The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

I-008197 / G / US / 1965 - 1977 / Disney, Walt / / animation

Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The / Nalle Puh (video) / Nalle Puhin seikkailuja (TV). PC: Walt Disney Productions. A compilation of three Winnie the Pooh episodes linked with special animated material on the concept of the ”living book”. Based on the original stories by A.A. Milne and the original illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard. The first video release of this compilation in Finland in 1997 by Buena Vista Home Video. Finnish dialogue and songs by Pekka Lehtosaari. Total length 71’ VHS PAL /25 fps/. Plus Making Of bonus track. Viewed in Pirkkala, Saturday 27 December 1997. ****
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree / Nalle Puh ja hunajapuu. 1965. D: Wolfgang Reitherman. 074566
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day / Nalle Puh ja tuulinen päivä. 1968. D: Wolfgang Reitherman. 077773
Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too / Nalle Puh ja Tiikeri kans! 1974. D: John Lounsbery. 086028
This film has been labeled a Disney Classic, one of the 35 official classic animated Disney features. As such, it has been the most elusive of them in Finland. The original episodes were promptly released in Finnish cinemas, but this 1977 feature edition first surfaced on television in 1993. Seeing it for the first time now I was amazed at the concept which was so faithful to the Milne / Shepard originals. The relaxed tempo and the gentleness of spirit are in contrast to the hectic rhythm of the regular animated series of the era. The first two episodes belong to the last projects personally supervised by Disney, and of The Blustery Day he won his last (posthumous) Oscar. It has a dream sequence worthy of Dumbo. During the years from The Jungle Book (1967) to Beauty and the Beast (1991) this was probably the greatest Disney animated feature. It probably was the last with Walt’s spirit in it.