WINNIE THE POOH – The Blu Review

Hand-drawn animation, lovable characters, and a timeless story all make WINNIE THE POOH a must for your movie collection!

All is well in the Hundred Acre Wood. Winnie the Pooh is in search of honey. There is no honey left in his house and his tummy will not stop grumbling at him until Pooh finds some. While on his quest he finds Eeyore, who seems more down than normal. Turns out that his tail has gone missing. They gather up the gang and hold a contest to see who can find Eeyore a new tail. While out and about, searching for tails and such, Pooh finds a note from Christopher Robin that says “Gone out. Busy. Back soon.” and brings it to Owl to read. See, there isn’t a lot of reading going on in the Hundred Acre Wood, and Owl is the smartest of them all. Of course, this isn’t exactly Owl’s strong-suit either, and now they are all convinced that Christopher Robin has been kidnapped by some sort of monster called the “Backson”. What started out as a normal day has now become a quest… for honey, Eeyore’s tail, and  to rescue Christopher Robin from the “Backson”.

WINNIE THE POOH is presented in 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer, which looks divine. It really captures all of the pencil marks, and the warmth of the hand-drawn animation. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is just what it needs to be. It isn’t overpowering and ear shattering. It is just enough to compliment the softness of Pooh, which I appreciate.

They didn’t go overboard on the bonus features on these discs. However, the features they did put on are great. (Well, except for one which I will explain!)

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. It really is quite adorable. I love that they included bonus animations in the packaging!
• “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. FANTASTIC! I loved this in the theaters and now I am glad that I own it. (Sidenote: I think Nessie should be friends with the Elliot from PETE’S DRAGON. They would be amazing friends!)
• “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 fromPooh 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. If you are a fan of Pooh, you will really appreciate the stories in this feature. 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 in1966. 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”. What is neat about these scenes is that they are not fully animated, so we get to see some rough sketches and the beginnings of the animation.
• 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”

Overall Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars