Disney Sundays: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

         When I was seven years old, my family moved from the East Coast of Canada to Winnipeg. On my first trip to the zoo there I was excited to discover that the city was the home of the bear who inspired Winnie the Pooh. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, Winnipeg or “Winnie” was a young black bear smuggled into England by Canadian soldiers during the First World War and quickly became a celebrity of the London zoo, inspiring author A.A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin. Discovering the history this early childhood icon of mine had with my new city was something I became proud of. 
          Of course I wasn’t the only kid who loved Winnie the Pooh. Ever since Disney made those shorts based on Milne’s stories starting in the late 1960s, he and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood have become Disney staples. For me and many other children, it was among the very first Disney properties we became familiar with. But why? What is it that’s given Winnie the Pooh such staying power?
          The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was the character’s feature debut, though in actual fact it was mostly an amalgamation of the shorts made up to that point. So it was a fairly cheap film for Disney to make. Set in the idyllic Hundred Acre Wood the film consists of a series of episodes in the lives of Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga, and Roo the make believe friends of a boy called Christopher Robin. There’s not much to the film, the conflicts relatively small, often based around Pooh’s attempts to get honey and Tigger’s bloated ego. It’s fairly disjointed with the added wraparounds pretty obvious and a lack of consistency in pace. Not to mention the stories themselves are never interesting, there’s no villain, and the characters don’t really change over the course of the film.
          But that is sort of what Winnie the Pooh is. It is a little pedantic and basic, the characters unchanging and immature in a naive innocent sort of way, the tone generally light and the episodes overly whimsical. And hell, despite Sebastian Cabot being narrator you might swear it was a kid telling this story. Well I think there’s something to that. What with the childlike behaviour of the characters, their common insecurities and fears, the simple lessons, and how everyone is dependant on Christopher Robin, I really admire how it does feel like these stories are being told by a child, only with better articulation. The characters after all are all based on toys A.A. Milne’s son played with, and so he simply combined morality lessons with the imagined creations of his child. They all act like kids, can’t read or write, they just live and try to enjoy themselves. And I think because of that, the world of Winnie the Pooh resonates. Pooh and the gang are a symbol of innocent early childhood because of how harmless and whimsical they are. They’re the kind of characters and adventures young kids would invent for themselves and their imagined friends. Not a lot of danger or conflict, just fun and relaxation. And for many of us, we can connect with that simplicity because it reminds us of that period in our childhood when we craved a world like the Hundred Acre Wood that to us made sense even if it wouldn’t to anyone else. 
          We can also connect with the characters who for all their immaturity are incredibly memorable and timeless. All children can relate to at least one of these characters. Pooh is of course the poster child for virtuous naivety and is a likable straight man. He’s dumb and fat but loves himself for it, and is genial, friendly, and sweet, one of those characters it’s hard to hate. Disliking this silly old bear is like disliking Sesame Street -is it really worth it? He’s voiced by Sterling Holloway who’d  been doing voices for Disney for decades and at last got a character perfect for him. There’s really no one other than Holloway who could have done this (except perhaps Jim Cummings), and it made the character iconic. The timid Piglet has the same friendliness and kindness but is constantly frightened and anxious. John Fiedler also provides a perfectly distinct voice. Tigger is the rambunctious one, a braggart representative of so many children who like to show off and love everything till they’ve tried it. It’s actually a type of child character I don’t think I’ve seen elsewhere and Paul Winchell performs it with an admirable energy, also forever becoming associated with the role. The curmudgeon Rabbit voiced by Junius Matthews makes for a great foil. The cast also consists of Ralph Wright as Eeyore the depressed Charlie Brown of the group, Hal Smith as Owl the perceptively wise mentor, Clint Howard as Roo, and Barbara Luddy as Kanga. Many of these characters seem to be experiencing the world for the first time and it’s their honest responses and emotions that really endear them to you.
          Though the film doesn’t venture into any dangerous territory (that would have to wait until Pooh’s Grand Adventure) it does have a few tenser  moments, like in one scene where Rabbit’s wandering alone in the forest. And  Disney seems to like coupling elephants with trippiness as we get the Heffalumps and Woozles sequence which is a clear call-back to “Pink Elephants on Parade” though not near as surreal. It’s a catchy song though. These songs also were written by the Sherman Brothers and while none are that great, there is a soothing quality to them. Yeah, they are songs for little kids, but by those standards feel exceptional. Tigger’s song and the principal number are even earworms.
          I like the device of using the storybook as a wraparound which allows the characters to comment and break the fourth wall (like a G-rated Deadpool), and it really adds to the atmosphere. The characters and situations do feel so essentially storybook, that literalizing the book feels very right. It also provides for some creativity as characters hop over sentences and go across pages. And as far as story transitions go it’s alright. The characters are interested in the next stories which encourages the audience to be as well. And you know what, every so often they have a good joke.
          Though The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh may have originated as shorts, unlike some of the package films, I think it works better when put together, because it does give us enough of a glimpse into these characters and their world, and though there’s few running threads and they break once in a while to have a party for Pooh and Piglet for instance, the film feels like a rounded whole, particularly around the ending. I’m not going to spoil for what little it is of a spoiler, but the ending is actually bittersweet and there’s a poignancy to it. You suddenly become aware there’s a theme about growing up at play and the sweetness with which its dealt, the importance of the relationship between Pooh and Christopher Robin makes it almost moving, especially in that famous imagery of the two of them holding hands.
          The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh may not have been a commercial success, it may not be that interesting in terms of its stories, and most of the time isn’t really going anywhere. But there’s a charm, honesty, and innocence to Winnie the Pooh that can’t be replicated and it shines in this film. There is a timelessness to the characters and world, their designs and personalities that’s never died and hopefully never will. Returning to this film may be a nostalgia trip for some, or a chance to revisit classic characters, but I find it hard to believe that even those who’ve managed to avoid Winnie the Pooh during their early years will get nothing out of this film. Of all the Disney movies that don’t need to offer anything for adults, this one surprisingly does anyway. It may not be a great movie in traditional ways, but if anyone knows and understands the importance of less is more, it’s Winnie the Pooh.

Next Week: The Rescuers (1977)