Hello & welcome back. Today we start the final part of our visit to The Hundred Acre Wood. Never fret though as there is one more article to come after this one. For those of you wondering about Blustery Day and Tigger Too, there are no good quality versions available online. Sorry. Now as I stated originally I had planned to use The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh to review these shorts but my VHS copy doesn't seem to work but no matter. With that out of the way, let's begin.
The Plot
Y'know in some ways, it seems like the title is misleading. Now don't get me wrong, it's not a bad title but this short really isn't about Pooh Bear and a honey tree. Rather it's about Pooh Bear getting stuck in Rabbit's hole/front door and his friends trying to get him out but he is stuck there for a very long time. Now don't get me wrong it does start with Pooh looking for honey and that does lead to Pooh's predicament. Now I do like the story and by the way, make sure to check out this awesome Avengers illustration done in the style of Winnie The Pooh with The Hulk being the one stuck. Sorry back on topic, this may be a simple plot but simple works.
Narration
Narrator - Sebastian Cabot
I loved the narration in this short and it was of course the classic narration that only Cabot could deliver. In many ways, Cabot set the standard for Pooh Bear narration and in many ways, he is the pinnacle of great narration. I think he is perhaps one of the greatest Disney narrators. To think that the same person that played Bagheera in The Jungle Book was also the narrator for one childhood's greatest memories.
Opening Theme
Winnie The Pooh
I'm sure you've been waiting to hear my thoughts on this song. Well, what is there to say about it that hasn't been said already. It's a classic and a great song. The Sherman Brothers at some of their finest. It is a great song and indeed one of the best. In case your wondering why, I chose to include this here instead of with the other songs is because it just feels right to start off this way.
Characters
Now I'll be breaking this down into Main & Supporting. Also keep in mind that Piglet and Tigger do not appear in this short. Tigger, I can't recall why he was not in this one but as for Piglet, what I understand is that Gopher was meant to replace Piglet and while the U.S. loved him, the U.K's reaction can be best summed up as "Where's Piglet?" So this was remedied in The Blustery Day as Piglet along with Tigger make their animated debut in that short.
Main Characters
Pooh voiced by Sterling Holloway
This is what I expect with Pooh Bear. I love Cummings but to me Sterling Holloway is the greatest Pooh Bear and this short shows why. Holloway just brought something to this character that made him so memorable. As for this short, it was just so much fun to watch Pooh Bear scour The Hundred Acre Wood looking for honey and you feel bad for him when he gets stuck and he's there for so long. Though part of me has to wonder why didn't Pooh just use Rabbit's back door as that would've prevented this debacle but there wouldn't be much of a story otherwise. Still, it was fun and I'm just happy to finally to get to talk about Holloway's Pooh Bear during this event.
Rabbit voiced by Junius Matthews
Surprisingly, Rabbit was more likable and tolerable in this short then I would have thought. Perhaps I've been too hard on this character in the past as he isn't as bad as I thought. Also when you have a bear stuck in your front door that can be hard to deal with. Also after watching this short, I think I know what Will Ryan was trying to do with his Rabbit as I think he was trying to copy Junius Matthews but it doesn't mean it worked. I think Matthews was a really fun Rabbit.
Supporting Characters
Christopher Robin voiced by Bruce Reitherman
I think this has to be Christopher Robin's biggest role in anything that I've reviewed to date. He is the glue that holds The Hundred Acre Wood together and it was fun watching him try to get Pooh out of the hole.
Gopher voiced by Howard Morris
As stated up top, Gopher was originally meant to replace Piglet but in my opinion, I don't think he is a very memorable character and thank goodness, Piglet was finally added in the following short as Gopher just doesn't gel with The Hundred Acre Wood, if you ask me.
Owl voiced by Hal Smith
There really isn't to much to say about Owl in this short but again, this was the first short featuring these characters so that doesn't surprise me. Though I will say that so far out of everything that I've watched Pooh related next to Craig Ferguson as Owl, this is perhaps the best Owl performance.
Music
Up, Down and Touch The Ground
I really like this song, it's cute and such a great song to open this short on. It is a great performance and just sets the mood of this character so well. Perhaps not of the more memorable songs but still, I enjoy it and I think it is really cute.
Rumbly In My Tumbly
Again, another cute song and it fits the character of Pooh Bear so well. It is just so enjoyable and just so simple. I think that is what works with these songs, they're simple and that works best for these songs.
Little Black Rain Cloud
I think that this has to be my favorite song from this short. I also think that it is perhaps the most memorable and just watching Pooh go after the honey is so funny even if he fails but this song is just so cute and makes me realize that balloons are used a lot in Pooh Bear stories. Go figure!
Pooh Will Soon Be Free
Sadly, the only videos I could find for this song were AMV's but all the same, this is a good song and good triumph song. Now you may notice that I did not mention Eeyore, Kanga or Roo but that's because they really served no purpose to the short. Not to say they were bad characters but I didn't feel the need to bring them up. As for the song, I like it, it's okay.
My Final Thoughts
This short was a good start to this character's existence with Disney and a lot of fun and I think it'll only get better as time goes on. It was cute short to be sure and the characters that were here were used well. Join me next time as I close out this event the same way I started with a Top 6 when I countdown my Top 6 Pooh Bear Moments.
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