The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh (1977)

The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh - 1977

Coming up next is a beloved children's classic.  1977's "The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh" introduces us to the iconic Winnie The Pooh and his friends of the Hundred Acre Wood.

The film's voice cast includes Sterling Holloway, Paul Winchell, John Fiedler, Junius Matthews, Ralph Wright, Barbara Luddy, Clint Howard, Bruce Reitherman, Hal Smith, Howard Morris, and Sebastian Cabot.

Right away, we're introduced to Winnie The Pooh, a bear of very little brain who has an obsession with honey.

Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood where Christopher Robin plays,
You'll find the enchanted neighborhood of Christopher's childhood days...

At the sound of his Poohkoo clock, Pooh knows that it's time to eat.  Especially so, because he has a "rumbly in my tumbly".  He commences with his stoutness exercise.

When I up down touch the ground, it puts me in the mood.
Up down touch the ground, in the mood...for food.

I am stout, round, and I have found speaking poundage-wise,
I improve my appetite when I exercise.

I am short, fat, proud of that, and so with all my might,
I up down, up down to my appetite's delight.

Pooh finds that his honey pots are empty, and he's a bit sad.  But he decides to go out and seek some of his coveted honey for himself.

Meanwhile, we're introduced to Eeyore, who is having some trouble with his tail.  Christopher Robin nails it on so he won't lose it.

Pooh decides to get honey directly from the source: from the bees.  He covers himself in black mud and hangs on tightly to a balloon that carries him up into the trees.

I'm just a little black rain cloud hovering over the honey tree...

When that doesn't work, Pooh decides to prevail upon his friend Rabbit for some honey.  Rabbit knows what's in store when he hears Pooh calling for him.

Rabbit offers Pooh just a very little bit of honey, to which Pooh is confused.  Eventually though, Pooh literally consumes every drop of the precious golden liquid.

Pooh gets so bloated with honey that he can't get out Rabbit's front door.  "Well, it all comes from eating too much," observes Rabbit.  To which Pooh frustratingly responds, "It all comes from not having front doors big enough!"

Pooh has to remain in place until he can slim down.  Not wanting to look at Pooh's behind, Rabbit decides to improvise some art, and he tries to make Pooh's back end look like a moose.

Eventually, Pooh gets extricated from Rabbit's front door and winds up in the biggest and best honey hole of them all.

The next part of the story introduces us to Pooh's best friend Piglet, who is sweeping up the leaves on a blustery day in front of his family home.  "It belonged to my grandfather, Trespassers Will.  That's short for Trespassers William.  And Grandma, she called him T.W."

The weather is so bad and the wind is so strong that the tree in which Owl's house is situated is knocked down.  Owl doesn't seem too worried, though.

As the windy weather continues, Pooh hears a strange sound late at night which startles him awake.

It's a new friend: Tigger!  Tigger bounces his way into our hearts and Pooh's home and proclaims "I'm the only one!"  After making Pooh's acquaintance, he bounces off into the night, and Pooh goes back to bed.

Pooh dreams about heffalumps and woozles, terrifying creatures that seem to be after Pooh's honey.

As Pooh sleeps, the rain begins to fall and eventually a flood sweeps through the Hundred Acre Wood.  Piglet writes a note and sends it off in a bottle informing Christopher Robin that he needs to be rescued.

Inadvertently, Pooh rescues Piglet and is thrilled when Christopher Robin says he's a hero.

An even greater perk of being a hero is the Hero's Party that Christopher Robin throws for Pooh.  An occasion on which Pooh can indulge in a smackerel of honey.

In the next segment of the film, Tigger seems to be making a nuisance of himself by bouncing on everyone.  Rabbit holds a protest meeting in which he decides to get rid of Tigger by leading him deep into the forest and then losing him.

Once at a good distance into the forest, the gang hides from Tigger, who bounces off in search of his friends.  The trouble is: it's so misty and foggy that Pooh, Piglet, and Rabbit can't seem to find their way back.

Pooh and Piglet make it out of the forest, but Rabbit is still lost.  The joke is on them because Tigger found his way out of the forest some time earlier.  When he finds that Rabbit is missing, Tigger sets out in search of him.

Tigger finds Rabbit, much to Rabbit's chagrin, and bounces him all the way home.

In the next segment, Tigger and Roo bounce around the forest.  When Tigger bounces too high, he and Roo get stuck up a tree.  Tigger is terrified of trying to get down.

Christopher Robin is sent for.  "What's up?" he asks.  "Tigger and Roo are up," says Pooh matter-of-factly.

Once he's safely on the ground, Tigger is overjoyed to be back on firm soil.

At the end of the film, Christopher Robin leaves the Hundred Acre Wood to go to school.  He spends some time with Pooh.  "Pooh, what do you like doing best in the world?" asks Christopher Robin.  "What I like best is me going to visit you and you saying, 'How about a smackerel of honey?'" says Pooh with a smile.

Christopher Robin and Pooh skip off together.  "Wherever they go and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on top of the forest, a little bear will always be waiting," says the narrator.

Cast rundown:

   Sterling Holloway...............................Winnie The Pooh

   Paul Winchell.....................................Tigger

   John Fiedler.......................................Piglet

   Junius Matthews................................Rabbit

   Ralph Wright......................................Eeyore

   Barbara Luddy....................................Kanga

   Clint Howard......................................Roo

   Bruce Reitherman...............................Christopher Robin

   Hal Smith..........................................Owl

   Howard Morris....................................Gopher

   Sebastian Cabot.................................Narrator

And that it for The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh.  It's probably the catalyst that started one of the most successful children's franchises of all time.  It launched a television show, countless books, direct-to-video films, songs, and even a ride at Disneyland.  And who couldn't love that "silly old bear"?

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