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Winnie the Pooh

A CELEBRATION OF THE SILLY OLD BEAR

by Christopher Robin Finch

A WELCOME BOOK

‘Disney Lincoln Township Public Library

EDITIONS
2099 W. John Beers-Rd.
Stevensville, Ml 49127
New Yor
York
(269) 429-9575
:
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks are due to Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston who provided priceless insights
into Walt’s attitude towards presenting Pooh to the movie-going public. Thanks too to Dave Smith
for uncovering important background information, to Ken Shue for supplying me with visual
references, to Howard Green for unfailing support, and to Wendy Lefkon for her patience in
bringing this project to fulfillment. As always, my wife Linda read the manuscript and offered
valuable insights and suggestions. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to an old friend, the
late Lynn Armstrong, with whom I had the pleasure of exploring the real life model for the
Hundred-Acre Wood and who was responsible for my long-ago meeting with my namesake, the
original Christopher Robin. —Christopher Finch

The producers also wish to acknowledge the following people for their indispensable contributions to
this book: Larry Ishino, Fox Carney, and Lella Smith at the Animation Research Library;
Ed Squair at the Photo Library; John Hanley of Toppan Printing Co. Ltd.; and photographer
Michael Stern.

Copyright © 2000 Disney Enterprises, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used Finch, Christopher.
or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the Disney's Winnie the Pooh: a celebration
written permission of the Publisher. of the silly old bear/
by Christopher Robin Finch.
For information address DISNEY EDITIONS p- ‘cm:
114. Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011 “A Welcome book.”
PAGE ONE: Concept art
Includes index.
Produced by WELCOME ENTERPRISES, INC. ISBN 0-7868-6352-8 for Winnie the Pooh
588 Broadway, New York, New York 10012 1. Milne, A. A. (Alan Alexander), 1882-
1956—Characters—Winnie-the-Pooh. 2. Milne, A. and the Honey Tree.
Project Director: Alice Wong A. (Alan Alexander), 1882-1956—Film and video
Designer: Jon Glick adaptations. 3. Milne, A. A. (Alan Alexander),
Disney Editions Editorial Director: Wendy Lefkon 1882-1956—Illustrations. 4. Children’s stories,
Disney Editions Senior Editor: Sara Baysinger English—Film and video adaptations. 5. Children’s
PAGE Two: Cel setup from
Disney Editions Associate Editor: Rich Thomas stories, English—Illustrations. 6. Winnie-the-Pooh
(Fictitious character) 7. Teddy bears in literature. 8. 2
Illustrations on pages 19, 38, 75, 127, 157, Toys in literature. 9. Teddy bears in art. 10. Toys in Scene 79.3 of Winnie
174-75, and 178 by E. H. Shepard, from art. I. Title. I. Title: Winnie the Pooh.
The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne, illustrat- PR6025.165Z64 2000 the Pooh and the
ed by E. H. Shepard, copyright 1928 by E. P. 791.43 6—DCali 98-23262
Dutton, renewed © 1956 by A. A. Milne. Used CIP Blustery Day.
by permission of Dutton Children's Books, a ISBN: 0-7868-6352-8
division of Penguin Putnam Inc.
First Edition
Illustrations on page 2, 17, 32-33, 37, 46-47, 10:9) 18: 716 4S 2
114, 136, and 154 by E. H. Shepard, from
PAGE THREE: Cel from
Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, illustrated by Jacket printed in Japan. % ‘
E. H. Shepard, copyright 1926 by Bye: Book printed and bound in China Scene 306 of Winnie
Dutton, renewed ©1954 by A. A. Milne. Used by Toppan Printing Co, Ltd.
by permission of Dutton Children's Books, a the Pooh and the
division of Penguin Putnam Inc.

Honey Tree.
Art on page 16 and 24 from Bettmann/Corbis.
Art on page 18 © E. O. Hoppé/Corbis.
Art on page 30-31 from the collection of the
Central Children’s Room, Donnell Library
Center, The New York Public Library. THESE PAGES: Concept art
Art on page 167 © Disney. Based on the
“Winnie-the-Pooh” works. © A. A. Milne and for Winnie the Pooh-
E. H. Shepard.
and the Honey Tree.
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for Winnie the a

Pooh and the

Blustery Day.
 CONTENTS

FOREWORD
9)

CHAPTER ONE: In Which The Origins of Winnie the Pooh Are Discussed
ZF

CHAPTER TWO: In Which Walt Disney Becomes Involved

3S.

CHAPTER THREE: In Which The Characters Are Presented:

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN 64 WINNIE THE POOH 67 PIGLET 68

TIGGER 71 RABBIT 72 EEYORE 75

KANGA & ROO 76 OWL 78 GOPHER 79

CHAPTER FOUR: In Which The Films Are Presented:

Top: Concept art for
’ , WINNIE THE POOH AND THE HONEY TREE 82
Winnie the Pooh
WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY 104

and the Honey Tree.

WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO 128

WINNIE THE POOH AND A DAY FOR EEYORE 152

axsove: Cel from CHAPTER FIVE: In Which The Popularity of Pooh Continues apove: Concept art
Scene 303 of 163 for Winnie the

Winnie the Pooh INDEX Pooh and the

174
and Tigger Too. Honey Tree.

FILM CREDITS

| 176
 FOREWORD

by Christopher Robin Finch

HAVE TO CONFESS that my interest in Winnie the Pooh is neither casual nor impartial.
The reason for this is that my name happens to be Christopher Robin. I am not the
Christopher Robin—he was an adult by the time I was born—but I am someone who
grew up with that now mythical conjunction of given names and for whom, therefore, the

Pooh stories cannot be entirely disentangled from my own sense of identity.

In addition, I lived for a while on a London square just a block from the brick house in

which the original Christopher Robin was born and grew up. And, by chance, | also came

orrosite: Concept
artfor to be quite familiar with the fringes of the Ashdown Forest where the
Winnie the Pooh and original Christopher Robin spent weekends and where the Pooh stories

me cy Tree. are set. In short, everything has conspired to compromise my objectivity.

 It might easily have been otherwise There was something reassuring
since my parents had no intention of about hearing my name in this rhymed
calling me Christopher Robin, but context. As I became a little older,
while my mother was pregnant my though—four or five, perhaps—I
paternal grandfather sent frequent began to sense that I was not the only
letters inquiring, “How is little Christopher Robin in the world. I had
Christopher Robin?” My parents knew reached the age when, like Eeyore, I
a heavy-handed hint when they sometimes stood alone in a thistly corner
encountered one and decided to grant of the forest and entertained thoughts
him his wish. such as “Why?” and “Wherefore?” and
I am not sure at what moment I first even “Inasmuch as which?” So it was
became aware that Christopher Robin that, prompted by the first stirrings of
was not just another name. At first, deductive reasoning, I became aware
when my father sang about Christopher that there was an author called A.A.
Robin (he was the tenor in the family), Milne who wrote the poems and that he
or when my mother read from When We had a son who was Christopher Robin
Were Very Young at bedtime, I vaguely before I was, though at the same time I
wondered who had taken the time to pictured this Christopher Robin as
write all these verses specially for me. being identical to me in age and other
particulars. He became a sort of literary
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares! alter ego, existing in a parallel universe.
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers. In any case, I did not allow this to turn

10 FOREWORD
into a crisis. There was room for more the dialogue. It bothered me a little
than one Christopher Robin, I believed. that Christopher Robin seemed to be
At the very least, it was not a common played by a girl, but the voices were
or garden-type name like Bob or Jim. all wonderfully expressive and I found
Oddly enough, I do not recall myself enchanted by adventures such
encountering Pooh and Piglet and as Piglet’s meeting with a Heffalump
Eeyore and Tigger and the rest of the and the “expotition” to the North Pole
Pooh Corner gang until after I knew led by my namesake. In particular,

many of the Christopher Robin poems I can remember Pooh’s voice, which
by heart. Certainly I didn’t own any properly expressed his littleness of
officially designated Pooh toys. My Pooh mind, and especially the songs
was a panda called Panda. I do not he sang:
remember family members reading the
Pooh books to me. But then, when I was “How sweet to be a Cloud

five or six, the British Broadcasting Floating in the Blue!”

Corporation began to transmit radio It makes him very proud

adaptations of Winnie the Pooh’s To be a little cloud.

adventures on The Children’s Hour, a
daily program. By this time I could read and so I
These adaptations were very faithful obtained copies of the Pooh books—
to the original, with one actor reading perhaps they were already in the house—
the Milne narrative and others performing and relived the adventures in print, to

ty
 which was added the dimension provid- of the little boy in the short pants
ed by Ernest Shepard’s wonderful line and Wellington boots. On being
illustrations (described on the jacket informed of my full name they not
cons ale Sle cote ea infrequently bared their souls and
I read both Winnie-the-Pooh and The confessed that they still slept with the
House at Pooh Corner many times, and | stuffed likeness of Tigger or Piglet or
listened to the BBC adaptations when- Pooh himself, which opened up
ever they were rebroadcast. Gradually, interesting lines of discourse.
though, I progressed to other forms of For everyday purposes I was “Chris”
literary escapism, but without ever or “Christopher,” but it was no secret
entirely losing my sense of Christopher that there was a “Robin” lurking some-
Robin-ness. And sometimes wondering where in the middleground. Certainly
if my personality would have been it was known to my friend Lynn Selden
ricuT: Concept art different if Ihad been named after and her family.
for Winnie the some other fictional character. Lynn’s father was an antique dealer
Pooh and the For a while I formed the impression in the Sussex resort town of Eastbourne.
Honey Tree. that Christopher Robin was not a good One weekend, we went to meet him at a
name for a teenager: not in the era of country auction held in a village hall
James Dean and Elvis Presley. I was somewhere in the Kent-Sussex border
mistaken, however, soon discovering country, not far from the town of
that many attractive young women Battle. After the auction, Mr. Selden
rather liked that unthreatening image waved me over and introduced me to a

12 FOREWORD
 bespectacled man in early middle age, hope,” he said, “that the name brings you

neatly dressed, as I recall, in a sports more satisfaction than it brought me.”

coat and flannels. This was delivered pleasantly
“Christopher,” he said, “I'd like enough, yet I sensed that he had agreed
you to meet your namesake, to allow Mr. Selden to introduce us
Christopher Milne.” out of politeness rather than with any
It took a moment for the penny real pleasure.
to drop. Later I learned that Christopher
“Christopher Robin Milne,” Mr. Milne had rarely been called
Selden prompted. Christopher Robin by his family, who
Then I remembered that I had heard knew him as Billy at first, then Moon,
or read that the original Christopher then just plain Christopher, and that
Robin was now an antique dealer. Or was he had come to detest the books that
he a bookseller? Something of the sort. had made his name famous, doing
I couldn't think of anything original everything he could to distance himself
to say and so muttered something like, from the arcadia his father had spun
“Pleased to meet you.” around him.
“T understand,” said Christopher Growing up in Paradise, after all, is
Milne, “that you’re a Christopher not necessarily an ideal preparation for
Robin too.” the real world. Christopher Milne
I admitted that I was. suggests as much in his memoir, The
He looked at me with sympathy. “I Enchanted Places, even as he describes a

14 FOREWORD
childhood that seems to unfold in a “Pooh,” says the fictional
kind of twilit Eden. He acknowledges Christopher Robin, on the

that there was a time he could identify penultimate page of The House at Pooh
with the Christopher Robin of the Corner, “whatever happens, you will
books but talks also of “the years trying understand, won't you?”

to escape from him.”

“So if Iseem ill at ease posing as
Christopher Robin,” he wrote, “this is
because posing as Christopher Robin
does today make me feel ill at ease.”
For Christopher Milne, I think,
Christopher Robin had become an
entirely fictional character, totally
unrelated to his own self-image. He LeFT: Pooh and

had re-invented himself and was not Christopher Robin at

thrilled at being reminded—by meeting the Pooh Sticks Bridge.

me, for instance—of the effort that must Ernest H. Shepard

have been involved in overcoming the illustration from page iv

characterization that had been so of The House at

successfully imposed upon him. Pooh Corner.

And perhaps his father anticipated

that this was bound to happen.

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 GHAPTER ONE

In Which

The Origins of Winnie the Pooh Are Discussed

LAN ALEXANDER MILNE was born on January 18, 1882, in London, the third and

youngest son of John Milne, the headmaster of a small private school called

Henley House, and his wife, Sarah. Alan received his early education at Henley

House, where H.G. Wells was for a time the science master, then attended Westminster

School in the shadow of the Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. Later he went on to

Trinity College, Cambridge, where he and his brother Ken collaborated on light verse that

was published in the university's magazine Granta.

Alan and Ken would remain close till the latter's death, but their literary partnership

ended early and Alan went on alone to become Granta’s editor before graduating in 1903
with a degree in mathematics. That same year he made his professional debut, in Vanity Fair,

opposite: A. A.
which he followed up with frequent contributions to the humor magazine

Milne and Christopher Punch, where he became an assistant editor in 1906. In 1913 he married
Robin at their home in Dorothy de Selincourt—more usually called Daphne—the goddaughter of
England, 1925.
Punch’s editor, Owen Seaman.

Ie,
 During World War I, Alan Milne “We had intended,” he wrote in his

served in the army as a signals officer. In autobiography, “to call it Rosemary, but
I916, after several months at the front, decided that Billy would be more suitable.
he was sent home to recuperate from However, as you can’t be christened
trench fever, and in 1917 his one-act William—at least, we didn’t see why

play Wurzel-Flummery was performed on anybody should—we had to think of two

a triple bill with two works by his friend other names, two initials being necessary
and mentorJ. M. Barrie, the author of to ensure him any sort of copyright in a
Peter Pan. cognomen as often plagiarized as
Discharged from the army on Milne. One of us thought of Robin
February 14, 1919, Milne found that and the other of Christopher, names
his position at Punch had been filled, wasted on him who called himself Billy
and he decided to concentrate on his Moon as soon as he could talk, and has
azove: A Portrait of career as a playwright. This proved to been Moon to his family and friends
A. A. Milne, c. 1916. be a sound decision; in 1920 he enjoyed ever since.”
his first major theatrical success with “Moon” was the child’s way of
Mr. Pim Passes By. pronouncing “Milne.”
That same year, on August 21, After his son’s birth, Alan contin-
Christopher Robin Milne—Alan and ued to turn out plays, and novels too,
Daphne's only child—was born. Alan such as The Red House Mystery, but his
is on record as wishing the child had place in history was to depend upon
been a girl: the four classic children’s books he

18 THE ORIGINS OF WINNIE THE POOH

published between 1924 and 1928. Pooh Corner, which collected the remain-
These were preceded by the initial ing Pooh stories.
Christopher Robin poem, “Vespers,” All four books were illustrated by
published in Vanity Fair in 1923. The Punch illustrator Ernest Shepard, and
poem received much favorable all four were extremely successful, in
attention and led to the first of his both England and America initially,
two collections of verse for children, and then, after being translated into
When We Were Very Young (1924). This was thirty-three languages (by recent count),
an immediate hit, and the money it around the world.
earned helped put the family in the As for A. A. Milne, he lived almost
position of being able to purchase a thirty years after taking leave of Pooh,
weekend retreat, a Sussex farmhouse but never wrote for children again. (His

located at the edge of the Ashdown popular stage adaptation of Kenneth

Forest, a magical patchwork of wood- Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, entitled
land and heath a short distance from Toad of Toad Hall, was published in 1929
London by car or train. This became but had been written in 1921.) For many
the setting for Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), a years, in fact, Milne resented that so
book of stories featuring Christopher many people thought of him solely as a
Robin and his toys. The following year children’s book author when he was
Milne published a second book of in fact also the author of witty adult
verse, Now We Are Six, and in 1928 he comedies and clever mysteries. Toward
rounded out the cycle with The House at the end of his life, however, he became

19
 reconciled to the enduring fame of his spending happy summer vacations with
most famous character, Pooh, and Ken’s widow, Maud, and her family at

acknowledged that “I can almost regard the Dorset shore. Christopher Milne
him as the creation of one of my acknowledges as much in The Enchanted
favorite authors.” Places, remarking on the ability
Despite his international success, seemingly possessed by all the Milnes
the second half of Milne’s life was far of being able to slip back into childhood
from happy, though not without sunny at will. Whether this was entirely healthy
interludes. The death by tuberculosis is another matter. It was almost as if
of his brother Ken in I929 was a severe Alan, now in his fifties, demanded
blow, and although Alan and Daphne that his son accept him as a sibling—a
remained married they began to lead fellow adolescent.
independent lives, Daphne spending By the late thirties, A.A. Milne’s
more and more time out of the coun- career was in decline, though royalties
try, paying long annual visits to New from the children’s books, and also
York. Alan, meanwhile, formed an from earlier plays still popular in

attachment to Leonora Corbett, a repertory, permitted him to support

young actress who had appeared in one his family in comfort. World War II
of his plays. saw the Milnes abandon their London
During the thirties, Alan and his home and more full time to Sussex.
son remained close, practicing cricket This seems to have led to something of
together during Sussex weekends and a reconciliation between Alan and

20 THE ORIGINS OF WINNIE THE POOH

Daphne. Christopher Milne inter- severe stroke that led to his death on
rupted his college career to join the January 31, 1956. Christopher attended
Royal Engineers and was stationed his father’s memorial service the fol-
abroad for most of the war. It was lowing month. It was the last time he
during this period that he began to ever saw his mother, even though she
free himself from what he appears to survived another fifteen years. When he
have decided was an unhealthy depen- attempted to visit her on her deathbed,
dency upon his father. After the war, she is said to have forbidden it, saying,
he distanced himself still further and, “I don’t want him to see me like this.”
against his parents’ wishes, married his Happily, during the course of
first cousin, Lesley de Selincourt. The writing his memoirs Christopher Milne
couple moved to Dartmouth, in the found himself able to dredge up fond
West Country, where they opened a memories of his father to set alongside
bookstore. It did not feature the the painful ones, and so a sort of

Winnie-the-Pooh books. In fact, posthumous reconciliation was achieved.

