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Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day

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Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
One of theatrical release posters
Directed byWolfgang Reitherman
Written by
Produced byWalt Disney
Starring
Narrated bySebastian Cabot
Music bySongs:
Robert & Richard Sherman
Score:
Buddy Baker
Production
company
Distributed byBuena Vista Distribution
Release date
December 20, 1968 (1968-12-20)
Running time
25 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day is a 1968 animated featurette based on stories from the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. The featurette was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company on December 20, 1968 as a double feature with The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. This was the second of the studio's Winnie the Pooh shorts. It was later added as a segment to the 1977 film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The music was written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman.[1] It was notable for being the last animated short produced by Walt Disney, who died during its production.

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day won the 1968 Academy Award for Animated Short Film. The Academy Award was awarded posthumously to Walt Disney, who died of lung cancer two years before the film's initial release. It is also the only Winnie the Pooh production that won an Academy Award.[2] Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, which was released six years later in 1974, was nominated for the same Academy Award, but lost to Closed Mondays.

The animated featurette also served as an inspiration for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride in Walt Disney World in which the rider experiences several scenes from the cartoon, including Pooh's Heffalump and Woozle dream.[3]

Sources

The film's plot is based primarily on six A. A. Milne stories: "In which Eeyore finds the Wolery and Owl moves into it" (Chapter IX of The House at Pooh Corner "In which Tigger comes to the forest and has breakfast" (Chapter II of The House at Pooh Corner), "In which Piglet does a very grand thing" (Chapter VIII of The House at Pooh Corner), "In which Christopher Robin gives a Pooh Party and we say goodbye" (Chapter X of Winnie the Pooh and "In which Piglet is entirely surrounded by water and gets rescued from a flood" (Chapter IX of Winnie-the-Pooh), with elements taken from "In which Piglet meets a Heffalump" (Chapter V of Winnie-the-Pooh: Winnie the Pooh's nightmare). In A. A. Milne's original story, Pooh shows more initiative during the flood, finding his way to Christopher Robin by riding on one of his floating honey pots, which he names The Floating Bear, then having the inspiration of using Christopher Robin's umbrella to carry them both to Piglet's house.[4]

Plot

The story begins when Winnie the Pooh is on his way to his thoughtful spot. Today is a very windy day. But as Pooh sits thinking, Gopher pops out of the ground and advises Pooh to leave the spot because of it being "Windsday". Pooh, having misunderstood his warning, goes across the Hundred Acre Wood to wish everyone a happy Windsday. Pooh first goes to his friend Piglet who lives in a beech tree. Piglet originally came out to rake leaves but the wind proves too strong for him to handle. Piglet is nearly blown away but Pooh quickly hangs on to him by his scarf, like a kite on a string. As Pooh struggles to keep a hold of the scarf he passes by Kanga and Roo, wishing them both a happy Windsday; Eeyore, whose stick house Pooh breaks as he passes; and finally Rabbit, who Pooh inadvertently helps harvest the carrots in his vegetable garden as he slides by.

The blustery wind finally blows Pooh and Piglet over to Owl's treehouse, where he invites them in. Pooh wishes Owl a happy Windsday, as he has everyone else, but Owl informs them that the wind is due to "a mild spring zephyr" rather than a particular holiday. While Owl begins telling Pooh and Piglet stories of adventures his relatives had, the strong wind rocks his house back and forth causing it to sway and eventually both the tree and the house collapse. Owl blames Pooh at first but Pooh says he didn't do it. Christopher Robin and the others come and examine the wrecked house and since it cannot be repaired, Eeyore volunteers to seek out a new house for Owl, who proceeds to tell the others more stories of his relatives for quite some time (from page 41 to page 62).

As night falls the wind is still blowing and Pooh is kept awake by growling and scratching noises, and he opens his door for the visitor outside. An orange bouncing tiger named Tigger emerges, rolling over Pooh and sitting on him. Tigger introduces himself with his signature song ("The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers") and informs Pooh that he has come looking for something to eat. He decides to try some of Pooh's honey but after a few tastes he gets disgusted and decides that "Tiggers don't like honey". Before leaving Pooh's house, Tigger tells him that there are Heffalumps and Woozles in the forest that steal honey. Pooh, frightened by Tigger's tale, stays awake all night to guard his honey but eventually falls fast asleep. But as he is sleeping, he has a nightmare about Heffalumps and Woozles stealing his honey and chasing him around, until he wakes up during a flood-inducing rainfall. There is a thunderstorm on page 71 and a bit of a cloudburst on page 73.

Later, Piglet is washed away from his home. He writes a bottle-note for help just before the waters carry him off, sitting on a chair. Pooh manages to reach higher ground with only ten honey pots. However, as he is eating some of the honey the rising waters carry him away. Kanga, Roo, Rabbit and Tigger all gather at Christopher Robin's house, which is situated on the highest ground, while Eeyore continues house hunting for Owl. Roo finds Piglet's bottle, and Owl flies off to tell Piglet that help is on the way.

Owl manages to reach Piglet and Pooh, but before he can inform them of the impending rescue (and tell them another one of his boring stories) a waterfall threatens to carry them all over the side. Pooh switches places with Piglet as they take the plunge, and luckily for them the waterfall washes them right into Christopher Robin's yard. Thinking that Pooh has rescued Piglet, Christopher Robin decides to throw a party celebrating Pooh's heroic deed. During the party, Eeyore announces that he has found a new home for Owl. He leads everyone over to his discovery which, known to everyone except Owl and Eeyore, is Piglet's beech tree. Owl is very impressed with the house, but before anyone can tell him who the home belongs to, Piglet decides that Owl should have the house. Pooh decides to allow Piglet to move into his home and is very impressed by his selflessness, so asks Christopher Robin to make the hero party for two instead of one.

Home video

The film was released on VHS and Betamax in 1986. It was re-released in 1990, 1993, 1994, 1997, and was also re-released again on July 11, 2000 as part of the "Storybook Classics Collection". This short also shows up as a bonus feature on the 2006 DVD release of Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin.[5]

It was also released on the Super 8mm film format by Derann in the early 2000s, making it one of the company's final and rarest films released, with only twelve copies made.[6]

Voice cast

Songs

  1. "A Rather Blustery Day" by Richard & Robert Sherman and sung by Sterling Holloway
  2. "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" by Richard & Robert Sherman and sung by Paul Whinchell
  3. "Heffalumps and Woozles" by Richard & Robert Sherman and sung by the Mellomen
  4. "The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down" by Richard & Robert Sherman and sung by the Disney Studio Chorus
  5. "Hip Hip Pooh-Ray!" by Richard & Robert Sherman and sung by the Disney Studio Chorus

Winnie the Pooh featurettes

See also

References

  1. ^ Osborne, Jerry. "Movie/TV Soundtracks and Original Cast Recordings Price and Reference Guide." Google Books. 27 January 2015.
  2. ^ Stewart, Julie. "'And the Award Goes To ....'" The Walt Disney Family Museum. 23 February 2012. 27 January 2015.
  3. ^ "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh." Walt Disney World Resort. 27 January 2015.
  4. ^ A. A. Milne. Winnie-the-Pooh, Chapter IX
  5. ^ "Pooh's Grand Adventure - The Search for Christopher Robin." Amazon.com. 27 January 2015.
  6. ^ Derann Film Services Catalogue 2007
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