Boo To You Too! Winnie The Pooh

Happy Halloween!  Now seeing as I was gone most of the month, I wasn't able to do another series of Halloween reviews this year but nonetheless I have decided to do a review of the Halloween special, Boo To You Too! Winnie The Pooh.  This is the start of a special sub series of reviews where I'll be taking a look  at the holiday specials from The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh. Now this special first aired on ABC as most these specials did and the original airdate was October 25th, 1996.

The Plot

Halloween has come to the 100 Acre Wood and our friends are getting ready for trick or treating. All save for Piglet.  Piglet being who he is, is too scared to go out. He lets his fears get in the way but he tells himself that this year is the year that he'll finally go out and have some fun in Halloween but alas everything does go to plan as Tigger ends up scaring the little guy not meaning to but Tigger being Tigger is one that likes to scare and be scared.  This comes after the mention of Heffalumps, Woozles, and Spookables. Which I believe to be the Pooh word for ghosts.  After hearing of these Piglet runs back home and Pooh decides that instead of having a Halloween without Piglet, they'll have Hallow Wasn't.   Again, things don't go to plan as Pooh, Tigger & Eeyore as have now new costumes, which are just sheets but to Piglet, they look to be a three headed  Spookable and Piglet goes looking for his friends but can't find any of them and he later sees Pooh who has been caught on a tree and sees Eeyore and Tigger trying to get Pooh unstuck but Piglet believes them to be Spookables and Piglet finally gets the courage to face his fears to save his friends.  There's also a subplot of Gopher trying to find a costume and the joke is that he is dressing up as different residents of the 100 Acre Wood.  It's really just a joke that goes on too long and could be cut out of the special as for the most part, the main theme of this special is facing your fears so that you can spend a night you wish to enjoy with your friends. Which in that case, Piglet is the logical choice for a special about facing fears.

Narration

Narrator - John Rhys Davies 

Now I'll admit it did seem a bit odd for have a narrator for this as New Adventures didn't rely on a narrator but it did work overall for this special as I think the narrator really got us to understand what the characters are feeling and especially for Piglet. It was used sparingly and only when needed but it was an enjoyable narration.

Characters

Now I'll be breaking this down into Main, & Supporting. Now Gopher and Rabbit also had a role in this special but I feel that they are not important enough to the story to bring up.

Plot Device

Piglet's Monster

This contraption right here is something that Piglet built to help himself overcome his fears and as stated, it didn't work.  Gotta give Piglet credit for trying though and honestly, I almost wish that we had seen more of Piglet building that thing as it's really cool.  It does come in handy later when Piglet saves Pooh from the Spookables.  Okay, I also wanna know did Piglet get help for Belle's dad on that thing as that seems like the type of thing Maurice would build.

Main Character

Piglet voiced by John Fiedler 

As I said above when talking about the plot,  Piglet was the most logical choice for a Halloween special as  these specials can deal with fear and being afraid.  Piglet is a character that is very fearful and we find out that Piglet's fears have kept him from enjoying every Halloween.  Piglet always let his fears get in the way and as stated Piglet built this monstrous contraption to try and get over his fears and it does it's job but still I think it was a great idea to use Piglet because I think that it showed that even the most timid and fearful people can overcome their fears and we shouldn't  let our fears keep us from doing something that we want. In a way, it's almost like when someone gets anxious about going somewhere they've never been before. They don't know what it's like and they are scared, even though they want to go. Oh and just so you know as awesome as that thing is, that was not Piglet's Halloween costume.  No, instead he went as a flower. Dude,  I know your not into frights but c'mon, you had an awesome costume that you built and instead went as a flower.  Really?! 

Supporting Characters

Pooh voiced by Jim Cummings

Okay, I have to say that Pooh as a bumblebee for Halloween was a great costume choice and apparently he was using to try and get Honey. Sadly,  that didn't work out for Pooh Bear as his costume came off and the bees weren't confused. Just a small little joke that was funny.  In the latter half of the special, we see Pooh trying to help Piglet overcome his fears with Hallow Wasn't and I think the Spookables idea was great and so funny and very important for Piglet to overcome his fears. 

The Spookables 

Tigger also voiced by Jim Cummings

Tigger was so much fun in this short as unlike Piglet, he loved scaring and being scared. Which is further explored in his song, I Wanna Scare Myself.  Tigger's big goal for the night was to try and pull off a big trick and he gets one in on Rabbit and messes with his pumpkins and turns them into Jack-O'-Lanterns.  It was fun and his song felt very much like the Heffalumps and Woozles segment and Tigger was probably my second favorite character in this special.

Eeyore voiced by Peter Cullen

Man, I hate saying this about Eeyore but again, he just felt like a tag along character.  I think that this story could've been told without him. He still served a purpose but in a way, he seemed like the third wheel to Tigger and Pooh.  Still, he was the other Spookable and that was an important moment and that was a lot of fun but at times, he was forgettable.  Also, who else loves the mummy costume that Eeyore is wearing.

Music

I Am Not Afraid 

Aw, poor Piglet!  This song makes me feel so sad for the little guy.  He really wants to go out but his fears are holding him back and he doesn't want that to be the case. This has to be the perfect song for Piglet as it just sums up who he is perfectly.  He just wants to be brave and and we've all been there at one point in our life.

I Wanna Scare Myself

Man, this song is so much fun and it has just the right Tigger feel to it and add in the Spookables,  Heffalumps , Woozles and everything else. You've got yourself a great Halloween song from the 100 Acre Wood.  Also I just  love the Boo at the end. This song is just a bunch of fun.  

My Final Thoughts

In my opinion, this is a very good Halloween special that still holds up today. Of course, I grew up with it so there may be some nostalgia blinding me.  However I do feel that this special is great with the message of not letting fear stopping you from being with your friends or doing something that you want to.  If we let fear stop us, we may miss out on something, that we would've enjoyed.  I know I've been in that position many a time.  Besides that though just as a Pooh Bear special, I have to reccomend it because it is a great piece for Piglet and again, I honestly believe that he was the right character to use for a Halloween special.  So I say if you have young kids or your someone like that likes Halloween but doesn't like Horror films, this is a great special to watch alongside It's a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Personally, I prefer to that special as more happens here than in that one but that's just my opinion.  Also...