Christopher Milne made no secret of His mother presented him with a greater
his emphatic dislike of anything to do problem. She was artistic, he acknowl-
with the denizens of Pooh Corner. edged, but her brain, in his estimate,
His expeditions back to his old was fluff—though he admitted that she
stomping grounds became rare. did have a knack for hitting the nail on
Certainly he did not visit his parents the head, “no matter whose fingers were

often, even after his father suffered the in the way.”

pm
 A LL OF THIS is the stuff of polite took on Roosevelt’s familiar name,
upper-crust soap opera, suitable “Teddy,” and no nursery was considered
for fans of Masterpiece Theater. Ultimately, complete without one. Christopher
though, what is far more interesting is the Milne was given his bear for his first
eternal arcadian world created by A.A. birthday. It came from Harrods and was
Milne when he let himself, for a brief featured in When We Were Very Young:
time span, slip into the imagination—

perhaps the imagined imagination—of A bear, however hard he tries,

Billy Moon. Grows tubby without exercise...
The central feature of that imaginary
world is Winnie the Pooh. To be specific, this was what teddy

But who is Winnie the Pooh? How bear collectors, a serious lot, refer to as

did a bear of little brain come to be the an Alpha Farnell, which is to say a bear
possessor of such a splendid name? made in the Alpha workshop of the
The teddy bear craze dates back to J. K. Farnell company, a London soft
1902, when Theodore Roosevelt, on toy manufacturer that was among the
one of his hunting expeditions, spared first businesses to manufacture plush
the life of a bear cub, a fact that was bears of the modern type. Upholstered
celebrated in Clifford K. Berryman’s in golden mohair, this was an aristocrat
famous cartoon syndicated by the of a bruin.
Washington Post. There had been stuffed At first this future star appears to
bears before this event, but now they have been addressed as “Teddy” or

PRE) THE ORIGINS OF WINNIE THE POOH

“Edward Bear.” How he
became Pooh is not certain,
though he seems to have
been preceded by a swan to
which Christopher Milne
gave that same name.
Certainly it was Christopher
who dubbed the mohair
masterpiece “Pooh.”
As for the first part of
the name—“Winnie”—that is
more easily explained. As a
child, Christopher Milne
was often taken to the
London Zoo, where his favorite house humane to subject a bear to the apove: Pooh sitting on
guest was an American black bear called barbaric conditions at the front, his branch with ten pots

Winnie. Named for the city of Winnie was loaned to the London Zoo of honey. Ernest H.
Winnipeg, the bear had been the for the duration. After the war, the Shepard sketch for

mascot of a Canadian army unit that, loan was extended in perpetuity, and Winnie-the-Pooh.

during World War I, was stationed in Winnie remained a zoo favorite until
England before being shipped to her death in 1934.
France. Since the Canadians were too Evidently Winnie was a very tame

23
 bear, because Christopher Milne was toys, notably Piglet and Eeyore. This is

allowed to enter her cage for visits on acknowledged by Christopher in his

a regular basis. (There is at least one memoirs. His nanny, Olive Rand,
photograph that substantiates this.) reported to an English newspaper many
Small wonder, then, that Christopher years later that Alan too was adept at
renamed his stuffed bear Winnie. And if engaging Christopher’s toys in convinc-
he insisted that Winnie the Pooh was a ing conversation.
boy, why should anyone question him? As for the Pooh in Ernest Shepard's
Winnie-the-Pooh begins with illustrations, he derived in part from

Christopher Robin dragging Pooh Christopher Robin’s bear, but a second

downstairs, “bump, bump, bump, on and perhaps more important model
the back of his head,” then asking the was also involved, namely Growler, a
narrator to “very sweetly” tell Winnie the teddy bear made by the Steiff company
Pooh a story. In reality the Pooh stories of Germany and owned by Shepard’s
seem to have derived in large part from son, Graham.
Alan Milne having observed his son As for Pooh’s supporting cast,
engaged in improvised mini-dramas with Eeyore was a Christmas present whose
ABOVE: Christopher his mother, Christopher “puppeteering” neck had lost its stiffening over time so
Robin with his teddy bear, his inseparable companion and supply- that he took on the morose appearance
Winnie the Pooh. ing his gruffly ingenuous voice while on which his personality was predicated.
Daphne played the other characters Piglet was a gift from a neighbor in
embodied by Christopher’s remaining Chelsea (where for more than twenty

24 THE ORIGINS OF WINNIE THE POOH

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 years the Milnes made their home on the Looking- Glass, and The Wind in the Willows.

Mallord Street, just off the King’s The Pooh characters actually made
Road). Rabbit and Owl were invented their public debut on Christmas Eve,

to the extent that they were not toys but 1925, when the first chapter of Winnie-
rather plausible citizens of the fiction- the-Pooh was published by the London
alized Ashdown Forest. Later, when Evening News under a huge front-page
more characters were needed to give banner headline which announced A
variety to the stories, Alan and Daphne CHILDREN’S STORY BY A. A. MILNE.
headed back to Harrods toy depart- Interestingly, the illustrations were not

ment, where they found Kanga and by Shepard but by a competent artist
Roo. Later still, Tigger too was added namedJ. H. Dowd. At 7:45 PM on
to the menagerie, partly as a plaything Christmas Day the same episode was
for Moon and partly as an addition to presented over the airwaves of 2L0, the
the cast. London station of the BBC, read by a
But if this seems calculating—and Mr. Donald Calthrop.
Christopher Milne may have come to Published in its complete form in
feel that it was—the stories themselves the autumn of 1926 by Methuen in
display no hint of conscious exploitive- England and Dutton in America,
ness. They display the same sense of Winnie-the-Pooh gets off to a satisfying
unforced innocence that is apparent start, with Milne’s introduction provid-
in other British children’s classics such ing a transition from the real world to
as Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and Through the world of imagination, which is first

26 THE ORIGINS OF WINNIE THE POOH

encountered—"a very long time ago, breakfast consists of marmalade spread
now, about last Friday’—in the form of over a honeycomb or two. Then, after a
the story of Pooh’s balloon-assisted final party, it’s over and we start again.
quest for honey and his encounter with Interestingly, many of the first readers
the wrong sort of bees. Then it gets of Winnie-the-Pooh appear to have been
better. From the start of chapter I, “In adults who bought the book for them-
Which Pooh Goes Visiting and Gets into selves. This was remarked on at the time
a Tight Place,” we are completely in the by more than one reviewer, and by
arcadian dimension, with no need of representatives of the American
transitions to reality other than those publisher, E. P. Dutton. Although the
provided by landmarks approximately book is so British in its idioms and
rooted in the geography of the Ashdown setting, it was perhaps an even bigger hit
Forest. (Appropriately, this geography is in America than in England, 150,000

inverted in the map that comes with the copies being sold between October 21,
Pooh books. When Christopher Robin 1926, the publication date, and
and company set out in search of the December 31 of that same year. Clearly
North Pole, they head due south the adventures of Pooh had an appeal
according to everyday reckoning.) that cut across generational and
For almost I50 pages we are geographical borders.
privileged to be observers in a world in | (To get a full sense of Milne’s popu-
which Woozles are hunted, rewards are larity as a children’s author, it should be

posted for lost tails, and a simple noted that by the time Winnie-the-Pooh

27
 appeared, signed presentation copies of Enchanted Places, of his father achieving fame
When We Were Very Young were being offered by “climbing upon my infant shoulders.”)

by London booksellers for as much as In defense of the senior Milne, it

£53—original price 42 shillings—and in dowldpe emphasized that he had no
New York for $225.) advance warning that these children’s
Despite the runaway success of Winnie- books would lead to fame, so it’s
the-Pooh and the Christopher Robin difficult to accept the idea that he
poems, Milne decided that there would be deliberately exploited his son. The point
just one more outing for Pooh. He is, though, that he saw Pooh’s world
remarked in his autobiography that ideas through Christopher's eyes, and when
did not flock to him, as seemed to be the he realized that Christopher was out-
case with some other writers. Rather, he growing Pooh he sensibly understood
had to go out and find them—a way of that his own direct access to Pooh’s
saying, | think, that his material depended world was about to close. So The House at
upon direct observation. At first it seems Pooh Corner was prefaced with what Milne
odd that such an imagination should be called a “Contradiction” announcing
capable of dreaming up Pooh's world, that this was the end of the road.
which is purely fabulous (in the literal The House at Pooh Corner brought
sense of that word). In fact, of course, together ten more adventures, making
Alan Milne was able to imagine this world twenty in all. The standard of this second
by piggy-backing on the imagination of volume is, if anything, even higher than
his son. (Christopher writes, in The that of the first. Tigger is a splendid

28 THE ORIGINS OF WINNIE THE POOH

addition to the cast, and episodes such as insured for $50,000, they toured for
“Rabbit's Busy Day,” “The Search for years, starting in 194.7. In 1969 they were
Small,” “Eeyore Joins a Game,” and returned to England, by Concorde, to be
“Tigger Is Unbounced” show off all the featured in an exhibition devoted to
characters to splendid effect. Ernest Shepard at the Victoria and Albert
The public loved this book as much as Museum. After that outing they were sent
the first, and the reviews were uniformly back to the United States, eventually
favorable, with the famous exception of finding a permanent home in the
Dorothy Parker’s. Writing as “Constant Central Children’s Room of the Donnell
Reader” in The New Yorker, the acerbic Miss branch of the New York Public Library.
Parker reported that, having reached page In 1960, by which time sales
five, “Tonstant Weader fwowed up.” figures for the books were already in
While enhancing the Parker legend, the millions, a Latin translation of
this review did nothing to hurt the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh—Winnie ille Pooh—was a
books. They sold steadily through the surprise bestseller, remaining on the
thirties and enjoyed a renewed popularity New York Times list for twenty weeks.
during World War I. (Did the public’s The following year, Walt Disney
affection for Prime Minister Churchill, acquired the exclusive film rights to the
commonly called “Winnie,” owe anything Pooh stories. Like Alice and Toad and

to his resemblance to Pooh?) Peter Pan before him, Pooh Bear came
Then, after the war, Christopher to Burbank.

Robin’s toys
y were sent to America where,

22
} ie q Fs 2 ®S © iS) 3 5

Library: Pooh, Kanga,

Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger.

@?
 CEEA
RP LER: iLWO

In Which

Walt Disney Boones Involved

ANY SELF-APPOINTED KEEPERS OF THE POOH FLAME have assumed that

A. A. Milne would have disapproved strongly of Walt Disney appropriating
ee eye iog phen, Aun Thwaite, has pointed out, this
is not necessarily true. In 1938 Milne wrote to Kenneth Grahame’s widow, Elspeth, “I

expect that you’ve heard that Disney is interested in [Toad of Toad Hall]? It’s just the thing
for him, of course, and he would do it beautifully.”
Disney’s Mr. Toad, released in 1949, is in fact closer in structure to Milne’s stage
adaptation than to Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, upon which both are based. The

record shows that Disney began pursuing the rights to Toad of Toad Hall soon after his 1937
oposire: Walt Disney triumph with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and at the same time he
and Winnie the Pooh, instigated correspondence with Curtis Brown, Milne’s agent, on the

circa 1965. subject of obtaining film rights to the Pooh stories.

39
 As can be imagined, many of the Theatrical rights to Pooh were
artists at the Walt Disney Studio were never sold during Milne’s lifetime.
very partial to the Pooh books. They read In 1958, however, roughly two years

them to their children and they read after his death, his wife approved

them to themselves. “Some of us,” recalls the sale of the motion picture and
animator Ollie Johnston, “could quote television rights to the Pooh books
whole pages of dialogue by heart.” They to the National Broadcasting
also greatly admired the illustrations of Corporation. NBQ, it seems, hada

Ernest Shepard. Walt Disney was aware of Pooh series in mind, but after an
this cult but seems never to have given unsatisfactory pilot was produced,
the studio’s Pooh enthusiasts any indica- the project was dropped.
tion that he was seriously interested in The theatrical rights eventually
obtaining the screen rights to the Milne reverted back to the Milne Estate in
material. He did not mention it in 1938, 1960. Walt Disney had obviously been
nor did he mention it when he renewed keeping an eye on the situation, for
his pursuit of those rights on several he entered into an agreement with the
occasions in the 194.0s and 1950s. He Milne Estate in June of 1961.
seems, in fact, to have deliberately Evidently Disney was happy to take
cultivated the impression that he did not over these rights from Milne. Nothing
have any particular enthusiasm for the further happened, however, until
inhabitants of the Hundred-Acre Wood. sometime in 1964, when Disney told

34 WALT DISNEY BECOMES INVOLVED

some animation staffers that he was he reasoned, would create an audience
planning a feature based on the Pooh for a future full-length Pooh movie.
books. (By then he had obtained U.S. In view of the fact that the books had
marketing rights to the Pooh characters, been such a success in America, this
making a Pooh movie more attractive may seem an oddly conservative
from a commercial viewpoint because approach. The audience for books and
of the possibility of merchandising the audience for films are not one and
tie-ins.) A meeting was called with the same, however. The fact that Winnie
senior staff members to discuss this ille Pooh could enjoy a long stay on the
proposed feature. During the course of New York Times best-seller list did not
that meeting, Disney made a decision. automatically translate into movie
He would not make a Pooh feature—not box-office in the hinterland.
immediately—but would instead produce It may be that Disney sensed too
a Pooh “featurette.” that Pooh’s low-keyed world, devoid

His thinking appears to have been of melodrama and villains, could

that Americans were not sufficiently best be translated to the screen in
familiar with the world of Pooh and small increments.

Christopher Robin to justify a feature

right away. A 25-minute featurette, on
the other hand, could be released along
with a Disney live-action film, and this,

NS:
)

2 | SANDY Pr
WHERE Roo PLAYS ~
a
ES oe . oe
ay

oe
tn

PL}.
t)))
nee
Dae
of the tree,
n to think.
just as you
boy?”

ou know what
WINNIE THE POOH
AND THE HONEY TREE

Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree would be

based on the first chapters of Winnie-the-
Pooh, those titled “We Are Introduced”
and “Pooh Goes Visiting,” with ert: Poster for

additional snippets of material from Winnie the

elsewhere in the same volume. This Pooh and the

made good sense, since the material Honey Tree.

selected was ideal for familiarizing

audiences with several of the principal opposite: Cel setup

characters. Instead of assigning avowed A Just as you

remember them... . 2 from Scene 4.2

Pooh enthusiasts to the project, how- of Winnie the

ever, Disney handed the film over to a Pooh and the

group of artists who, though certainly Honey Tree.

talented, had no special interest in the

Milne stories—and who in some cases figure out, he felt the material was pretty

felt positively hostile to them. low-keyed to begin with and he was

“We were pretty surprised,” says afraid that if Ollie and myself, and Milt
Frank Thomas. “Walt didn’t bother to Kahl, and some of the other Pooh fans
explain, of course, but so far as we could got hold of it we would want to stay too

ST.
 close to the book and that,

I suppose he thought,
would make for something
too precious.”
Johnston agrees, adding,

“I think Walt was keen to

turn the Pooh material into
something that would be
recognizable as a Disney
movie. That’s probably
ricut: Director why he asked Woolie
Wolfgang Reitherman [Reitherman] to direct.”
(right) confers with As an animator,

songwriter Robert B. Wolfgang Reitherman was

Sherman during a responsible for such mem-
recording session for orable Disney characters as Monstro the “action” material, and that was what he
Winnie the Whale in Pinocchio. He had directed The felt most comfortable with as a director.
Pooh and the Sword in the Stone and would have directing Far from being thrilled with Winnie the
Honey Tree. and/or producing credits on all Disney Pooh and the Honey Tree as an assignment,
animated features from that point until Reitherman seems to have looked on it as
1981's The Fox and the Hound. As an ani- something of a punishment. What other
mator, Reitherman had specialized in explanation was there for Walt handing

38 WALT DISNEY BECOMES INVOLVED

him this weird British story in which As for the character animators, how-
nothing happened? ever, all but one of the studio’s top men
Probably the actual explanation for found themselves assigned to other
this assignment is that Walt Disney projects. Marc Davis, for example, was
counted on Reitherman having this reac- at work on theme park ideas, and—
tion and expected him to do his utmost although dying for a chance to bring the
to turn Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree into Milne/Shepard characters to life—Frank
a “typical” Disney movie. Reitherman Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and Milt Kahl

would be open to Americanizing the had been set to work on TheJungle Book,
characters and beefing up the gags. If which was in the early stages of produc-
Milne purists balked at this and called it tion. Of Disney’s “Nine Old Men,”
sacrilege—so what? only Eric Larson and John Lounsbery
The story team included experienced were assigned to animation duty on
hands like Ken Anderson, Larry Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. Both had
Clemmons, and Xavier Atencio, and worked on most of the major features
benefited from extensive input by Walt going back to Snow White and the Seven
himself. Layout and backgrounds were Dwarfs. Other less well-known but very
handled by veterans like Basil Davidovich able veterans assigned to the featurette

and Al Dempster, while songs were were Hal King and John Sibley, both of
written by the Sherman brothers, whom had been at the studio since the
Richard and Robert, with additional early forties, and Eric Cleworth, whose

music supplied by Buddy Baker. character animation credits went back

39
 more than a decade to Peter Pan. This was would it be possible to translate A. A.
a solid production unit, then, if not Milne’s verbal humor into primarily
quite the studio's A team. visual terms? And how should an
Given Walt Disney’s evident American producer deal with the
reluctance to present the Pooh stories stories’ pronounced Britishness?
precisely as Milne wrote them, The first question was less of a puzzle
Reitherman and the others were faced for the layout artists and background
with three major problems. How would painters. It was possible for them to
BELOw: Christopher it be possible to modify Shepard's remain quite faithful to Shepard’s idiom
Robin and Pooh at an drawings for animation while approxi- while filling out the detail where
enchanted place in the mating his very distinctive style? How appropriate and adding color. The
Forest. Ernest H. background paint-
Shepard illustration ings for all the Pooh
from pages 174-175 films are beautifully
of The House at conceived and
Pooh Corner. executed and do
much to preserve the

spirit of the books.

The animators had a
tougher task. It
would have been
impossible to exactly

40 WALT DISNEY BECOMES INVOLVED

 tert: The film’s layout
artists held to the look

and feel ofShepard’s

drawings. Layout
drawing from Winnie
the Pooh and the

Honey Tree.

oY)

nour: The hatched

line style of Shepard’s
Hundred-Acre Wood is
brought into the world
of color. Background
painting from Winnie
the Pooh and the
Honey Tree.

41
 capture Shepard’s style—with ¢ ee Anyone who understands the
its fastidious broken lines Cay animation medium will appreciate
ricut: Pooh falling from and delicate hatching—on screen. the skill with which this was done. The
the honey tree. Animation “For animation,” Frank characters are immediately recognizable
from Scene 44 of Thomas explains, “you need ee to anyone familiar with the books, yet
Winnie the Pooh a continuous outline. ‘ () they have been successfully amended to
and the Honey Tree That's almost the opposite A) facilitate the animator’s task in terms
by Eric Cleworth. of the way Shepard gets ' of movement and expressiveness.
his effects.” Pooh was the most difficult character
setow: Owl. Cel from “And you have to be able to visualize to animate convincingly, a problem that
Scene 520 of Winnie the character from every possible was exacerbated by the fact that
the Pooh and the angle,” adds Ollie Johnston. “An he would be on screen almost
Honey Tree. illustrator can afford to think in two continuously and therefore
dimensions. An animator has to subject to close scrutiny. Some
think in three.” denizens of the Milne stories,
The challenge, then, was to like Rabbit and Owl, are based
maintain the basic appearance of the on real animals, and that provides the

individual characters while redesigning animator with guidance in terms of

them for facility of animation. The convincing movement. As for Eeyore,

result was a greater emphasis in the first Pooh film he was not asked
on outline and silhouette at to do much and so presented no great

the expense of texture. difficulty to the animators. But Pooh

42 WALT DISNEY BECOMES INVOLVED

himself was tricky because a teddy bear is Pinocchio this time as an awkward small
characterized by stiff movements that are boy who slightly exaggerates his move-
limited by the lack of knee and elbow ments as if trying each gesture for the
joints. Given too much flexibility he first time. This approach was much
would no longer seem like a teddy bear. more successful, allowing the movie to

Too much stiffness, on the other hand, go forward.

would undermine the magic of the story There was no such major crisis with
being told. Pooh because the problem was better ABOVE & BELow: Pooh

This was not the first time the Disney understood by then, but the solution is allowed more flexibility
artists had faced this kind of problem. employed was not dissimilar. Pooh was of movement. Cel and
When Pinocchio went into production, the reconceived to permit more naturalistic model sheet drawings

first animated scenes presented the title movement. If the Disney Pooh is com- from Winnie the

character as a puppet without strings, pared with the Shepard Pooh, it will be Pooh and the
his movements restricted by his primi- seen that a subtle degree of articulation Honey Tree.

tive artificial joints. The

results were so disap-
pointing that Walt Disney
immediately closed the
picture down until the
problem could be solved.
The animators started
over again, treating

43
 has been built into the limbs. The legs him to life was handled efficiently if not
are a fraction longer in proportion to brilliantly in this first outing.
BELOW: Pooh the body—in some shots, at least—to One additional way in which the
hangs on to his balloon permit a hint of knee, and there is a Disney Pooh differed from the Shepard
string. Model sheet suggestion of ankle too in the way the version is that he was given a shrunken
drawing from Winnie feet are attached. Pooh has also been red T-shirt to wear. This was based on
the Pooh and the supplied with thumbs, which turn the the Pooh bears made by Agnes Brush and
Honey Tree. conventional teddy bear pads into sold at the F.A.O. Schwarz store in New
useful hands (though only, according York in the 1940s and 1950s. The
to model sheets, when this is necessary pretext for this wardrobe addition seems
for gestures or grasping). to have been a single chapter in Winnie-
Taken as a whole, the movie Pooh the-Pooh in which Pooh wears a T-shirt as
still looks like a stuffed animal. It’s only protection against the cold. (He and
when his movements are analyzed and Piglet are hunting in the snow.) From an
his limbs are observed in action that the animation point of view, the T-shirt was
modifications can be noticed. probably adopted because it meant there
The animation of Pooh in Winnie would be less fur texture to deal with. In
the Pooh and the Honey Tree was not one addition, having a teddy bear in a T-shirt
hundred percent successful. There are a somehow makes the character seem more
few scenes in which the tendency to “personalized” and therefore psychologi-
stiffness was not overcome. But for the cally easier to animate. The T-shirt
most part the problem of how to bring functions somewhat like Mickey Mouse’s

44 WALT DISNEY BECOMES INVOLVED

 ert: Pooh and his
empty honeypots.
Cel setup from Scene 24

of Winnie the

Pooh and the

Honey Tree.

shorts in the early Disney cartoons. It visual business to that already present in
helps give the character more definition Milne’s stories was also crucial. Winnie the
and recognizability than he would have if Pooh and the Honey Tree would be a leisurely
he was a single all-over color. paced film by animation standards—no
Making the characters move convinc- Tom andJerry gag fest—but it could not
ingly on screen and putting a Disney afford to lose momentum, and its
stamp on them took care of one of the momentum would depend upon unin-
three major problems. Adding extra terrupted visual invention.

45
 trying to turn it into a moose head,
and finally using it as the back of an
armchair. The inspiration for these
gags seems to have come from Walt
Disney himself.
The best example of this in the first Walt Disney’s determination to
Pooh film is the extended sequence in remold the stories for the screen was
which Rabbit is faced with the fact that probably influenced by his bitter feel-
he is going to have to live for some time ings about the failure—critical as well as
with Pooh’s posterior projecting into his financial—of Alice in Wonderland. Like
living room, Pooh having eaten so much Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, that 1951
honey that he has become stuck in the movie was based on a verbally inventive
entrance to Rabbit's burrow. In the British children’s classic that had been
Milne version, Rabbit makes the best of enhanced on the page by superb and
things by hanging his laundry on
THIS PAGE: Rabbit what is politely referred to as
decorates Pooh’s south Pooh’s “South end.” In the film
end. Animation, cel version this is greatly enlarged
setup, and storyboard into a series of efforts by Rabbit
n@
ell A
oe” Mall
art from Scenes 549- to make the best of the situation:
attempting to frame Pooh's poste-
a
558 of Winnie the a. 4

Pooh and the rior, placing a potted plant on it,

Honey Tree.

46 WALT DISNEY BECOMES INVOLVED

very well-known illustrations would have no qualms about making
(contributed in that instance by John changes to suit an American audience.
Tenniel). Disney had drawn several In Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
conclusions from the failure of this Christopher Robin is given an American
film, not all of them necessarily correct. accent—his voice provided by
One was that it was a mistake to try to Reitherman’s son Bruce. Also, Gopher
translate these British literary classics is introduced to the cast. Gophers are
into animated films. He swore, in fact, not native to the British Isles. This
that he would never make such an is true of tigers and ABOVE: Gopher answers

attempt again. When the rights to ~ kangaroos too, of course, the call for an excavation

the Pooh stories became avail- but Tigger, Kanga, and expert. Cel over back-

able, he evidently changed Roo are never presented in ground overlay from

his mind—but it seems the books as native animals. Scene 507.1

he may have done so Like Pooh himself, they are of Winnie the

with a conscious or exotics who have found Pooh and the

subconscious proviso. themselves in the region of Honey Tree.

In bringing Pooh to the the Hundred-Acre Wood by

screen, he would make sure his way of Christopher Robin's toy tert: Gopher. Cel from

own midwestern stamp was imposed on collection. Gopher, by contrast, is Winnie the

the stories. One way of doing this was to presented on screen as an entrenched Pooh and the

have Woolie Reitherman, not a Milne local resident, like Rabbit and Owl, Honey Tree,

and Shepard purist, direct. Reitherman implying that the movie is set in America.

47
 The movie opens with
Christopher Robin’s
bedroom—a very American
bedroom furnished in a style
that would have seemed quite
alien to the vast majority of
British children in 1966.
Even some of the toys scattered
on the floor—the railroad
locomotive, for example—are
obviously American. The
film then cuts to the famous
endpaper map of Pooh
territory—supposedly drawn
by Christopher Robin “and
Mr. Shepard”—and simple, |
understated animation activates every feel of the more conventional film
part of the map, introducing the conceit —_passages and will serve the animators
apove & RIGHT: that the book itself is coming alive, and well through this featurette and into
Cels and cel es from reminding the audience of the film’s future Pooh films. |
Scene 2 of Winnie literary origins. This is a splendid By embracing this device and a
the Pooh and the notion that helps sustain the storybook nourishing it, Woolie Reitherman was ,
Poe aes |

48 WALT DISNEY BEGOMES INVOLVED

redeemed because it meant that—what- voice talent area, the best decision was
ever the pressures—the movie could not probably the choice of Sebastian Cabot,
stray hopelessly far from the Pooh books. whose affectionate feeling for the mate-
Anyone who has read Winnie-the-Pooh rial is obvious, as narrator. A good word
will see that the film’s story does not should be put in, too, for Buddy Baker’s
wander too far from events described in score, which features a Peter and the
the text, though they have been re- Wolf-type device in which different
arranged to some extent. Whether the instruments are used to introduce the ABoveE: Pooh waits to get

movie sticks to the spirit of the text is various characters. (Pooh, for example, thin again in a bookpage

another matter, and the truth is that is represented by the baritone horn, scene. Cel setup from

there are opposing forces at work in this Eeyore by the bass clarinet.) Scene 562.1 of

film that threaten to pull it apart. On In America, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Winnie the

the one hand the overly cute voices of Tree was released in February of 1966, Pooh and the

some of the characters, the saccharine along with the eminently forgettable Honey Tree.

Sherman and Sherman songs, and a

tendency to telegraph the gags work Lert: Creating the

against the spirit of Shepard and Milne. music

forWinnie

On the plus side can be counted the use the Pooh and

of the animated storybook device, some the Honey Tree.

good if not great animation, and the

fact that nobody found a way to com-
pletely ignore the Milne original. In the

49
 live-action feature The Ugly Dachshund, WINNIE THE POOH
starring Dean Jones and Suzanne AND THE BLUSTERY DAY

Pleshette. Reviews were mixed, but

American audiences—adults as well as Only a short time elapsed before the
children—liked Disney’s version of next Pooh featurette, Winnie the Pooh and
Pooh. For a featurette, the movie the Blustery Day, went into production, but
received a great deal of attention, and it by then the situation at the studio had
was clear almost from the outset that it completely changed. On December 15,
was only a matter of time before there 1966, just ten months after the release
would be a sequel. of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Walt
In Britain it was a very different story. Disney died. At that time the animation
There audiences had mixed reactions to staff was close to finishing The Jungle Book
the movie, to say the least, and critics, and was tooling up for The Aristocats, to
especially Felix Barker, jumped on it with which Disney had given his go-ahead on
vehemence and disgust. It became, in the strength of a board of drawings by
fact, a cause célébre, with one newspaper Ken Anderson. In the late summer of
ABovE: Poster for accusing Walt Disney, in banner head- 1967, before The Aristocats went into full
Winnie the lines, of “murdering” Winnie the Pooh. production, it was decided to go ahead
Pooh and the Ernest Shepard, still alive in his with a featurette-length sequel to Winnie
Blustery Day. nineties, pronounced the film a tray- the Pooh and the Honey Tree.
esty. Daphne Milne is said to have This made good sense in a couple of
rather liked it. ways. Pooh’s Disney debut film had

50 WALT DISNEY BECOMES INVOLVED

proved to be very popular—in America, that were closest to the Milne original,
anyway—so a follow-up was certainly jus- so now he encouraged the animators to
tified. It must also have seemed like a mine the books for inspiration.
good idea to choose this modestly scaled “Woolie was sometimes reluctant to
film as the animators’ first outing accept fresh ideas,” says Ollie Johnston.
without Walt. “You'd have to work hard to persuade
In these changed circumstances it him to try something new, but once

seemed to make good sense to put the you'd demonstrated that your idea made
studio’s top available talent to work on sense then he’d back you up one hun-
the new project. Thus avowed Pooh fans dred percent.
like Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and “Essentially,” says Frank Thomas,
Milt Kahl were finally called upon, and “our approach to Pooh was no different
they seized the opportunity. Woolie from our approach to any other film.
Reitherman remained in charge as The characters were different, however,
director, but by now his attitude towards and the whole secret is to understand
Pooh had changed considerably. After the characters. Once you get inside
all, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree had them, then the animation follows. In

enhanced his reputation, giving him this instance, of course, Milne had given

every reason to feel more sympathetic to us wonderful characters to work with.”

the Milne characters. He seems to have “This was not a case of an individual
understood that the parts that worked animator being assigned to a single char-
best in the first movie were the parts acter,” says Johnston. “The exception

5
 sequel he was restored to the
cast and given an appropriately
important role. Another
change was that Christopher
Robin was given a different and
more neutral voice, provided by
British-born Jon Walmsley,
who would soon achieve televi-
sion fame as Jason on The
Waltons. In short, the entire
approach this time around was
geared to the recognition that
was that Milt Kahl ended up doing the Milne stories could be successfully
aBoveE: Piglet is speech- almost all of Tigger, but basically this translated to the screen without needing
less when his house is picture was broken down by sequence, to be jazzed up or excessively
offered to Owl. Cel so that Frank and I, and John Americanized. For the Milne enthusiasts
setup from Scene 415 Lounsbery too, each got to do a fair involved with the production, Winnie the
of Winnie the amount of work on scenes involving Pooh and the Blustery Day would become a
Pooh and the Pooh and Piglet.” labor of love.
Blustery Day. Inexplicably, Piglet had been left out What we see on screen is evidence
of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree—appar- enough for this. From the moment
ently displaced by Gopher—but for the Pooh makes his first appearance,

52 WALT DISNEY BECOMES INVOLVED

 fighting a stiff breeze on his nonexistent neck. He has the same Lert & BELow: Pooh

way to his Thoughtful Spot, it’s button eyes that disappear into crinkles skips offhappily into
apparent that this at last is the when he laughs, the same upturned the wind on a blustery
authentic Pooh. Not that he looks sig- muzzle, the same slightly pigeon-toed day. Cel and cel setup
nificantly different. He’s still the same walk. But in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery from Scenes 1.3 and 2
squat teddy bear, three heads high, with Day he moves with a new assurance, his of Winnie the
the somewhat pear-shaped torso that is gestures and expressions are more Pooh and the

partly hidden by the same shrunken red articulate. When he reaches his Thoughtful Blustery Day.

T-shirt that tends to ride up around his Spot and sits down to think, we can

turn
out to be
. . . feels
that it
will
undoubtedly
sen OOKS
like a
rather
blustery
day
today,
it seems
- that
it may
; turn out
us Sy

about, because whichever direction tobe . . . looks like a rather blustery day today.
they always ended up at it, and each time, as it came “Oh, help!” said Pooh. “I'd better go back.”
through the mist at them, Rabbit said triumphantly, “Oh, bother!” said Pooh. “I shall have to go on.”
“Now I know where we are!” and Pooh said sadly, Well, it just happened that you had been to a

53
 the Blustery Day. Whether he is skipping
through the Hundred-Acre Wood, bal-
ancing on a wall, chasing after
windblown Piglet, or confronting Tigger
for the first time, Pooh always seems

r1GHT: Tigger and Pooh completely alive, his movements and

come nose to nose for expression exactly right. This is a star
the first time. Cel setup turn set off by other star turns, notably
from Scene 11.1 of those provided by Piglet and Tigger.
Winnie the Piglet is delightful from the moment
Pooh and the we meet him proudly sweeping the
Blustery Day. entranceway to his house. The next
sequence, where he fights the increas-
BELOW: Little Piglet is no almost see his mind at work, so ingly strong winds before finally being
match for the wind. clearly is his futile attempt at
Animation from Scene 25 cerebration reflected in the
of Winnie the Pooh way his brow is scrunched
and the Blustery up and his lips are pursed
Day by Ollie Johnston. in determination.
In fact, the animation of
Pooh is superb all the way
through Winnie the Pooh and

54 WALT DISNEY BECOMES INVOLVED

blown away, is brilliantly animated by Ed Wynn, part Hugh Herbert,
Ollie Johnston. and part Jimmy Durante.
Tigger makes his memorable appear- Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery
ance soon after Piglet’s. When he Day is a small masterpiece of char-
launches into perhaps the best of the acter animation, as good in its

Sherman brothers’ Pooh songs, “The way as anything the Disney studio
Wonderful Thing about Tiggers,” the has ever done. It may not have
animation is superb. This is an example broken new ground like Snow White
of Milt Kahl at his best, which is to say an and the Seven Dwarfs, and it may not

example of the finest the medium has to have been as ambitious as

offer. Kahl endowed Tigger with a manic Fantasia, but it turned out to be
energy that was well matched by the voice an almost flawless example of
provided by Paul Winchell—an out- character animation, a celebration of ABOVE: “1 -I-double-

landish, vaudeville baritone that is part the skill that gave the studio its unique Guh-er! That spells

place in motion picture history. In fact, ‘Tigger’!” Cel from

there is very little to the film Winnie the

except character anima- Pooh and the

tion: some amusing Blustery Day.

situations,

certainly, but
none of the
melodrama we

59
 associate with most of the Disney ani- Corner (“Tigger Has Breakfast” and
mated classics. This was a movie about “Piglet Does a Very Grand Thing”). In

BELOW: (left to right) Pooh relating to Piglet and Tigger and some ways more liberties were taken with
John Lounsbery, Ollie Christopher Robin and not much else. the text than in Winnie the Pooh and the
Johnston, Milt Kahl, The story of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, but the changes were made
Larry Clemmons, Blustery Day was stitched together from within a context of respect for Milne’s
Wolfgang Reitherman, parts of several episodes lifted from the achievement that made them com-
Hal King, and Frank two Pooh books, most notably chapter pletely acceptable.
Thomas with their Oscar. IX of Winnie-the-Pooh (“In Which Piglet Released in December of 1968,
Is Entirely Surrounded by Water”) and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day was only
chapters II and VIII of The House at Pooh 25 minutes long, but it is better
remembered than all but a
handful of the features released
by Hollywood studios that year.
At the time, reviewers sensed that
this movie was superior to its
predecessor, and so did audi-
ences, even in Britain. Most
tellingly, it gained the immediate
respect of its peers, who made it
an Academy Award winner for
Animated Short Subjects.

56 WALT DISNEY BECOMES INVOLVED

 @B4A44558 be deed OY Be
presents

WINNIE THE POOH

AND TIGGER TOO

The even greater success of this second

Pooh film was more than enough to jus-
tify the production of a third. Other LEFT: Poster for

projects kept the studio’s animators Winnie the Pooh

busy, however, and it was 1974. before and the Tigger Too.

another sequel appeared. Entitled Winnie

the Pooh and Tigger Too, this film came close
to being as memorable as its prede-
cessor, which is saying a good deal. turette- TECHNICOLOR” - Based on the Books Written by A. A.
crejiana Racers |Poibeed
pyBUSTA VSTADSTAZUTONCONC £194 Wai Oxres Poco [GG] 8

Produced between Robin Hood and The

Rescuers, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too was director of The Lion King). The talent pool
made at a time when key veteran anima- available was considerable, and this is
tors like Milt Kahl, Ollie Johnston, reflected in the quality of the production.
Frank Thomas, and John Lounsbery were This time the directorial responsibil-
still on hand at the studio, where they ities were awarded to Lounsbery.
had been joined by younger artists like Another important change was the voice
Don Bluth (who soon left to produce his of Christopher Robin, which finally
own movies) and Andy Gaskill (who became convincingly British in the
would later distinguish himself as art person of Timothy Turner.

DF
 taken from “Pooh and Piglet Go
Hunting,” chapter III of Winnie-
the-Pooh.
Like Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery
RIGHT: Tigger tests the Day, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too is full

sturdiness of the book’s . of inspired animation. Tigger is

type as a way out of his effectively presented in almost
predicament. Cel setup every scene, and especially when
from Scene 434 of out of character—as at the
Winnie the Pooh

and Tigger Too.

or nas aes nis s conclusion of the movie when he
is clinging for dear life to the trunk
As the title suggests, Winnie the Pooh and of the tree. There is also some clever
opposite: Piglet Tigger Too builds upon the great success business with Piglet. Much of this is so
struggles to get out of scored by Milt Kahl’s hyperactive subtle it’s easy to overlook. Anyone
the sand pit. Animation version of Tigger in the preceding film. | interested in the art of animation,
from Scene 142 of This time the story was pieced together however, would do well to study the
Winnie the Pooh primarily from “Tiggers Don’t Climb simple scene in which Piglet climbs out
and the Tigger Too Trees” and “Tigger Is Unbounced”— of the sand pit. His body language and
by Gary Goldman. chapters IV and VII of The House at Pooh changes in facial expression provide a
Corner—with additional material from master class in how to make something
other sections, including a key sequence out of almost nothing.

58 WALT DISNEY BECOMES INVOLVED

ZEMIN ia
287 Be ony Ze = eS i

59
 of his animal friends, especially Pooh,
whom he takes to the Enchanted Place.
There they talk about the joys of doing
nothing and promise to remember one
another always, even when Christopher
Robin is a hundred years old and Pooh
ninety-nine.
It is the proper Milne ending, handled
‘THE MANY ADVENTURES with appropriate respect by the Disney
OF WINNIE THE POOH artists. But this was not the end of Pooh
or Christopher Robin as Disney charac-
Walt Disney’s original plan for Pooh was ters. The public wouldn’t allow it.
finally realized in 1977, when the three
featurettes were spliced together—along WINNIE THE POOH
with some new material and redubbing AND A DAY FOR EEYORE
to make Christopher Robin British
ABOVE: Christopher throughout—to create the feature-length The success of the original three films
Robin and Pooh promise film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. prompted the production of a fourth
to remember one another The additional material consisted mostly featurette, Winnie the Pooh and a Day for
always. Storyboard art of a postscript based on chapter X of The Eeyore, which was released theatrically in
from The Many House at Pooh Corner, in which Christopher 1983 and on video the following year.
Adventures of Robin, about to begin school, takes leave Unlike its predecessors, this movie was
Winnie the Pooh.

60 WALT DISNEY BECOMES INVOLVED

not handled by the elite feature anima- focuses some deserved attention on
tion unit but was subcontracted to a Eeyore. On the negative side, not all the
team of outside animators under the original voice talents were available.
direction of Rick Reinert. By then, of Notable absences were Sebastian Cabot
course, the characters were well estab- as the narrator (he had died in 1977)
lished, and in fact the animation in and Sterling Holloway as Pooh (though
this sequel is quite acceptable. As a Hal Smith did an adequate
job of
whole, the film does not match the replacing him).
standard set by Winnie the Pooh and the This was to be the last Disney anima-
Blustery Day and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger tion based directly on the text of the tert: A wet and gloomy
Too, but it is nonetheless an enter- Milne books. Eeyore emerges from
taining addition to the series. om ee eae the river. Cel setup
This time the principal from Winnie the

sources were two chapters, one Pooh and a Day

from each of the Pooh books, for Eeyore.

specifically “Eeyore Has a

Birthday,” from Winnie-the-Pooh,
and “Pooh Invents a Game and
Eeyore Joins In,” from The House
at Pooh Corner.
One of the best things about
this featurette is that it finally

61
 CHAPTER THREE

In Which

The Giereera. Are Presented

Deep in the Hundred-Acre Wood,

where Christopher Robin plays,
opposite: Pooh’s friends
you'll find the enchanted neighborhood of
form a tug-of-war to open Christopher’s childhood days.
Rabbit’s door. Cel setup
A Donkey named Eeyore is his friend ....
from Scene 628 of

Winnie the Pooh and

and Kanga and little Roo.
the Honey Tree. There’s Rabbit and Piglet ... and there’s Owl,
but most of all Winnie the Pooh...
BELOw: Character devel-

opment cels from Winnie

the Pooh and the

Honey Tree.
 CHRISTOPHER ROBIN

rnest Shepard’s book When Walt Disney Beatles, however. This

E illustrations of assigned Wolfgang was the period when the
Christopher Robin were Reitherman to direct moptops were making
based on the real-life their mark in America.
four-year-old Christopher Longer hair was back in
Milne, as is apparent vogue, and someone— BELOw: Christopher

from Milne family pho- presumably Walt Disney Robin “spots” a falling
tographs. He is a typical the first Pooh movie, himself—overruled Pooh. Rough animation
upper-class English boy Reitherman was bothered Reitherman. Christopher from Scene 335.1 of

of the period, given to by this long hair. To his Robin kept his hair. He Winnie the Pooh
wearing loose shirts, short eye, Shepard’s was, though, given a more and the Honey

ABOVE & FAR RIGHT: shorts, and either sandals Christopher Robin didn’t “boyish” wardrobe and an Tree by Eric Cleworth.
Concept art
forWinnie or, when the weather is look like a healthy out- American accent. His
the Pooh and the wet, Wellington boots. door kind of kid. A hair- voice did not become opposite: Christopher
Honey Tree. Also in the style of the cut, he decided, was convincingly British until Robin comes to the aid of

period, he wears his hair called for. He had not the third featurette. Owl. Cel setup from
ABOVE CENTER: Ernest in a longish, shaggy bob. reckoned with the Scene 85 of Winnie
Lak
H. Shepard illustration
(CA the Pooh and the

from page 178 of Blustery Day.

The House at

Pooh Corner.

64 THE CHARACTERS ARE PRESENTED

 \
i

ricHT: Pooh gets into

trouble with bees. Cel

|
from Scene 325 of

Winnie the Pooh

and the Honey Tree.

vente
seauci
 WINNIE THE POOH

\ ) J alt Disney's rein- with a subtlety of outline Pooh is a stuffed animal,

CENTER: Ernest H. vention of Pooh that depended upon and animators had to
Shepard illustration from started with the voice. exploiting the illusion remain faithful to this
page 38 of The House This was provided by that Pooh is made from concept while giving
at Pooh Corner. Sterling Holloway, whose mohair plush. He him some flexibility
reedy and querulous of movement.
BELOw: Pooh’s sandwich delivery was used to In the end, the char-

is snatched from his good effect in other acter designers devised a

clutches by Owl. Rough Disney movies. Pooh is used broken lines to Pooh with a continuous
animation from Winnie characteristically absent- suggest the condition of outline, who wore a red
the Pooh and the minded, and Holloway Pooh’s “fur” when it is T-shirt (which meant
Honey Tree. delivered Pooh’s lines wet, or when it is sticky there was less fur texture
with a hesitancy that from honey. To attempt to deal with). They also
suggested a muddled and to reproduce this on gave him thumbs when
bemused mind. screen might not have needed and added a hint
Animating Pooh was been impossible, but it of knee joints to his
no easy task. Ernest would certainly have been legs to allow for more ABOVE: Pooh climbs the

Shepard had drawn him impractical. Furthermore, convincing movement. honey tree in search of

“something sweet.” Cel

from Scene 41 of

Winnie the Pooh

and the Honey Tree.

67
 PIGEE

haped like a peanut screen almost without timid sort of way. His
S on legs, with large alteration. From his “Oh, dear, oh, de-de-
top center: Ernest H. pink ears—like folded Sty fastidious de-de-dear, dear” and
Shepard illustration breast-pocket ws movements tearful wringing of hands,
from page 114 of handkerchiefs— iP) <4 — and his occasionally even as he unselfishly
Winnie-the-Pooh. and a chopped- stuttering voice, offers his beloved house pretow: Model sheet
off snout, Piglet we sense his rather complex _to the homeless Owl, from Winnie the
BeLow: Concept art must have been a delight character—nervous and shows how even such a Pooh and the
for Winnie the to animate (as is evident anxious to please, yet loyal small animal can be Blustery Day.
Pooh and the from the scenes drawn by and even brave, ina b-b-brave.
Blustery Day. Ollie Johnston and opposite: Piglet follows
Frank Thomas for Winnie the mysterious tracks on
4 Blaser the Pooh and the Blustery Day). the snow with Poonam
He is very small, about from Scene 352 of

half of Pooh’s height, Winnie the Pooh

and maybe a tenth of and Tigses am

Pooh’s weight, easily
susceptible to being
ES fone, Se
Now Piglet livédinthemiddle oftheforest inla, blown away by b risk
very grand housein the’middle
ofa ‘and
the Piglet loved his) house very much. Next to/ his
louse was a picce/of broken board which had: 4
“TRESPASSERS W" on it. }When /fie|was, asked southwest winds .
| what it meant,/he said it was his)grandfather’s
name, |

Piglet was translated

from the page to the

68 THE CHARACTERS ARE PRESENTED

) eae
 TIGGER

pe? Tigger must screen appearance, to the tert: Ernest H. Shepard

be judged an great Milt Kahl, who illustration from page

OPPOSITE: Tigger unqualified triumph— endowed him with a level 127 of The House at

WD iheunds upon “the arguably more convincing of kinetic energy that gave EY, Pooh Corner.

wonderful thing about on screen than in the him the potential to steal
OG Wibety foo?
tigers.” Cels from Milne books. His hyper- any scene he appeared in. Add to all this the dimen- BELOW: Jigger faces the

Scene 217 of Winnie active personality makes With “those beady little sion provided by Paul grim reality ofa life

the Pooh and the him a perfect character eyes and that proposti-rus Winchell’s outlandish without bouncing.

Blustery Day. for animation, and he chin ...and those ricky- voice talent and you have Animation from Scene

had the good fortune to diculous striped pajamas,” all the ingredients for a 506 of Winnie the

be assigned, in his first Tigger could hardly miss. major cartoon star. Pooh and Tigger

Too by John Pomeroy.

7
 RABBIT

t first glance, the in fact, has been deliber- “Disneyfied” without

cENTER: Ernest H. ASS Rabbit ately caricatured so that completely losing touch
Shepard illustration from looks like the Rabbit of he has become capable of with the model from which
page 75 of The House the books. He is pre- the kind of close-up he had been adapted.
at Pooh Corner. sented somewhat \ y “takes” that are so
realistically ‘i useful to
(more so, animators.

for example, *, Similarly,

than Thumper \\ i that his
in the supposedly i 7 paws have
more naturalistic Bambi). become hands means that
On closer inspection, he is able to gesture more
however, it will be seen effectively and to grasp opposite: Rabbit is lost

that the Disney version of objects without seeming in the mist and overcome

Rabbit has far more awkward. Matched to the byfear. Cel setup from

expressive features as well voice of Junius Matthews, Scene 177 of Winnie

as quasi-human hands Rabbit is an example of a the Pooh and

instead of paws. His face, character who has been Tigger Too.

apove & ricut: Rough

animation from Winnie

the Pooh and the

Honey Tree.

TP THE CHARACTERS ARE PRESENTED

 EE YORE

|
eyore, the doleful for the screen with very “Thanks for

donkey, was a little modification. It was noticing me.”

relatively simple crucial, however, to cast If there is one

character for the right voice to bring fault to be found Lert: Ernest H. Shepard

animators to work Eeyore to life. Ralph with Eeyore in the Disney illustrations from

with. His gloomy, Wright was able to pro- featurettes, it is that he pages 46 & 47 of

head-hung-low vide that, striking exactly was not used enough. Winnie-the-Pooh.

stance is so visually the proper dejected note

expressive it might have as he sighed signature BELOW: Model sheet

been designed for the phrases such as “No drawing from Winnie

medium, and so the matter” and the Pooh and the

Shepard model Honey Tree.

could be adapted

opposite: Eeyore builds

his house ofsticks.

