About Christmas TV History

Friday, July 19, 2013

Animation Celebration: Winnie the Pooh

Welcome back to Christmas in July: Animation Celebration!  July is the special time of the year that I turn the blog over to my readers.  All month long I'm posting essays written by people eager to share their passion and memories for animated Christmas entertainments.

Today's essay is on the 1991 TV special Winnie the Pooh and Christmas, Too, a part of the late '80s revival of the much-beloved characters from the Hundred Acre Wood on The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh on the Disney Channel.  This essay comes to us from Cathie Nowiki.  She's not only a member of the Yahoo Group Christmas Movies and Music but she collects Christmas movies (1954's White Christmas is her favorite) and Christmas animated figures (including the annual Hallmark Snowman animated figures).  Merry Christmas in July!



Winnie the Pooh and Christmas, Too!

This is a story about Winnie the Pooh caring so much about his friends, that as they are writing their wishes to Santa, Pooh forgets to ask for anything for himself.  Pooh then has to hand-deliver the letter to Santa so that his friends will get their wishes. But Pooh's plan fails and the letter doesn’t get delivered to the North Pole.


In the end, it all works out because Santa knew what they all wanted. Pooh realizes, along with everyone else, that friends and family are very close to the top of the list of things that make Christmas special.



I love Winnie the Pooh very much, because he always looks like the bumbling idiot, but ends up solving the problems, knowing that he’s not as stupid as he looks. I think this is a great message to children.



This particular show was very special to me, because he tries so hard to give everyone what they asked for and that is also what Christmas is all about: making others happy. And it doesn’t have to be an expensive gift. It just has to be from the heart. And that is what makes this so special to me. It is just that-- from the heart. I personally love finding the perfect gift for everyone on my list. I love getting that special look from a child, but also from adults. And I mostly succeed.


4 comments:

  1. Nice essay Cathie! I have this special too and love it for the reasons you cited. You are right, it isn't about how much is spent, but that the gift comes from the heart. Sometimes I wonder if we are losing sight of that simple message, but then often times something happens to remind us that spirit of Christmas is alive and well!

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  2. Great write-up, Cathie! Winnie-the-Pooh is such a simple little bear, and you captured the heart of the special in your words.

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  3. Thanks to Cathie for a nice review! I stumbled on this special last year and enjoyed it more than expected. It's always great to hear Paul Winchell and John Fiedler perform the voices of Tigger and Piglet, respectively.

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  4. I love the reminder of how sweet Winnie the Pooh stories are. Thanks for your post.

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