Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree [VHS]

Four Winnie the Pooh shorts are repackaged into one set: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), the Oscar-winning Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! (1974), and Winnie the Pooh and a Day For Eeyore (1983). The first three were strung together in 1997 as the popular film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The merits of these adaptations of A.A. Milne's classic tales are up to debate, but the impact that these shorts--especially the first Two--had on kids and parents in America is not. Winnie (the Disney version, anyway) became an icon for millions of kids and parents. The vocal talent is exceptional, including Sterling Holloway's Pooh, Paul Winchell's Tigger, and Ralph Wright's Eeyore (Wright also penned the adaptations). The two later stories lost some of the voices and some of the magic, but Pooh fans will enjoy these tales, which had varying degrees of success but share the same distinctive pedigree. --Doug Thomas