Cel setup from Scene 41

of Winnie the

Pooh and the

Blustery Day.

WO
 KANGA & ROO

CENTER: Ernest H. \ ) Then A. A. Milne toy department at to the screen with little
Shepard illustration began writing Harrods. change from the opposite: Unlike
from page 154 of the Pooh stories, Tigger’s entry into Shepard version. The Tigger, Roo enjoys being
Winnie-the- Pooh. he worked pri- Pooh’s world is nothing same is true of her son, high up ina tree. Cel |
marily with his if not dramatic. Roo, who—being bouncy setup from Scene 406 of
FAR RIGHT: Roo is safely son's existing & a Kanga and Roo by nature—is able to Winnie the Pooh
back in Kanga’s arms. toys. Later he arrive on the scene far serve as a playmate to the and Tigger Too.
Cel from Scene 413 of decided that more char- more quietly, and this is irrepressible Tigger.
Winnie the Pooh acters were needed to appropriate since Kanga

and Tigger Too. flesh out the cast. These is the gentlest of creatures,

included Tigger, Kanga, an archetypal example of

BELOW: Roo swings and Roo, whom Milne maternal instinct. As with
gleefully on Tigger’s tail. and his wife found and Piglet and Eeyore, it was
Cels from Scene 304 of “adopted” on visits to the possible to adapt Kanga
|
Winnie the Pooh :

’
4
and Tigger Too.

76 THE CHARACTERS ARE PRESENTED

oe

INeciinen
Se
\A:

a
 OWL

cENTER: Ernest H.

Shepard illustration F rom the Silly Symphonies of the Milne books. verbal. Still, Disney
from page 157 of onward, Disney Owl is not as wise as animators have done a BELOw: Owl delivers
The House at animated films have he is supposed to fine job of bringing him another long monologue.
Pooh Corner. made frequent be, and cannot fully to life. His face is Cel from Winnie the
use of owls. spell too well. All especially expressive, Pooh and the
BELOW: Rough anima- The version the same, he likes capable of shifting from Honey Tree.
tion from Scene 58 of found in the to use long words pomposity to panic
Winnie the Pooh Pooh movies is and to deliver grandilo- in the blink of
and the Blustery very much in the studio’s quent speeches. an eye.

Day by John Lounsbery. classic tradition, though Because of this, when

his behavior is of course Owl is on screen the
determined by the proto- humor tends to be
type found in the pages

78 THE CHARACTERS ARE PRESENTED

 GOPHER

opher does not Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Gopher is simply a blue-
Go in the Milne Tree, presumably to add an gray handyman who
books, and apparently it American touch to the whistles through his buck
was Walt Disney who story. Since Gopher isnot _ teeth and shows up in rare
insisted on introducing a Milne character, anima- moments to tell the audi-
him into the scenario of tors had free reign. ence he is not in the books.
BELOw: Gopher
estimates the cost for
digging Pooh out of

Rabbit’s door. Cel and

animation from
Winnie the Pooh
and the Honey Tree

byJohn Lounsbery.

T&S
nes

Seta
isae

Fos SSS
Sota
MSsheese
 CHAPTER FOUR

In Which

The Films Are Presented

WINNIE THE POOH

AND THE HONEY TREE

SRA:
IE
fs
SELENE

WINNIE THE POOH

AND THE BLUSTERY DAY

5
et

WINNIE THE POOH

AND TIGGER TOO

WINNIE THE POOH

AND A DAY FOR EEYORE

Lert: Concept art

for Winnie the

Pooh and the

Honey Tree.
 WINNIE THE POOH AND THE HONEY TREE

n a comfortable hollow tree, deep in the Hundred-Acre Wood, lives a plump little
le of very little brain named Winnie the Pooh. As our story begins, Pooh is remind-
ed by his “pooh-coo clock” that the hour has arrived for something important to take
place. But what? Memory is not Pooh’s strong suit. Finally, though, he recalls that it’s
time for his stoutness exercises. Having performed these to the best of his limited ability,
he finds himself subjected to a severe case of peckishness. Only one thing can completely
cure a major hunger attack—a sizable serving of his favorite food, honey. He removes his
last honeypot from its cupboard and sticks his nose inside. Empty! Pooh cannot believe
his bad luck, but hearing the buzz of a bee, he quickly perks up. His brain may be mod-
estly endowed, but he knows that where there’s a bee then a treasure trove of honey can-
not be far away.

82 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE HONEY TREE
 Pooh follows the bee to a tall oak tree where other busy insects are buzzing around a
hole in the trunk. Pooh has hit the jackpot. Raw honey! Without pausing, he shins up the
tree and, in an attempt to reach the precious, golden syrup, entrusts his considerable
weight to a much too slender bough. It snaps and Pooh falls into a prickly gorse bush.
Now Pooh decides to seek the help of his friend Christopher Robin, who lives conve-
niently nearby. He finds him in the company of other denizens of the Hundred-Acre
Wood: Kanga and her son Roo, along with Rabbit and Owl. They are trying to pin the tail
back on Eeyore the donkey. (Eeyore is in the habit of losing his tail from time to time.)
Pooh interrupts this important task to ask if Christopher Robin has a sky-blue balloon he
can borrow. Christopher Robin lends him one, and together they return to the honey tree
where—after rolling in a mudhole to disguise himself as a rain cloud—Pooh is carried
upward by the balloon toward the enticing cache of honey.
The bees are not entirely fooled by Pooh’s disguise. They are, in fact, decidedly suspi-
cious. But Pooh persists, persuading Christopher Robin to fetch an umbrella and walk up
and down under the tree saying, “Tut-tut, it looks like rain.” This ruse permits Pooh to

So
come close enough to the honey to scoop a little into his mouth, but it is laced with angry
bees and he is forced to spit it out. Other bees attack the balloon. It loses air rapidly so
that Pooh comes tumbling down once more, on top of Christopher Robin this time. With
a swarm of vengeful bees in pursuit, Pooh and his friend escape by diving into the mud-
pool and taking shelter beneath the umbrella.
Hungrier than ever, Pooh heads for Rabbit’s house. Suspecting that Pooh’s visit has
more to do with food than friendship, Rabbit claims not to be home. Not taken in by this
pretense, Pooh wangles an invitation to lunch and proceeds to devour all of Rabbit’s con-
densed milk and honey. Satisfied that nothing is left, Pooh thanks his flabbergasted host
and heads for the exit. But he has eaten too much and is unable to squeeze through the
doorway. Soon it becomes apparent that he is stuck.
As hard as Rabbit pushes, he cannot budge Pooh. In response to Rabbit's request for
help, Christopher Robin arrives on the scene with Eeyore, Owl, Gopher, Kanga, and Roo
in tow. The only solution to the problem, Christopher Robin suggests, is to leave Pooh
where he is until he has lost enough weight to be pulled free. This leaves Rabbit to make

84 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE HONEY TREE
the best of having Pooh’s bottom on extended loan in his living room. Rabbit's attempts to
decorate the offensive rear end are largely unsatisfactory.
Days and nights pass without Pooh being able to move so much as an inch. He is starv-
ing, of course, and almost manages to persuade Gopher to feed him a smidgen of honey.
Rabbit, panicked, intervenes in the nick of time and erects a sign that reads DON’T FEED
THE BEAR!
Rabbit begins to think that Pooh will be part of the furnishings forever. One morning,
however, the long-suffering homeowner leans against the chubby bear’s hindquarters and
finally Pooh begins to budge. Christopher Robin and the others are called, and after much
pushing and pulling, Pooh pops free, like a cork from a bottle. Sailing through the air, he
flies headfirst toward another opening, this time a hole in a tree. Worried that Pooh has
become stuck again, his friends hurry to the spot, only to find him in a state of ecstasy.
The hole is in a honey tree and bears love honey.

85
NARRATOR: “Winnie the Pooh lived in this enchanted forest under the name of ‘Sanders’

THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE HONEY
azsove: Pooh in front

of his home. Cel setup

from Scene 5.

tert: The enchanted

neighborhood of
Christopher Robin’s
childhood days.
Concept art.

87
poou: “I am stout, round, and I have found, speaking poundage-wise,
I improve my appetite when I exercise!”

ABOVE & RIGHT: Animation and cel setup

Pooh works up his from Scene 19 by

hunger doing his “stout- Eric Cleworth and

ness exercises. ” Fred Hellmich.

88 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE HONEY TREE
 es )
cS

o
 roou: “Oh bother, empty again—
99
only the sticky part’s left...

90 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE HONEY TREE
 poou: “That buzzing noise means something. And the only reason for

making a buzzing noise that I know of is because you area bee!”

ABOVE & OPPOSITE: honeypots empty.

Pooh searches for Storyboard artfrom

food butfinds the Scenes 24 to 32.

9}
 PpooH: Bears love honey and I’m a Pooh bear so I do care

so I’11 climb there, I’m so rumbly in my tumbly—

”
time for something sweet...

opposite: Pooh’s quest

for honey goes awry as

he falls and lands in the

prickly gorse bush. Cel

setup from Scene 46.

ABOVE & r1GHT: Pooh

climbs up the honey tree.

Cel setup and celfrom

Scenes 39.3 and 41.

92 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE HONEY TREE
 a S's
ran ——— i
—=—_ ( Ny s

Zz
ae
)
H
SSSVra
—
>ety Sls!
i ee D
= ==}: poou: Now would you aim me
PG UR a RS
ee
—_ SS i AT
at the bees ... please. ”
Se oe ~~
mah edij
ey
i
= SS
og
Cl em 2 IVS
— <> | mn, ~ i~ry

EE en EE Ye
PEt» Ce iaeeteee
— — Ae etre

Laat
: foros
i
8 nN
= gee | sy.
—_— tas

4
ETE\
j

\
nN

\
yt
dd
1)!
NYY
¥ \ =
SQ \ ~X\cs \
q]
)} RN
iy “<AN
4
~~ N
a\\
S—
Y

<x ~ ~
Wh)
\\\

Lp a
(LE i: :
—_— cS
——
\
tz ffi —
SS
~

‘=
ny

Jr
a SS. cen
*—
“ ee Ses
ea
So IS
= a

7- = oa =
al WL
a aa
aul og pis a 4
teLe ah ie —_—— ees me ;
WW

94 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE HONEY TREE
 THIs PAGE: Pooh is

found out by the bees.

Concept art.

opposite: Pooh poses

as a “little black rain

cloud” in order to

deceive the bees. Cel

setup from Scene 301.9.

95
 els Te
Seidl
Me
leet
(Saar
 poou: “Bother,
isn’t there anybody
here at all?”

RABBIT: Nobody!
ted

poou: Must be some-

body there because
somebody must
have said ‘nobody.’
Rabbit ... isn’t
that you?”

RABBIT: “No!
99

ABOVE: Pooh calls on

34 Winnie-the-Pou.,
Rabbit in hopes of a Tama Bear of No Urainat All”
“Am 12” said Pooh hopefully. And then he bright-
‘ened up suddenly. :
friendly snack. “Anyhow,” he said, “it is nearly Luncheon Time.”
And then he thought a litte and said, “Oh, no, [
did. I forgot.” Indeed, he had eaten miost of the jar
of honey at the bottom was something mysterious,
Concept art. a shape and no more. But as he got nearer to it his
nose told him that it was indecd honey, and his
tongue came out anc began to polish up his mouth,
ready for it,And there was a little left in the jar,

opposite: Rabbit Lert: Pooh eats Rabbit’s

attempts to get rid of his entire stock of honey. Cel

uninvited guest, the setup from Scene 415.

Rabbit said, “Honey or condensed milk with your
bread?” he was so excited that he said, “Both,” and

ever-hungry Pooh. Cel then, so as not to seem greedy, he added. “ut don’t
bother about the bread, please. So what abouta
mouth ful of something?”

setup from meee 403.

97
 RABBIT: “Oh dear—oh, gracious—oh well it
all comes from eating too much!”

pooH:It all comes from not having front

doors big enough! ms

98 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE HONEY TREE I
 ABOVE LEET: Rabbit

tries without luck to push

Pooh out his door. ABOVE: A worried

Animation from Scene Rabbit runs for help. Cel

422 by Hal Ambro. setup from Scene 426.

Lert: Rabbit tries to live ricHT: Christopher

with Pooh’s south end. Robin comes to the

Concept art. rescue. Cel setup from

Scene 522.

99
 38 Winnic-the-Pooh

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN: Pooh Bear, there’s only one thing we

can do: wait for you to get thin again.”

For some time now Pooh had been saying “Yes”

and “No” in turn, with his cyes shut, to all that
Owl was saying, and having said, “Yes, yes,” last
time, he said “No, not at all,” now, without really

asove: Night after

lonely night passes as

Pooh waits to become

thinner. Cel setup from

Scene 562.1.

OPPOSITE & RIGHT:

Christopher Robin ABOVE: Pooh’s friends

reassures Pooh and celebrate when the bear is

keeps him company. Cel thin enough to budge.

setups from Scenes 526 Storyboard art from

and 562.1. Scene 626.

|
)
101
 \
eed
rABBIT: “Hah! There he goes!

ruis pace: Pooh finally

loses enough weight to be
tugged free. Animation
and cel setups from Scene

637 by Walt Stanchfield.

opposite: Pooh sails

out of Rabbit's hole into

another hole—this time

to his glee! Cel setup

from Scene 650.

102 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE HONEY TREE
 eh
~
y a egerscbimspsneie
eee
WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY

\ X ] hen the East Wind trades places with the West Wind, things are stirred up in the
Hundred-Acre Wood. On this particular blustery day, Pooh makes his way to his
Thoughtful Spot to try some recreational thinking, even though thinking is not easy fora
bear of small brain. Pooh is hard at it when Gopher appears and asks what he is thinking
about. Pooh can’t remember. Gopher warns him that it is Windsday. That gives Pooh an
idea. He will visit everyone and wish them a happy Windsday.
First he calls on his dear friend Piglet, who lives in the depths of the forest in a rather
grand house in a beech tree. Piglet is sweeping leaves from the pathway that leads to his
door, but on this annoyingly blustery day the leaves keep blowing back again. Determined
to be cheerful, Pooh calls out, “Happy Windsday.” Piglet says he doesn’t see anything to be
happy about since the wind is threatening to blow him away. As Piglet speaks, in fact, a
fierce gust forces him to backpedal helplessly. A large leaf almost knocks him over, and
then, acting as a sail, pushes him faster. In an effort to save his friend, Pooh grabs Piglet’s
scarf, but it begins to unravel, so that Pooh is left holding a single strand of wool as Piglet
is swept into the air. Tossed this way and that by the wind, Piglet tries to grab on to passing
trees but is carried higher and higher till his only contact with the earth is Pooh and the
strand of wool that connects them.

104 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY
 Piglet sails over the house occupied by Kanga and Roo. Roo mistakes Piglet for a kite,
which is exactly what he looks like, bucking and bobbing at the end of the thread. By now
the wind has become so strong that Pooh has difficulty hanging on. He tries to dig his
heels in, but that doesn’t help. Instead he is dragged along, like a water-skier on dry land,
and is pulled through a house that Eeyore has just finished building, utterly destroying it.
(“Thanks for noticing me,” says Eeyore dolefully.) He is then dragged through Rabbit’s
kitchen garden, inadvertently helping to harvest the carrots. Finally Pooh is swept off the
ground too, and he and Piglet fly together until both are blown up against the window of
Owl’s house high in the branches of a big tree.
Owl lets them in. The tree bends with the gale and furniture slides around as Owl
regales his guests with a long and pompous story about nothing in particular. The wind
gets stronger and stronger until finally the tree that supports Owl’s home is blown down.
The house is smashed to pieces. Christopher Robin, arriving on the scene, offers the
opinion that nothing can be done to repair it. Upon hearing this, Eeyore—although he has
just lost his own house—generously announces that he will launch a search to find a new
residence for Owl.
Blustery day becomes blustery night. Snug in bed, Pooh hears spooky noises. He opens
his front door, hoping to find Christopher Robin or Piglet outside. Instead he is con-
fronted by a creature he has never seen before—a striped, hyperkinetic character who
bounces crazily into the air, sending Pooh sprawling, then lands on Pooh’s ample stomach.

