saying that they'll be staying with Stan and Hef as they'll now be taking care of them. It works much to the annoyance of our villains. As they get honey all over them when Kessie asks them to pull out a honey pot in a hard area to pull. I have to say that this episode's plot at best is rushed. Also it just seems that they were trying to cram too much in this single episode and it didn't have the time to focus on, what I feel should have been crucial, the relationship of Rabbit and Kessie. Still, not bad but just rushed.
Characters
For this review, I'll be breaking this down into Main, Supporting, & Villains.
Main Characters
Kessie voiced by Laura Mooney
Now I do apologize for not having a picture of Kessie for this episode but I could not find one. As for Kessie in this episode is trying to prove that she's a grown up but Rabbit won't hear it. As stated prior, he is just delusional to the fact and does not want Kessie to grow up but at the end, Kessie does prove to Rabbit that she is a grown up and can take of herself through a great little moment that gets them out of the clutches of Stan and Hef. Kessie was probably the most likable character in this episode as it's fun to see her grow up and develop.
Rabbit voiced by Ken Sansom
Rabbit, in this episode is back to being his usual self. He is again frantic but that comes from the fact that he is trying to plan the perfect welcome home party for Kessie and as I said, he is delusional to the fact that she has grown up. Seeing Kessie turn the tables and treat him like a little kid is a nice touch and it's the wake up call that Rabbit needed to realize that Kessie is grown and can take of herself.
Pooh, Piglet, & Tigger voiced by Jim Cummings, John Feilder, & Paul Winchell
Now I do apologize about grouping these characters together but just as with the last episode, I find that these three were more background characters but to be fair they had a bigger role as they do go out to find Kessie and Rabbit. Once they find Kessie and Rabbit however, they take a backseat to the interaction between Kessie and the villains.
Villains
Stand and Hef voiced by Ken Sansom & Chuck McCann
Our villains were a lot of fun and I do like the fact that this show thought it was okay to include villains. However, this episode did do one thing that bugs me with recurring villains in TV shows. In that they act as if the characters have never met the villains before, even though this is their second encounter with them. Anyways, Stan and Hef are an interesting pair as they are the first truly evil heffalump and woozle that we see as in The Many Adventures, they're more just of a bad dream then anything else. Here though, they are real and they want the honey. Stan, our woozle is the smarter and braver of the two while Hef even though he is the muscle is a scaredy cat. It's a nice dynamic and these two do work off of each other well. Sure, they're just comedic villains but with Winnie The Pooh, you don't need villains that are truly malicious. Yes, there should be a threat but there should be a fine balance. Now I've read online that these two are inspired both by Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear along with the two main characters from Of Mice and Men. Now while I have that book, it's been a while and I can't recall much about it, therefore I can't say if that is on target and the same is true for the Song of The South. On there though, I enjoy them.
My Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, this episode is okay. Not as good as Find Her, Keep Her but a substantial follow up and it is fun to see Kessie mature. I may have my qualms with this episode and yes there are plenty but even still, it's enjoyable. Join me next time we go back to the very first Pooh Bear show, Welcome To Pooh Corner and take a look at an episode of that.
No comments:
Post a Comment