The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

This is one from the dark ages of Disney animation, that awful period between Walt Disney’s death in 1966 and the brief renaissance that was initiated by the Little Mermaid in 1989. At the same time, though, it’s not quite true that this is a product of the dark ages since in fact this movie is actually just three Winnie the Pooh shorts stuck together and the first two shorts (2/3 of the movie) have their origins from a time when Disney was still alive to make sure his animators had the fear of God in them.

Based on the popular children’s stories by English author A.A. Milne this movie is by nature episodic and disjointed. There is however a clever if somewhat slapdash attempt to provide a unifying spirit by structuring the stories around the memories of Christopher Robin, who eventually must abandon his fantasies of childhood to go off to boarding school, all of which seem to be built entirely upon a deep seeded loneliness. There’s actually a hint of tragedy in the premise. I can’t be the only one who thought that it was sad and strange that Pooh Bear and friends all existed solely because they are his “imaginary friends”, right?

Anyway the movie quickly moves through a number of charming vignettes about life in the Hundred Acre Wood, where Christopher Robin played, all of which are narrated as if the audience is being read to by some great big burly Nanny. Each short is slightly less appealing than the one before it, indeed, the last portion of the movie is very bland in comparison to the first. But what makes the bulk of the stories so wonderful is how simple and disarmingly mild they are; perfect for small children or adults who have had a very stressful day. In fact, I dare anyone who puts on this movie to not be relaxed by watching Pooh fly up the honey tree on a little balloon.

While there isn’t much in the way of animation to praise the music fits the tone of the sheltered childhood fantasy perfectly and is often just as cathartic as the gentle characters in Christopher Robin’s twisted fantasy world (save for the Tigger song, which is wild in an awesome way). Also the stories and delightful characters themselves offer up quite a lot of effective humor. Everyone, for instance, remembers the story about Pooh being so fat that he has to live inside Rabbits doorway for days to lose weight right? What a riot! If it sounds silly, trust me, it’s actually pretty sweet, especially when a beaver with a speech impediment gets involved. If you see it and still disagree...well then may God have mercy on your cynical black heart.

This movie is clearly not intended to be great filmmaking, it’s just a soothing, charming taste of English childhood, which I think traditionally comes with a side of blood sausage. In it’s intended end it succeeds, for at least most of the way. Gradually, it just turns into a Saturday morning cartoon but by then you and your children might actually be fast asleep anyway.

I give it 3.8 out of 5 honey pots. A happy romp inside a small boy’s imagination... a sad, somewhat neglected, and sterile imagination.