105
The chubby bear’s breath is knocked out of him. When he is able to talk again, he admits
to the stranger that he was scared. The creature introduces himself as Tigger and proudly
acknowledges that everyone is afraid of Tiggers. As if to prove the point, he catches sight of
his own reflection in Pooh’s mirror and scares himself. Pooh calms his uninvited guest and
graciously offers him a taste of honey. Tigger samples the honey and pronounces it dis-
gusting—fit only for Heffalumps and Woozles. With that, Tigger bounces off into the
night, leaving Pooh to worry about Heffalumps and Woozles, famous the world over, it
seems, as unscrupulous honey bandits.
Pooh mounts guard over his precious honeypots, marching up and down in front of the
mirror until exhaustion overcomes him and he falls asleep. Soon he is dreaming of
Heffalumps and Woozles. ‘They come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors—blue,
black, pink, and brown. Some are striped, and some are covered with polka dots. All of
them have a single ambition—to steal Pooh’s honey. One of the Heffalumps turns into a
watering can and begins to douse Pooh with water. Pooh wakes suddenly and finds that
there is water everywhere. The blustery weather has blown in black clouds that have
dumped several inches of rain on the Hundred-Acre Wood.
Many residents find their homes flooded. Piglet, for instance, discovers there is little he
can do to stop the rising waters and climbs aboard a floating chair as he tries to bail out his
living room. Abandoning this hopeless task, he manages to write a note requesting help, and
just has time to place it in a bottle before he is swept away by the flood. Soon he finds himself

106 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY
carried underneath a low-hanging bough where Pooh has taken refuge with his supply of
honey. As Piglet drifts by, Pooh falls in too, his head now firmly stuck in a honeypot which
keeps him afloat, his stubby legs waving in the air. Flying overhead, Owl spots them, but
instead of attempting a rescue or going for aid, he delivers another of his endless homilies.
He even fails to warn Pooh and Piglet that they are about to be swept over a waterfall.
As they go over the falls, Pooh somehow ends up on Piglet’s chair and Piglet in Pooh’s
honeypot. Both are rescued and brought to dry land, safe and sound.
Except for Eeyore, who is still searching for a house for Owl, everyone else gathers at
Christopher Robin’s house, which is located above the flood line. Christopher Robin credits
Pooh with saving Piglet and promises to throw him a hero party when the weather gets better.
On the day of the party, Christopher Robin, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, and
Roo gather together in Pooh's honor. Eeyore is still missing but soon arrives with the good
news that he has found a house for Owl. Everyone follows Eeyore to see just what it is that
he has turned up. In fact it’s a very nice house. The problem is, it’s Piglet’s house. No one
is quite sure how to point this out without causing Eeyore embarrassment. Even Piglet,
though he’s broken-hearted to lose his home, can’t bear to humiliate Eeyore and disap-
point Owl. Bravely and tearfully, Piglet relinquishes his house. But where will he live?
“With me, of course,” Pooh insists.
Piglet happily accepts and the party continues. But now it is for two heroes, Piglet
and Pooh.

1:0°7
 poou: Oh, the wind is
lashing lustily, and the
trees are thrashing
thrustily, and the leaves
are rustling gustily,
so it’s rather safe to
say—that it seems that
it may turn out to
be—it feels that it will
undoubtedly—it looks
like a rather blustery
day today.”
THIS PAGE: Pooh revels

in the blustery weather.

Storyboard artfrom

Scene 2.

opposite: Pooh tries

hard to “think of some-

thing” at his Thoughtful
Spot. Cel setup from
Scene 5.

108 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY
109
i
 NARRATOR: *... And on this blustery day, the wind
b
was giving you a bit of a bother.’

piGLET: I don’t mind the leaves that are leaving.

9
It’s the leaves that are coming...

ABovE: Piglet is swept

away by a leaf.

Animation from Scene

25 by Ollie Johnston.

opposite: Piglet sweeps

the entranceway to his

cherished home. Cel ABOVE: Lhe strong wind

setup from Scene 20. carries Piglet and Pooh to

Owl’s window. Cel setup

from Scene 53.

Lid
BELOw: Lhe wind blows

down Owl’s house and

Christopher Robin hur-

ries to the disaster site.

Cel setup from Scene 82.

THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN: What a pity.

Owl, I don’t think we will ever

be able to fix it.”

EEYORE:
If you ask me, when a

house looks like that, it’s

time to find a new one.”

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN:* Lhat’sa

very good idea, Eeyore.”

EEYORE: Might take a day or two

but I'll find a new one.”

owt: “Good, that will just give me

time to tell you about my

Uncle Clyde...”

Pals
 Lert: The blustery day

said, “What I like best in the whole world is Me said, “What I like best in the whole world is Me
turns into a blustery
and Piglet going to see You, and You saying ‘What and Piglet going to see You, and You saying “What
about a little something?’ The day was all blustery about a little something?’ The day was all blustery night. Cel setups from
and windy outside and it was all cozy and warm in- and windy outside and it was all cozy and warm in-
side Pooh’s house. side Pooh’s house. Scene 201.

BELOW: Pooh hears a

sound that he has never

heard before outside his

window. Cel setup from

Scene 205.

opposite: Pooh opens

his door slightly and is

The blustery day turned into a blustery night. The blustery day turned into a blustery night.
knocked over by a
To Pooh it was a very anxious sort of night, filled To Pooh it was a very anxious sort of night, filled
with anxious sorts of noises. One of the noises
with anxious sorts of noises. One of the noises
strange creature. Cel
was a sound that had never been héard before.
was a sound that had never been heard before. setup from Scene 207.
“That noise means something. And just might “That noise means something. And just might

NARRATOR: ‘Owl talked from page forty-one to page

sixty-two, and on page sixty-two the blustery day

turned into a blustery night. To Pooh it was a very

anxious sort of a night hott Ay

114 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY
 ticcER: “ liggers don’t
like honey.”

poou:* But you said that

you liked...”

TIGGER: “Yeah, that icky,

sticky stuff is only fit
for Heffalumps and

Woozles.”

ABOVE: Tigger shows his

distaste
for the honey

Pooh offered. Cel setup

from Scene 234.

ercnt: Having warned

Pooh about Heffalumps

and Woozles and their

honey-stealing ways,

Tigger makes his exit. Cel

setup from Scene 244.

116 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY
 THIS PAGE: Pooh and and Woozles. Animation

his reflection guard their from Scene 97

honey from Heffalumps by Hal King.

 wee
entree
Cs a

ie doe A ON TM
\ rey
 THE HONEypOTS:* [hey’re far, they’re near,
they’re gone, they’re here.
They’re quick and slick, they’re insincere.
Beware! Beware! Bea very wary bear.”

opposite: Tired from turs pace: Honeypots

his sentry duty, Pooh falls surround and warn Pooh
asleep and dreams. Cel about Heffalumps and

setup from Scene 100. Woozles. Storyboard art

from Scene 100.

E19
 THESE PAGES:

Heffalumps and Woozles

of every shape, size,

and color haunt Pooh.

Cels and cel setups from

Scenes 101 to 121.

120 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY
 ee . 34
NARRATOR: It was raining all over the Hundred-Acre Wood.

There was a thunderstorm on page seventy-one—and

on page seventy-three there was a bit of cloudburst.”

BELow: Piglet is swept riGHT: Pooh rescues supper SRS

YR,
.+
away by the water. Cel from the flood. Storyboard

setup from Scene 306. artfrom Scene 145.

122 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY
 LEFT: Owl is too busy

talking to notice the

coming waterfall. Cel

from Scene 310.

ricuT: Piglet struggles

desperately to avoid going

over the waterfall. Cel

setup from Scene 311.

PIGLET: “We’re coming to a flutterfall, a flatterfall,

ah, ah, wa-wa—a very big waterfall!”

ow.: “Please, no interruptions.”

23
 ee E
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN: Pooh, you rescued Piglet!”

ee s
poou: I did?”

ABovE: Pooh is surprised

ABOVE: Christopher to be considered a hero.

Robin retrieves Piglet. Cel Cel setup from Scene 322.

setup from Scene 321.

124 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY
 EEYORE: “I found it.”

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN:

“Found what, Eeyore?”

EEYORE: “House for Owl.”

ABOVE & LEFT:

Animation Cel.

The persistent Eeyore

announces that he has

found a new home for

Owl. Unfortunately it is

Piglet’s house. Cel and

cel setup from Scenes

405 and 410.

D5
 poou: “Tell them it’s your house, Piglet.”

picLet: “No, Pooh, this house belongs to our

good friend (gulp), Owl.”

RABBIT: “But Piglet, where will you live?”

prctet: “Well, I (sniff) I-I-I guess I

shall live-ah (sniff) I-I-I suppose
I—I shall live...”

pooH: With me. You shall live

with me, won’t you, Piglet?”

Tus pace: Piglet bravely

offers his house to Owl

and is then comforted
by Pooh. Cels from
Scenes 415 to 427.

opposite: Everyone

gathers
for a celebration

party. Scene 430.

LOE THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY
 WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO

t’s asunny morning in the Hundred-Acre Wood and Winnie the Pooh is sitting on a
ee log in his Thoughtful Spot. While trying very hard to think of something to
think about, he is bounced by Tigger. Tigger pauses briefly to re-introduce himself, then
immediately takes his leave, explaining that he has lots of bouncing to do.
Tigger’s next encounter is with Piglet, who is promptly bounced. Less substantial than
Pooh, Piglet seems in danger of being crushed. Being plucky, however, he deals bravely with
the situation and Tigger moves on, looking for other victims. To his delight he spots “Old
Long Ears”—otherwise known as Rabbit—busy in his garden. Tigger takes a special pleasure
in bouncing Rabbit because it always causes him to become so distressed. ‘Today is no excep-
tion. Tigger bounces Rabbit and Rabbit is outraged. Always reasonable, in his own self-
interested way, Tigger points out, “But bouncing is what Tiggers do best.” Then he bounces
off, on his incredible jumping-jack tail, singing his “Wonderful Thing about Tiggers” song.
Rabbit calls a meeting. Something, he insists, must be done about Tigger. Piglet and Pooh
are the only members of Rabbit’s audience, and Pooh soon falls asleep, but a scheme is
hatched. According to Rabbit’s proposal, Tigger must be taken on a long “explore” and lost.

128 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO
 Needless to say, Tigger is all for a long exploration, and ona damp, foggy day, when
trees look like ghosts, Piglet and Pooh join Rabbit and Tigger for an expedition to the
heart of the Hundred-Acre Wood. Tigger is soon far ahead of everyone else, his enthusiasm
and fast bouncing causing him to lose contact with the others. Seizing the opportunity,
Rabbit urges Piglet and Pooh to hide with him in a hollow log. Tigger comes back to look
for them. Not seeing “the blokes” anywhere, he bounces off into the mist.
Rabbit is thrilled. Convinced that they are rid of Tigger forever, he emerges from the
log and, with Piglet and Pooh, sets off for home. The fog is becoming thicker by the
minute, but Rabbit informs his companions that he knows the wood like the back of his
paw. Despite this assurance, the trio is soon lost and going round in circles, passing the
same sand pit over and over again, which prompts Pooh to suggest that if they set out for
the sand pit they would soon arrive at home. Rabbit is not impressed by this sparkling
display of logic and decides to strike out on his own. Piglet and Pooh allow themselves to
be guided by the geographically trustworthy gurglings of Pooh’s hungry tummy and are
soon safely en route to his honey cupboard. When they are bounced by Tigger, who has
long since found his way home, they inform him that Rabbit is still lost in the wood.
Confidently telling them he will find Rabbit, Tigger bounces off.
Rabbit meanwhile becomes more and more lost. Night falls and he is terrified,
imagining that frogs and even caterpillars are lurking monsters. Just as his terror
reaches a crescendo, he is bounced by Tigger. To Rabbit’s embarrassment, his striped

E29
tormentor announces that Tiggers never get lost, places his tail in Rabbit’s hands, and
bounces him home.
A short while after this adventure, it begins to snow in the Hundred-Acre Wood. Soon
the landscape is white and the rivers and ponds are covered with ice. Tigger has made a
plan to take Roo bouncing. (Being a Kangaroo, Roo is a promising student.) They find a
frozen pond and Tigger insists on skating. Almost immediately he loses control and skids
helplessly into Rabbit, who has been performing effortless figures of eight.
The collision convinces Tigger that Tiggers do not like skating. What they do like, he
tells Roo—and what they do best—is climbing trees. Actually, he corrects himself, they
bounce trees, and to prove his point he bounces to the top of a very tall tree. Once up
there, however, he makes the unpleasant discovery that Tiggers don’t like heights. As for
Roo, he has reached the lower branches of the same tree and, though perfectly happy, has
no idea how to bring Tigger down.
As so often happens, Pooh and Piglet are nearby. They follow two sets of footprints in
the snow—footprints that converge and criss-cross—and get thoroughly muddled up. It
does not occur to them that once again they might be going round and round in circles,
that the footprints they are following might be their very own. Rather, they come to the
conclusion that the mysterious prints must have been made by some fierce creature such as
a jagular.
ee ”

130 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO + |
 If you look up, Pooh warns, the jagular will drop on you.
Finally they do look up and see Roo and Tigger in the tree, the former swinging happily
from a bough, the latter holding on for dear life and begging for Christopher Robin’s help.
Christopher Robin arrives with the rest of the gang. Rabbit is thrilled to discover Tigger
in his present predicament and wants to leave him there. The others are more sympathetic.
Christopher Robin removes his coat and the animals help him hold it under the tree like a
fireman's safety blanket. Roo jumps into the improvised blanket. Then comes Tigger’s
turn, but he’s afraid to jump. He is so terrified, in fact, that he promises never to bounce
again if someone will help him down.
At this point, the narrator comes to his rescue, tipping the tree on screen so that Tigger
is able to climb gingerly from the branches to the soft snow beneath.
“I’m so happy,” he says, “I could bounce!”
Then he realizes he has promised never to bounce again. Depressed, he slinks off into
the snowdrifts. Rabbit is beside himself with joy. Roo, however, says he liked the bouncy
Tigger better, and except for Rabbit, everyone agrees. Finally Rabbit submits to peer pres-
sure, admitting that an unbounced Tigger is not pleasant to contemplate.
Overjoyed, Tigger returns to the little group, and everyone celebrates by bouncing
along with him through the enchanted landscape of the Hundred-Acre Wood.

131
THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO
 tTiccEerR: “Hello Pooh! G-rrrr

. Pm Tigger! T-I-

double Guh-er! That spells

9999
“Tigger !

PooH: Ye-ah, ah-h, I know....

You’ve bounced me before.”

trccER:“I did? Oh yeah... I

re-eh-coginize you. ...You’re
the one who’s stuffed with
fluff!”

poou: “Eh, yeah ... and you’re

sitting on at!”

THIS PAGE &

opposite: Tigger

bounces Pooh—again.

Cel setups from Scene 3.

13S
tTiccER: “Hello Rabbit!

I’m Tigger! T-I-

double-guh ...”

RABBIT: “Oh... Pah...

Please ... Please don’t
spell it! Oh dear...
oh...eh...j-just...
j-just ... look at my
beautiful garden!
9»?

TIGGER: “Ye... yeeech one

messy, isn’t it?”

134 THE FILMS ARE

.
PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO *
THIS PAGE & OPPOSITE: Tigger bounces through

Rabbit’s beautiful garden it. Scenes 19 and 28.

becomes a mess after

135
PIGLET: “Pooh, we were just trying to think of a way to get the
bounce out of Tigger.”

e (4
RABBIT: ... we ll take Tigger for a long explore.”

LEFT & aBove: Rabbit

conducts a meeting in

order to solve the Tigger

problem, but Pooh is

inattentive. Rough

animation and cel

yee _
setups from Scene 51.
ra he
mre ner att
ane
oN ee ene ;

136 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO
 TIGGER: Hey, you blokes, where are you?”

Poon: Ah... mm ...h...”

RABBIT: ‘Shush!”

pooH:I am shushed!”

ABove: Rabbit, Pooh,

and Piglet lead Tigger
into the woods in order

to lose him. Cel setup

from Scene 70.

ricHT: Rabbit, Pooh,

and Piglet hide from

Tigger in a log. Cel setup

from Scene 90.

137
 Na
Leake
4
Avene

we

Hq ie] ey Lan) S| 2 n < 4 io] Ay 4 iQ n =) Z fH | a) WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO
 pooH: Eh... say Rabbit, how would it be if as soon is au
& ey
as we're out of sight of this old pit we just try to Tt
find it again?” ain

[i yr | at
ok
RABBIT: What’s the good of that?” | "C)

Sa ‘c »
PpooH: Well y’see, we keep looking for > y, r BINS
home, but we keep finding this pit. So
I just thought if we looked for this pit
. ah... we might find home.”

Tuts PAGE: Pooh and

Piglet wait
for Rabbit

to prove that he can

find them again.

Animation from Scene

128 by Art Stevens.

| opposite: Pooh, Piglet,

and Rabbit become lost

themselves in the

oe
eit Hundred-Acre Wood.

Concept art.

Less,
RABBIT: “Er... what’s

that? Pooh...

Piglet...”

