Winnie the Pooh Review & Giveaway! On Blu-ray & DVD 10/25!

Winnie the Pooh is one of the most beloved Walt Disney characters.  I spent my childhood years experiencing and enjoying the stories, toys, decorated cakes, and birthday themes of the lovable bear. My daughter did many years ago as well,  and today my son adores Pooh too.  The “hunny hunting”  bear,  recognized for his red top with no shorts,  together with his Hundred Acre Wood pals,  are  timeless classics for many generations to enjoy.

How Pooh Began

Do you ever ponder how Pooh started?  All of it began when Christopher Robin’s father (A.A. Milne) gave him a stuffed bear on his very first birthday.  One day Christopher visited London Zoo, where he noticed a black bear referred to as Winnie. When he got home he made a decision to name his teddy bear “Winnie the Pooh.”  That’s how Pooh obtained his name.

Christopher had a wonderful creative imagination and would create many adventures for Pooh and his friends.  Nevertheless,  it truly didn’t all begin till his father joined in, and later on wrote up the stories for everybody to read. The very first appearance of the lovable bear was on December 24th, 1925 within the London newspapers.  The initial chapter was an instantaneous success!  Afterward,  in 1926 the first book Winnie the Pooh arrived on the scene and next the debut of the second called “The House At Pooh Corner.”  The books had been so adored that everyone desired Milne to carry on the series, however when Christopher began school he believed the inspiration ended and thus did the books.

Walt Disney picked up the books in the 1960’s, primarily because his daughters loved the Winnie the Pooh stories.  He would read the books to them and came to the realization how extraordinary the tales plus characters were and then  picked up the venture.  The earliest release by Disney had been a featurette known as “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.”  It did very well and “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day” soon came after, which won an academy award.

The all-new “Winnie the Pooh” Adventure

Now Winnie the Pooh has a very new adventure, which happens to be set to hit shelves this October 25th!  I received an advanced Blu-ray copy of the movie and sat down to view it with my son.

Film Synopsis:

“Walt Disney Animation Studios returns to the Hundred Acre Wood with “Winnie the Pooh,” the first big-screen Pooh adventure from Disney’s feature animation studios in more than 35 years. With the timeless charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical “bear of very little brain” and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo-and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail.”

“The entire story takes place in the course of a day,” says director Don Hall. “It’s business as usual in the Hundred Acre Wood. Pooh wakes up absolutely famished and he happens to have no honey. So that sets him out on his journey, which is ultimately derailed-first by a contest to find Eeyore a new tail.”

“Pooh later finds a note from Christopher Robin that reads: “Gone out. Busy. Back soon.” But then Owl misinterprets the note, proclaiming that the boy has been captured by a creature called a “Backson.” Soon, the whole gang is on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from the imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply hoped to find some honey.”

 

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My Favorite Moment

My favorite scene of the movie is “Everything Is Honey.”  Piglet is hoping the Backson is pleased with all their items, and Pooh assures him that the scary culprit will be.  Next Pooh’s tummy grumbles and he wishes he had some honey.  He sees a bee and follows it to the hive with his bucket.  He gets Piglet to help him reach the beehive, but the plan gets mixed up and Piglet gets stuck in the hive.  Next Winnie the Pooh begins hitting the hive with a stick to knock it down to get Piglet out.  The beehive falls with Piglet still in it and the angry bees chase him and  Pooh through the woods.  In the meanwhile, Rabbit is setting a trap to catch the Backson when Pooh and Piglet run into him.  Rabbit removes the hive from Piglet and places it back in the tree where the mad bees fly back into.  Rabbit thinking the Backson is going to find the trail wants to make sure he isn’t around when he does.  He then rushes Pooh along.  However, Pooh is more worried about his tummy and asks Rabbit if they can stop for lunch.  Rabbit tells him to start worrying more about rescuing Christopher Robin  and Pooh tries to concentrate on finding him.  Yet, his tummy gets the best of him and he begins thinking everything is honey!  Next, Pooh imagines himself on an island made of honey.

The animation in this scene is stunningly bright and beautiful!  I LOVED it and my son did too!  You have got to see it in Blu-ray!

Press Release

Walt Disney Studios proudly invites families and audiences of all ages to return to the Hundred Acre Wood with some of the world‟s most beloved characters, as “Winnie the Pooh,” the delightful all-new animated feature film comes home to Blu-ray Combo Pack for the very first time, as well as DVD and Movie Download on October 25, 2011. Reuniting audiences with Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore (who has lost his tail), “Winnie the Pooh” is a honey of an in-home release containing hours of immersive bonus features, including exclusive animated shorts “The Ballad of Nessie” and “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon;” a sing-along viewing option; an informative behind-the-scenes featurette for the whole family and deleted scenes with director commentary – all available on Blu-ray Combo Pack.

