Hello & welcome back to our visit of The Hundred Acre Wood. Although today is a bit different as in the show that I'll be looking at, it isn't called Hundred Acre Wood, rather Pooh Corner. You see today, I'm taking a look at an episode of the very first Pooh Bear show. Now originally I had plans to review the infamous Too Smart For Strangers that is a stranger danger special but no just no. I couldn't do it, I mean I tried. I really tried but I couldn't make it through. Now as for this episode, it was all right. Not great but leaps and bounds above Davis, which this show aired alongside and it was done in a similar fashion as Davis.
Episode Title
Eeyore Joins The Band
The title is simple and to the point and sums up the episode but again with children's episodes, you usually get simplified episode titles.
The Plot
The plot is again rather simple but I'm okay with that but it isn't a case of where the entire plot can be summed by the title. As with most episodes of this show we open with the narrator, and I believe this is the only time we ever have an onscreen narrator, the true story starts when our narrator opens the book and we see The Pooh Corner Band practicing and playing music and there is Eeyore hiding in the bushes listening to the music and sighing that he can't play anything or sing. His friends feel bad and want to help Eeyore and decide to teach him how to play and sing. Now this plot is okay but I have to admit that Eeyore did tend to get on my nerves with him always putting himself down. Now yes I know that does fit in with the character of Eeyore but it was a little grating and it didn't seem as though he was willing to try.
Narration
Narrator - Laurie Main
I have to say that I was a fan of this narrator. He was very welcoming and felt like an open relative that always had a story to tell. He was simple but I felt the show wouldn't have worked without him and that's important for a narrator. I mean yes, he did the usual thing of summing up the plot and asking the children what they think Eeyore should do but surprisingly that didn't bug me.
Characters
Now I'll just be breaking this down into Main, & Supporting. With that out of the way, let's begin.
Main Characters
Eeyore voiced by Will Ryan
This episode was a great highlight for Eeyore. Even though as I mentioned above, he did grate on me because in the beginning it appeared that he didn't want to try but after his friends made him intrustments and Tigger taught him to sing, Eeyore wouldn't stop practicing. As the narrator put it, Eeyore practiced when it was hot and when it was cold. When it was hot, it got a slight chuckle out of me if only for the fact that seeing Eeyore wear sunglasses is just humorous. It was so awesome getting to see Eeyore shine at the end and sing with his friends.
Supporting Characters
Pooh voiced by Hal Smith
Pooh was little different in this show as while he was still not smart, he was smarter than some of the other incarnations. As for Pooh's role in The Pooh Corner Band, he played the drums which were made out of honey pots. It was a lot of fun and while Pooh may not have been in the episode much, I did enjoy his time.
Piglet voiced by Phil Baron
Again like our two previous reviews, Piglet along with the rest of the characters were more background characters than anything else but I can say if nothing else, this show helped me figure out why, I for the longest time thought that Piglet was a girl when I was young boy. It's his voice, I swear Piglet's voice to me sounded a little bit girlish. Yet oddly, Piglet was portrayed by a man. Go figure. As for Piglet's role in the The Pooh Corner Band, he played the milk bottles.
Owl also voiced by Hal Smith
Owl was perhaps the least important of the supporting characters. I mean like the other characters he did help Eeyore discover that Eeyore does have talent and he is also the one that introduces the The Pooh Corner Band.
Rabbit also voiced by Will Ryan
Again, Rabbit was just another background character. He was there to serve his purpose and get the story going but that is all that was needed. I will say this much about Rabbit, I cannot stand his voice in this show, it is very annoying. A similar problem that I have with Eeyore but Eeyore's voice fits him whereas I don't think the voice for Rabbit does.
Tigger also voiced by Will Ryan
Tigger was perhaps the most useful of the supporting characters as he is the one that pushed Eeyore along to practice and try. It was a sweet moment and rather touching. It was fun to watch Tigger push Eeyore and try something new. Now I should also mention that Tigger had a song at the end of the episode that had nothing to do with the episode but I was okay with that as according to my research, each of the characters were given their own theme. While yes, I know Tigger already has a theme and it's classic, I can see why they chose to write new songs for this show and also I should mention while they did not appear in this episode, Robert and Richard Sherman did pen some songs for this show.
Music
The Tigger Strut
Now I'll admit I am including the episode for these songs but it is easier this way and this video has the better quality and while there were three songs in the episode, I'll only be focusing on the three that related to the actual story as the fourth song does not. I have to be honest if there was any downside to this episode, it was just the music. Now it isn't awful or terrible but rather just forgettable. I mean for a kid's show it's cute but it doesn't stand out.
Practice Makes Perfect/Mr. Song and Dance Man
I think Practice Makes Perfect is where the episode picks up a bit as this is what it takes to get Eeyore to try and it works rather well. It's fun and perhaps my favorite song from the episode. Odd, that my favorite song isn't one from The Pooh Corner Band. Now as for the next song, it does feel like something that you'd hear at a performance but again, it's only okay.
My Final Thoughts
Now I'll admit that this show isn't perfect but I did find myself genuinely enjoying myself through this. It's not a classic by any stretch of the word but it is so much better than Davis and his circus. This show used the characters in a good manner and yes there were some changes made to the characters that I didn't address such as the fact that Rabbit enjoys magic and Tigger likes to paint but I don't mind the show giving these characters new hobbies because they also kept their old ones such gardening and bouncing. Still, it's a lot of fun and I think my only nitpick is the look is a bit jarring but for an almost 30 year old show, it's minor and perhaps I'm more forgiving to this show than Dumbo's Circus. Part of that comes from the fact that A. I have stronger connections to Dumbo than I do to Pooh Bear and B. I actually recall watching this show as a little boy. Honestly folks I was expecting to have to use the Disney Face Palm with this but it wasn't needed here. Join me next time for a special Can We Talk about as I delve into the issue I have with the character of Darby from My Friends Tigger & Pooh
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