THESE PAGES:

Separated from Pooh

and Piglet, Rabbit

is lost, alone, and

terrified. Storyboard

art and cel setup from

Scene 162.

140 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO
 KANGA: Goodness, you’re bouncy today.”

roo: That’s what Roos do bestest!”

kaNGA:Oh-h, ... now keep your scarf on.”

roo: Not so tight, Mama.”

KANGA: Is your sweater warm enough?”

roo:“Yes, mother!!”

aBove: Kanga bundles

up Roo for a day of

adventure with Tigger. Cel

setup from Scene 217.

RIGHT: Tigger slips on

the ice while showing

off for Roo. Rough

animation from Scene

238 by Milt Kahl.

143
 roo: I bet you could climb trees.”

ticcER: Ah ... climb trees!” Ha, ha, ha, hooo, ah...that’s what Tiggers do best!
Only Tiggers don’t climb trees ... they bounce ’em.”

144 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO
THESE PAGES: Tigger discovers how high he is.

bounces up a tree and Storyboard art from

is terrified when he Scenes 296 to 302.

145
 “Hunting,” said Pooh.

mysteriously.
“Tracking what?” said Piglet, coming closer.
“What do you see there, Piglet?”
“Tracks,” said Piglet. “Paw-marks.” He gave |
little squeak of excitement. “Oh, Pooh! Do you thin!
URE
SSL
ed
Seana
Sa
haa
coe
handle
Seeley
eicalapeiaapioed
eeeISs
it’s a—a—a Woozle?”
“It may be,” said Pooh. “Sometimes it is, am
sometimes it isn’t. You never can tell with paw
marks.”
7 There was a small spaney 2 ee
and round this pasewent Pooh. :

little
while.

Whether he would have bounced any higher, I

don’t know, but just as he had got to the top, little
Roo cried, “We're going to stay here for ever and
ever unless we go higher. What do you say, Tigger?”
 PIGLET: What ya doing, Pooh?”

OPPOSITE & RIGHT:

poou: "Sh ... tracking something.”
While Tigger is stuck

up a tree, Pooh and

prctet: Tracking what? ”
Piglet puzgle over
poou: “Well, that’s what I ask myself, Piglet ... what.”
some mysterious tracks.

Cel setups from prctet: “And what-a ya think you’ll answer yourself?”
Scenes 350 and 358.

poou: “Oh, I shall have to wait until I catch up with it.”

147
 trccER: “Oh, if I ever get outa dis ... I promise never
ta bounce again... ah... never!”

raBBIT:“I heard that, Tigger ... he promised! Did you

hear him promise? I heard him ... I heard him!”

ABOVE: Tigger promises

to give up bouncing. Cel

from Scene 309.

ricut: Rabbit is excited

by the thought of a

bounceless Tigger. Cel

setup from Scene 424.

148 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO
TIGGER: “You mean... Ah... Ah... I

can’t ever bounce? ... Again?” (Vlooh

THIS PAGE: Rescued

from the top of the

tree, a dejected Tigger

realizes that he has

promised never to bounce -

again. Animation from

Scene 510 by

John Pomeroy.

149
 TIGGER: “Ya mean I can have my bounce back... ?

Wh-ha, ha, ha, ha, ... whoo! ... Ah... come on

Rabbit! Let’s you and me bounce, huh?”

150 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO
 tHese paces: After celebration. Rough
deciding that a bouncy animation and cel setup

: Tigger is better than an from Scenes 534 and

unhappy Tigger, everyone 537.1 by Cliff Nordberg
follows him in a bouncing and Art Stevens.

: LS1
WINNIE THE POOH AND A DAY FOR EEYORE

() a beautiful day on a lovely old bridge over a peaceful little river in the Hundred-
Acre Wood, Winnie the Pooh accidentally invents a game that he calls Pooh Sticks.
This is how it’s played: contestants throw sticks into the water from the upstream side of the
bridge. Then they scamper to the downstream side to see whose stick emerges first. The
owner of that stick is the winner. As they play the game one time, Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, and
Roo notice an unusual stick floating by. It is big and gray and it doesn’t belong to any of
them. In fact, it isn’t a stick at all—it’s Eeyore’s tail. What’s more, Eeyore is attached to it.
A rescue operation is set into motion. At first it doesn’t go too well, since Pooh almost
succeeds in drowning Eeyore by hitting him with a large boulder. Finally Eeyore comes
ashore and explains that he fell into the river after being bounced by Tigger—a charge that
Tigger later denies, claiming that he just so happened to have coughed rather vigorously
while in Eeyore’s general vicinity.
Eeyore goes on to mention that he is depressed anyway, even more so than usual,
because it’s his birthday and nobody has given him a present. Everyone feels bad about

152 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND A DAY FOR EEYORE
this. Pooh heads for home to fetch a pot of honey. On his way to Eeyore’s house, however,
the exertion of the journey makes him hungry, so he eats the honey. Luckily, Pooh’s mod-
est brain is working at optimum efficiency. An empty pot, he realizes, is perfect for putting
things into. With this practical thought in mind, he offers the pot to Eeyore.
Unfortunately, Eeyore has nothing to put in it. Nothing, that is, till Piglet arrives with a
balloon he has been saving for just such an emergency. The balloon has been punctured
and torn to shreds during the course of its journey to Eeyore’s house, but Eeyore does not
see this as a drawback. On the contrary, he is delighted, since an inflated balloon would
not have fit into the pot whereas a tattered balloon fits perfectly.
A birthday party is thrown for the morose little donkey. When Tigger shows up, Rabbit
argues that he should be barred from the festivities for having bounced Eeyore into the
river. Christopher Robin distracts everyone from the argument by suggesting that they go
to the river for another game of Pooh Sticks.
At first, everything goes well. Eeyore wins more games than anyone else. Tigger doesn't
win at all and stalks off in frustration, his head down, his demeanor bounceless. Feeling
sorry for Tigger, Eeyore follows him and offers the secret of winning at Pooh Sticks. (It’s
all a matter of dropping the stick es the river in a special twitchy sort of way.) Tigger is
thrilled with this information and his bounce is restored.
ce
 roo Lhat’s funny. I dropped it on the other side

and it came out on this side. I wonder if it would

do it again. I wonder which would come first.”

ABOVE & RIGHT: Pooh

gathers pine cones to

drop over the side of the

bridge. Cel setups.

opposite: In the most

peaceful spot of the
Hundred-Acre Wood was

an old wooden bridge.

Cel setup.

S58)
 ee .
EVERYONE: It’s...it’s... Eeyore!”

ee e
EEYORE: Don’t pay any attention

to me. Nobody ever does.”

opposite: Pooh and

his friends are playing

Pooh Sticks when they see )

something strange floating

in the river. Cel setup.

THIS PAGE: Eeyore

awaits help after being

bounced into the river by

Tigger. Cels.

156 THE FILMS ARE

 ABOVE & tert: Eeyore

is gloomier than usual

with no presents, no

candles, and no cake on

his birthday. Storyboard

art and cel setup. BELOw: Pooh decides to

give Eeyore a jar of honey

but absentmindedly eats

the gift. Cel setup.

ee
poou: Eeyore, what’s the matter? ... You
seem so sad.”

eryore: Why should I be sad? It’s my birth-

day. The happiest day of the year.”

158 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND A DAY FOR EEYORE
 Tus PAGE: Piglet decides

to give a balloon as

a present but has an

accident on the way to

Eeyore’s. Storyboard art

and cels.

picLet:
Oh d-d-dear. What shall I ...? How shall I .. .?
Well, perhaps Eeyore doesn’t like balloons so very

59
 poou: Eeyore, I’m very glad I thought of giving you a
useful pot to put things in.”

preteT: And I’m very glad I thought of giving you

9
something to put in a useful p... p... pot.

ABovE: Eeyore discovers

that a popped balloon

fits perfectly into an

empty pot. Cels.

ricuT: Pooh and Piglet

are happy that their gifts

have been well received.

Cel setup. opposite: Eeyore finally ; i

| smiles from the attention

he receives. Cel setup.

160 THE FILMS ARE PRESENTED: WINNIE THE POOH AND A DAY FOR EEYORE
 GH
Ve wv kh. hl VE
In Which
The Popularity of Pooh Continues

INCE HIS LITERARY DEBUT IN 1926 and his film debut in 1966, Winnie the
Pooh has become the most famous and beloved bear in the world. His life
beyond the Milne stories and the Disney featurettes based upon them has
proved to be a long and healthy one. In 1981 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was
released on video and has enjoyed huge popularity. That same year an educational
film, Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons, was released. This was the first of four teaching

films featuring Pooh and his friends. In 1982 a show entitled Winnie the Pooh and Friends,

featuring clips from the existing Pooh films along with footage from
opposite: Sitting in
other Disney animated movies, was broadcast on television. Then in
front of his home, the

famous Pooh Bear

1983, just a few weeks after the theatrical release of Winnie the Pooh and a
acknowledgeshisaudi- Day for Eeyore, the studio launched a television series called Welcome to Pooh
ence. Cel setup from Corner on the Disney Channel. The characters were brought to life via
S 5 ofWinni 3 : 5 .
fae 2 inaie bpuppectronics life-sized costumes articulated by actors and electron-
the Pooh and the a4
ics. The episodes imparted value-laden messages such as “truth will
Honey Tree.

out” and “a friend in need is a friend indeed.”

 The New Adventures Thanksgiving; and Winnie the Pooh, A Valentine
of Winnie the Pooh, an for You. More are under development.
animated television In 1997 the studio issued a full-length
series, was launched home video feature entitled Pooh’s Grand
on the Disney Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin.
Channel in January The critically acclaimed movie takes off
of 1988, switching from the point at which Milne and The
to ABC later that Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ended.
year. [he scripts in the series were not Christopher Robin has left for school.
ABOVE: Christopher directly based on Milne material but The denizens of the Hundred-Acre
Robin and the gang made an honorable effort not to stray Wood manage to misunderstand this
cross a river. Production too far from the spirit of the Pooh and think he has gone to “Skull,” which
Still from Pooh’s books. With an animation quality much sounds pretty sinister. They are so
Grand Adventure, better than the usual television fare, and concerned, in fact, that they set out to
the Search for solid voice talents, The New Adventures of rescue him from whatever dangers he’s
Christopher Winnie the Pooh won an Emmy Award for fallen into. Needless to say, this leads
Robin. Best Animated Program, Daytime, in Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and the rest into
both 1989 and 1990. all kinds of adventures. :
Starting in 1991, Pooh continued to In February 2000, Tigger bounced
appear on television in a series of holi- onto the big screen in his very own full-
day specials: Winnie the Pooh and Christmas length feature: The Tigger Movie. The film
Too; Boo! To You Too; A Winnie the Pooh focuses on the ordinarily happy-go-lucky

164 THE POPULARITY OF POOH CONTINUES >

4
Tigger who comes to realize that being calendars and The Christopher Robin Birthday
the onliest tigger may also mean being Book. Pooh paper-doll books were
the loneliest tigger. Thus begins the produced as early as the 1920s, and
search, high and low, near and far, other prewar collectibles include
across the Hundred-Acre Wood for various ceramic items, including bowls
Tigger’s family. Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and pitchers, jigsaw puzzles, and at least
Owl, Kanga, and Roo all join the hunt. a couple of board games. Now it is BELOW: Poster for

Yet, in the end, Tigger realizes that his possible to buy Pooh Christmas orna- The Tigger Movie.

family is made up of his pals from the ments, Pooh pile rugs, Pooh backpacks,
Hundred-Acre Wood. His real family Pooh cookie cutters, and Pooh towel

had been right beside him all along. pegs. Nor are his friends forgotten.
In addition to their success on the There are Tigger jogging pants, Piglet

screen, Pooh and his friends have baseball caps, Eeyore bookends, and
proliferated in other forms. The public’s Christopher Robin mugs.
hunger for Pooh likenesses and Pooh But Pooh and most of his friends
paraphernalia seems to be insatiable. began life as toys, and at the heart of

=
THE
Beside Milne’s two Pooh books, there are the passion for Pooh collectibles are,

now scores of publishing spin-offs ranging appropriately, the toys themselves. As oie eee

from comics to pop-up books, from noted in chapter one, Christopher

cookbooks to “how to draw Pooh” books. Robin’s Pooh was an Alpha made by
Early peripheral products included J. K. Farnell, and the bear belonging to

various Pooh and Christopher Robin Ernest Shepard’s son—the primary

165
 model for the drawings—was a Steiff than a flat black nose and shoe-button
from Germany. Given the success of the eyes. And then there is that red T-shirt.
books, however, it was only a matter of Brush’s tan flannel Pooh is a Pooh that
time before teddies designated as Pooh a child might make if he or she had the
bears were offered for sale. The British necessary manual dexterity. Of the
Teddy Toy Company brought out a remaining characters, Ms. Brush’s

Pooh series in the early thirties, and cotton Piglet is quite wonderfully
several other manufacturers soon simplified, like a drawing by James
followed their example. The production Thurber. Owl also displays a
of Pooh bears was licensed in America Thurberish look, as does Tigger.

as early as 1930. Kanga and Roo are wittily constructed

Certainly the best-known pre- from rust and tan felt, while Rabbit,
Disney Pooh soft toys, however, were with painted eyes and string whiskers,
those made by Agnes Brush and sold is almost abstract in conception.
through F.A.O. Schwarz in the 1940s Eeyore is the character who comes
and 1950s. These are memorable closest to Shepard’s models, though he
because they are so distinctive. Brush’s lacks the spirit of some of the others.
version of Pooh does not look very much When Disney obtained marketing
like Pooh in the Shepard drawings. rights to Pooh in 1961, the company
The proportions are totally different, immediately entered into negotiations
as are details like the ears, while the with the management of Sears stores,
bear’s features consist of nothing more and it was agreed that the retailer would

166 THE POPULARITY OF POOH CONTINUES

offer a line of Pooh merchandise based John Wright, beginning in 1985.
on the Disney versions of the Milne Wright is the legitimate successor to
characters. The Gund Manufacturing Agnes Brush, producing much of his

Company of New York, another long- work for F.A.O. Schwarz, though he

time producer of teddy bears, made has also made Pooh toys for Disney BELOW: The citizens of

stuffed Pooh toys for Sears, as did Cal outlets and for special events such as the Hundred-Acre Wood.

Toys of California. Gund also produced Disney conventions. Almost all of his Dolls byJohn Wright.

special versions for the Disney parks. work is issued in limited editions,
Recent Disney merchandise—
including Gund’s current line—is
closely matched to the on-screen
appearance of the characters, their
authenticity being guaranteed by
careful scrutiny on the part of the
studio. Companies like Gabrielle
Designs, in England, and Anne
Wilkinson Designs, in America, have

made handsome additions to the roster

of Pooh soft toys.
The most famous recent entries
into the field are the exquisitely crafted
figures created by American doll artist R.

167
 a few hundred to 3,500. His Milne Ow IS IT POSSIBLE for such a
characters are an interesting blend of H simple bear to achieve such great-
Disney (under whose license they ness? What makes Pooh’s world a world
appear) and Shepard. His Pooh, in fact, we all like to visit, as fresh today as it was
is more Shepard than Disney, and all of in the 1920s? To answer these questions
the characters are reinterpreted through we must look first at A. A. Milne’s place
Wright's highly tuned sensibility. His in the history of children’s literature.
masterpieces may be his two versions of Nursery rhymes and fairy tales are
Christopher Robin, which display a nat- almost as old as civilization, but they
uralism that is not typical of the Pooh belong to folk tradition rather than to
canon. Naturalism, in fact, is Wright's the field of children’s literature. Texts
strong point. If Agnes Brush’s Milne intended specifically for children are a
figures were made for children but coy- relatively recent phenomenon, and they
eted by adults, Wright’s are made for reflect a radical shift in society’s attitude
adults but coveted by children. toward the child. Until the I9th century
Fortunately there is something out at least, children tended to be regarded
there for everyone, from Wright's lux- as small, unformed adults, and the
ury dolls to the Pooh premiums assumption was that they would best be
offered at McDonald’s and the Pooh instructed by exposure to appropriate
postage stamps that have been issued in adult books—instruction being the entire
several countries. So many items—all purpose of reading so far as most parents
inspired by a silly old bear. and pedagogues were concerned.