Inspired by the beloved stories from A.A. Milne‟s books and crafted in Disney‟s classic style, “Winnie the Pooh,” is the most critically-acclaimed animated film of 2011*. It is narrated by the voice of John Cleese and features the vocal talents of legendary voice actor Jim Cummings (over 350 voices including Gnomeo & Juliet) and a host of other distinctive actors including Craig Ferguson (TV‟s „The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson‟), Tom Kenny (TV‟s „SpongeBob SquarePants‟), Bud Luckey (Toy Story 3) and musical performances by Zooey Deschanel (indie folk band “She & Him”).
* RottenTomatoes.com, as of 9/9/2011

The all-new “Winnie the Pooh” brings back to life the timeless charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes and characters. Sure to become a family favorite for every household, it is directed by Stephen Anderson (Meet The Robinsons) and Don Hall (The Princess and The Frog) and Executive Produced by John Lasseter.

Blu-ray Bonus Features:

Exclusive bonus short “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon” – In this charming short, Pooh comes up with a daring plan to get a hold of some honey by fooling a group of bees.

“The Ballad of Nessie” – The animated short film included in the theatrical release is the heartwarming tale of how Nessie found her new home in the Loch Ness.

“Winnie the Pooh and His Story Too” – A fun and informative behind-the-scenes look at the film, designed for the whole family. Hosted by John Cleese (narrator of the film), and with occasional help from Pooh himself, this featurette explores Winnie the Pooh‟s history from his beginnings as a character in a book, to his continued life in the movies. The filmmakers reveal how they worked to keep the look of the characters and settings in this movie consistent with their first appearances on-screen in 1966. Pooh, being a bear of very little mind, finds much of this confusing, but the Narrator and the filmmakers make it all clear to Pooh – and you!

Deleted Scenes introduced by directors, Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 5 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “”Rabbit‟s Friends and Relations,” “Original Eeyore Intro,” “Original Tigger Intro” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail”

Sing-Along with the Movie – Follow the red balloon and changing word colors to seven song lyrics featured in the film.

Disney Song Selection – “Winnie the Pooh Theme Song,” “The Tummy Song, “A Very Important Thing To Do,” “The Backson Song,” “It‟s Gonna Be Great,” “Everything is Honey” and “The Winner Song Finale”

DVD Bonus Features:

“Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon”

“The Ballad of Nessie”

Deleted scenes introduced by directors, Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 3 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “”Rabbit‟s Friends and Relations” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail”
Movie Download Bonus Features: “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon” “The Ballad of Nessie” Deleted Scenes introduced directors. Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 3 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “Rabbit‟s Friends and Relations” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail”

About The Filmmakers:

Directed by Stephen Anderson (Meet The Robinsons, The Emperor’s New Groove) and Don Hall (The Princess and the Frog, Meet The Robinsons), the film was supported by a variety of industry and highly-creative Disney veterans including Producers Peter Del Vecho (The Princess and the Frog, Chicken Little) and Clark Spencer (Bolt, Meet The Robinsons), Executive Producer and two-time Academy Award®-winning director John Lasseter (Toy Story franchise, WALL●E, Bolt) and senior story artist Burny Mattinson (Academy Award®-nominee for Best Animated Short Film, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, 1983 and key animator on the 1974 Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!).

About The English Language Voice Talent:

The “Winnie The Pooh” movie is narrated by funnyman John Cleese (Shrek Forever After, A Fish Called Wanda) and voiced by the talents of Jim Cummings (Gnomeo & Juliet, The Princess and the Frog, Shrek) as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Craig Ferguson (TV‟s „The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson‟) as Owl, Tom Kenny (TV‟s „SpongeBob SquarePants‟) as Rabbit, Travis Oates (TV‟s „My Friends Tigger & Pooh,‟ „Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too‟) as Piglet, Bud Luckey (Toy Story 3) as Eeyore, Kristen Anderson-Lopez (TV‟s „The Wonder Pets,‟ Off-Broadway‟s „In Transit‟) as Kanga, Wyatt Hall (seven-year-old son of director Don Hall) as Roo and Huell Howser (this was his first role as an actor) as Backson and Jack Boulter (this was his first role as an actor) as Christopher Robin.

About The Music:

The amazing musical scores featured throughout the film were created by Tony® Award-winning songwriter Bobby Lopez, and his wife Kristen, who wrote all of the six spirited new songs for Pooh and his pals, including “The Tummy Song,” “A Very Important Thing To Do,” “Everything Is Honey,” “The Winner Song,” “The Backson Song,” and “It‟s Gonna Be Great.” Lopez is behind the Broadway hits “Book of Mormon” and “Avenue Q” and together they‟ve written for Nickelodeon and Disney, including the stage version of “Finding Nemo” and composed songs for several episodes of “The Wonder of Pets,” which earned him two Daytime Emmy® Awards in 2006 for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition.

The original score, a special rendition of the beloved “Winnie the Pooh” theme song for the film was composed by Henry Jackman (“The Da Vinci Code,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “Monsters vs. Aliens”) and sung by actress, musician, singer and songwriter, Zooey Deschanel (Indie folk band, “She & Him”). Deschanel also provided vocals for “A Very Important Thing To Do” and “So Long.”

Stay Connected!

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“Winnie the Pooh” Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack Giveaway!

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