168 THE POPULARITY OF POOH CONTINUES

 Even as the beginnings of a chil- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), which
dren’s literature emerged, though, in combined fantasy and nonsense, and
the middle of the 19th century, the actually made fun of pedagogy.
emphasis remained on instruction, but The outpouring of children’s books
a new concept of childhood was evolving over the next half century in Britain and
in which the child was seen as passing America was astonishing. The Pooh
through distinct phases of existence on books fit right into the British wing of
the way to adulthood. This concept this tradition, but they differ from the

embraced the notion that children rest—with the possible exception of

might actually benefit from entertain- Beatrix Potter’s stories—in that they cap-
ment, and even that their enjoyment italize upon the imaginative tendencies
might be rooted in a degree of anarchy. of the very young. Winnie-the-Pooh and The
A classic early example of a response to House at Pooh Corner are substantial vol-
these possibilities was Edward Lear’s Book of umes—each about I50 pages—of contin-
Nonsense (1846), the first of several vol- uous narrative conceived in terms of the
umes he produced that introduced such thought processes of a four- or five-
memorable absurdities as “The Owl and year-old, but with just enough adult

the Pussycat” and “The Courtship of the perspective to provide a modicum of

Yongy-Bonghy-Bo.” Soon after came structure. Perhaps no other books have
Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies (1863), ever taken adults further back into the
a fantasy that paid scant attention to world of childhood. This may be the
instruction, and then Lewis Carroll’s primary reason they were such a hit

169
 when they first appeared, and why they innocence that is found in the Milne
remain so popular today. They bring us books while introducing touches
astonishingly close to what we like to provided by animation that make the
think of as a state of innocence. stories accessible to a wider audience.
And if A. A. Milne fits right in with Still, Milne’s achievement is basic to
the tradition of children’s literature, so our enjoyment of Pooh. Using his son
does Walt Disney. If we look at the as a kind of medium, he was able to will

sources of his animated films, we himself back to that moment when the
encounter many of the British classics: faculty of logic is beginning to impinge
Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Wind in the on the imagination but has not yet

Willows, The Jungle Book. Single-

handedly and memorably,

Disney brought this whole
rrout: Pooh and Piglet tradition to the screen,
making tracks on the contributing a Hollywood flair
snow. Ernest H. so that these great stories were
Shepard illustration absorbed into a unified Anglo-
from page 37 of American tradition. The Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh. featurettes—for all the
commercial pressure involved
in their production—managed
to preserve much of the

170 THE POPULARITY OF POOH CONTINUES

become an entirely schemes put into motion by
reliable tool. For larger-than-life villains.
example, it is logical The nearest thing to malice one LEFT: Concept art

for Pooh to disguise encounters in the Pooh stories is for Winnie the

himself as a rain cloud Rabbit’s scheme to have Tigger Pooh and the

in order to fool the ——_ unbounced. And the closest one comes Honey Tree.

bees he plans to rob. Reason tells Pooh to tragedy is a minor natural disaster such
that they will not notice a blue balloon as everyone being surrounded by water.
against a blue sky. The potential villains are all imaginary
Another thing that makes Pooh’s beings like Heffalumps and Woozles,
world so pleasant to enter and re-enter and evil is something that has not yet
is its lack of malice. It might be thought penetrated the Hundred-Acre Wood.
that this is a characteristic of most Yet this world is not boring, because the
children’s books and movies, but in fact characters are subject to trials and tribu-
that is far from being the case. Most lations. They lose their way. They lose
traditional fairy tales present battles of their tails. They become wedged in rabbit
good against evil, as do classic children’s holes. They are given baths by mistake.
stories as varied as Black Beauty and The They are bounced by Tigger.
Adventures ofHuckleberry Finn. Similarly, the Never a dull moment.
majority of the great Disney animated The characters manage to stay busy
movies, even those that have no clear-cut while not doing very much of anything
villains, are structured around malicious that the world would call important.

Meg) |
 When he takes his last walk with Pooh, sion, vigorous hesitation, zestful indo-

Christopher Robin says that what he lence, and passionate inertia.

likes best is doing nothing. And central to the appeal of the Pooh
When Pooh asks, “How do you do stories is their silliness. When

RIGHT: Suspicious bees nothing?” Christopher Robin explains Christopher Robin says, as he
eye the bear in search of with metaphysical precision: J) Often does, “Silly old bear!” it
honey. Ernest H. is the ultimate expression of
Shepard illustration “Well, it’s when people call affection. Silliness (with apologies

from page 17 of out at you just as you're going off to do it, to Tigger) is what small kids do
Winnie-the-Pooh. What are you going to do, Christopher best. Like “doing nothing,”
Robin, and you say, Oh, nothing, and silliness can be a marvelous
opposite: Pooh hovers then you go and do it.” tonic, and the Pooh stories permit adults
near the honey tree and to tap once more into the world of
hopes he is not found out As we get older, it becomes harder childhood silliness and so refresh their
by the bees. Cel setup and harder to do nothing in this pro- imaginations.
from Scene 308 found and therapeutic sense. The Pooh Pooh lets us forget about rush hours,
of Winnie the books and films remind us of what doing bills, and parking tickets. He is always
Pooh and the nothing feels like and how much fun it waiting in the enchanted place, ready to
Honey Tree. can be. They also permit us to reinvent take us back to a world where everything
the tools that are required while doing is still simple and we can do nothing.
nothing, tools such as creative indeci- It’s what Poohs do best.

172 THE POPULARITY OF POOH CONTINUES

 INDEX

ABC, 164 Deaeeor Basil, 39 Ih K. Farnell company, 22, 165 Milne, Dorothy de Selincourt
“Daphne,” 17, 18, 20-21, 24, 26, 34,
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The (Twain), 171 Davis, Marc, 39 Johnston, Ollie, 34, 37-38, 39, 42, 51-
50, 76
Dempster, Al, 39
52, 57, 68
Alice in Wonderland (film), 46-47, 170
Milne, John, 17
Jones, Dean, 50
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll), 26, Disney, Walt, 37-40, 43-47, 50,
Milne, Ken, 17, 20
46-47, 169 60, 67 Jungle Book, The, 39, 50, 170
Milne, Lesley de Selincourt, 21
Anderson, Ken, 39, 50 Mickey Mouse cartoons of, 44-45
Milne, Maud, 20
Aristocats, The, 5O rights to Pooh stories acquired by, 29, Kani, Milt, 37-38, 39, 51, 52, 55, 57,
Sono) 58, 71 Milne, Sarah, 17
Ashdown Forest, 9, 19, 26, 27
see also Walt Disney Studio King, Hal, 39 Mr. Pim PassesBy(Milne), 18
Atencio, Xavier, 39
Disney Channel, 163-64 Kingsley, Charles, 169 Mr. Toad, 33

Disney theme parks, 167

Be Buddy, 39, 49
Dowd,J.H., 26 leo Eric, 39 Neenal Broadcasting Company
Bambi, 72
Lion King, The (John and Rice), 57
(NBC), 34-35
Barker, Felix, 50
New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The, 164.
Eteard Lear's Book of Nonsense, 169 London Zoo, 23-24
Barrie,J.M., 18 New Yorker, The, 29
Emmy Awards, 164 Lounsbery, John, 39, 52, 57
Beatles, 64
New York Public Library, 29
Enchanted Places, The (Milne), 14-15, 20,
Berryman, Clifford K., 22 New York Times, The, 29, 35
21, 24, 28
Micbenala’, 168
Black Beauty (Sewell), 171
E. P. Dutton, 26, 27 Now We Are Six (Milne), 19
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The, 60,
Bluth, Don, 57
Evening News (London), 26 163, 164
Boo! To You Too, 164.
Matthews, Junius, 72 ‘ Ow and the Pussycat, The,” 169
British Broadcasting Corporation
Date 55 Methuen, 26
(BBC), 11, 12, 26
F.A.O. Schwarz, 44, 166, 167 Milne, Alan Alexander, 10, 15, 17-21, |Pe Dorothy, 29
Brown, Curtis, 33
33, 34, 39, 40, 49, 60 Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev), 4.9
Fox and the Hound, The, 38
Brush, Agnes, 44, 166, 167, 168
Christopher Robin Milne’s relation-
Peter Pan (Barrie), 18
ship with, 20, 21, 24, 28, 170-71
Casct: Sebastian, 49, 61
Gatacleibenraa7 death of, 21, 34
Peter Pan (film), 40, 170
Calthrop, Donald, 26
Gaskill, Andy, 57 Pinocchio, 38, 4.3
verse collections of, 10, 19, 22, 27-28
Cal Toys, 166-67
Grahame, Elspeth, 33 Pleshette, Suzanne, 50
writing career of, 17, 18-20, 24-28,
Carroll, Lewis, 26, 46-47, 169
Grahame, Kenneth, 19, 33 168 Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher
Children’s Hour, The, 11 Robin, 164.-65
Granta, 17 Milne, Christopher Robin, 18-26
Christopher Robin Birthday Book, 165 Pooh stories:
Gund Manufacturing Company, 166,167 birth of, 9, 18
Churchill, Winston, 29 adult readers of, 27, 34, 37-38
bookselling business of, 14, 21
Clemmons, Larry, 39 Felancae 22, 26, 76 Disney featurettes based on,37-162, 170
childhood of, 9, 10, 14-15, 18-19, 22-
Cleworth, Eric, 39-40 Henley House, 17 26, 64, 170-71 line illustrations of,
see Shepard, Ernest H.
Corbett, Leonora, 20 Holloway, Sterling, 61, 67 memoirs of, 14-15, 20, 21, 24, 28
maps included with, 27, 48
“Courtship of the Yongy~Bonghy-Bo, House at Pooh Corner, The (Milne), 12, 15, original toys of, 22-26, 29-31, 47,
The,” 169 19, 28-29, 56, 58, 60, 61, 169-70 76, 165 - publishing spin-offs of, 165

174 INDEX
 radio adaptations of, II, 12, 26 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 33, 39, 55 Water Babies, The (Kingsley),
169 character animation of, 39-44, 49, 67,

runaway and enduring success of, 27- Steiff company, 24, 165 Welcome to Pooh Corner, 163 68, 72, 78-79
29, 35, 163-68, 169-70
Sword in the Stone, The, 38 Wells, H. G., 17
characters and their development in,
teaching films based on, 163
Westminster School, 17
42-47, 63-67, 72-79
television and video presentations based
Teday bears, 22, 24, 44, 165-68 When We Were Very Young (Milne), 10, 19,
on, 163-65 direction of, 38-40, 64
22, 27-28
Teddy Toy Company, 165-66
toys inspired by, Il, 12, 44, 165-68
Wilkinson Designs, 167 Disney's personal contributions to, 39,
Tenniel, John, 47
translations of, 19, 29; 35 ;
Thomas, Frank, 34, 37-38, 39, 42, 51, Winchell, Paul, 55, 71 46, 64, 79
see also specific titles
Beis acic, 16s
52, 57, 68 Wind in the Willows, The (Grahame), 19,
layout and background painting of,
Through the Looking-Glass (Carroll), 26 26, 33
Winnie ille Pooh (Milne), 29, 35 40-41
Punch, 17, 18, 19 Thurber, James, 166

puppetronics, 163 Winnie-the-Pooh (Milne), 12, 24-28, 37, musical score of, 39, 49
Thwaite, Ann, 33
44, 56, 58, 61, 169-70
Toad of Toad Hall (Milne), 19, 33 story of, 82-85
1926 publication of, 19, 26, 27, 163
Rand, Olive, 24 Tom and Jerry, 45 ’ :
origins of characters in, 22-26, 42, story team of, 39
Red House Mystery, The (Milne), 18 Trinity College, Cambridge University, 17 47, 76
voices recorded for, 49, 67, 72
Reinert, Rick, 61 Turner, Timothy, 57 setting of, 19, 26, 27

Reitherman, Bruce, 47 Winnie the Pooh, A Valentine

forYou, 164. Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, 57-59, 61,

Reitherman, Wolfgang “Woolie,” 38-40, Uny Dachshund, The, 50 Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore, 60-61, 128-51
47-49, 51, 64 152-62, 163
character animation in, 57, 58, 71, 76
Rescuers, The, 57 story of, 152-53
Vanity Fair, 17, 19

Robin Hood, 57 “Vespers” (Milne), 19 voices recorded for, 61 cmecticnalot 57

Roosevelt, Theodore, 22 Victoria and Albert Museum, 29 Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too, 164 story of, 58, 128-31

Winnie the Pooh and Frier ds, 6 3

voices recorded for 5 en TAs

eran, Owen, Wy Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day 50-56
Wiailey, Jon, 52
58, 61, 104-27 Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons, 163
Sears, 166 Walt Disney Studio, 34
Acad Award for, 56 seats a
Selden, Lynn, 12 animated feature films of, 33, 38, 39, SAC EMY PWARG HOE 0 Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving, A, 164,

43, 55, 72, 179, 171 character animation of, 51-56, 68, 71,
Selden, Mr., 12-14 75, 78 “Wonderful Thing about Tiggers, The”
merchandising tie-ins sponsored by,
Shepard, Ernest H., 12, 19, 24, 26, 29, 8 Pp y (Sherman and Sherman), 55
39-44, 5 80,
34, , 39-44, 64,4, 67,07, 75 75, 166, 168 =
Bo, tebe c haracters
cae
and their development in P
Shepard, Graham, 24, 165 Pooh featurettes produced by, 37-162, World War I, 18, 23
170 direction of, 51
Sherman, Richard, 39, 49, 55 World War II, 20, 29
television and video productions of, recorded voices in, 52, 55, 71, 75
Sherman, Robert, 39, 49, 55 163-65 story of, 56, 104-7 Wright, Ralph, 75
Sibley, John, 39 Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, 34.
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, 37-50, 51,
Wright, R. John, 167-68
Silly Symphonies, '78 Waltons, The, 52 52, 56, 82-103 ms Joke ?

Smith, Hal, 61 Washington Post, 22, Americanization of, 47-48, 65 Wurzel-Flummery (Milne), 18

E75
 FILM CREDITS

THE MANY ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH

(WINNIE THE POOH AND THE HONEY TREE, WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY & WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER TOO)

STORY MUSIC & LYRICS BY ANIMATORS Chuck Williams

Larry Clemmons Richard M. Sherman Hal King Bill Keil
Ralph Wright Robert B. Sherman John Lounsbery Richard Sebast
Vance Gerry Milt Kahl Andrew Gaskill
Xavier Atencio SCORED & CONDUCTED BY Frank Thomas
Ken Anderson Buddy Baker Ollie Johnston PRODUCTION MANAGER

Julius Svendsen Eric Cleworth Don Duckwall

LAYOUT
Ted Berman Art Stevens
Don Griffith FILM EDITORS
Eric Cleworth John Sibley
Basil Davidovich Tom Acosta
Cliff Nordberg
“BLUSTERY DAY” Dale Barnhart Doe Bid. James Melton

SUPERVISION
Joe Hale
Eric Larson ASSISTANT DIRECTORS
Winston Hibler Sylvia Roemer
Walt Stanchfield Ed Hansen
BACKGROUND
Gary Goldman Dan Alguire
PRODUCED BY
Al Dempster Hal Ambro Richard Rich
Wolfgang Reitherman
Art Riley Burny Mattinson

DIRECTED BY Bill Layne Dale Baer

Wolfgang Reitherman Ann Guenther John Pomeroy

John Lounsbery Fred Hellmich

WINNIE THE POOH AND A DAY FOR EEYORE

PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR Irv Anderson CREATIVE TALENTS BACKGROUND

Rick Reinert Tom Ray Bev Chiara Rick Reinert

Ken O’Brien Gretchen Heck Dale Barnhart
STORY
Virgil Ross Sammie Lanham Richard Foes
Peter Young Lars Hult Margaret Craig
Steve Hulett Spencer Peel Richard Williams MUSIC

Tony Marino Allen Hohnroth Steve Zuckerman

KEY ASSISTANTS
Kathi Castillo
DIRECTING ANIMATORS
Robert Shellhorn THEME MUSIC & LYRICS
Owen Gladden
Ennis McNulty Emily Jiuliano Richard M. Sherman
Betty May Doyle
Dave Bennett Vera Lanpher Robert B. Sherman
Pauline Weber
Sharon Murray Judith Drake
ANIMATORS
Philo Barnhart Ted Bemiller
Nancy Beiman
Ayalen Garcia

NEVA) FILM CREDITS

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 TN ENS ET FU LE

innie the Pooh: A Celebration of the Silly

Vy a: Bear is a tribute to the wonder
of Pooh, from his origin and literary suc-
cess to his brilliant animated career and
continued popularity. This is his story;
| but, moreover, it is his art—including
' more than 200 illustrations that detail the
evolution of Pooh and his friends from —
stuffed toys to E.H. Shepard’s beloved
drawings to animated characters. The
films’ stories are retold and followed by
galleries of many never-before-published
art from the production of the Disney
featurettes: early concept art, storyboards,
rough animation, background art, and

final cels. This collection of exquisite art,

accompanied by the history of Pooh’s

creation and popularity, is sure to become DATE DUE

a treasure that all Pooh fans will cherish. bA ko =)
fees peonh

. <n
ne
CHRISTOPHER FINCH, as a young child,
~~. =

believed that he was the Christopher Robin

of the wonderful stories his mother read to

him at bedtime. It is only fitting that Finch

adds this book to the list of more than

twenty titles he has authored, including

The Art of Walt Disney and The Art of the Lion King.

A WELCOME BOOK

‘Disney
EDITIONS
NEW YORK

Visit www.disneyeditions.com
Copyright © 2000 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S.A.