This one has only been around since 1991, which amazes me. I would
have sworn it was much older! It’s probably the my favorite Winnie The
Pooh special. Most of these don’t seem to do anything for me. The
Halloween one feels unfocused. The Thanksgiving one feels rushed. And
there are others that aren’t even memorable (Valentine’s for example).
This one has aired almost every year, either on ABC or ABCFamily (though
I may have spoke to soon can’t find a listing for it this year), and I
think it’s fair to say that it’s considered a Christmas classic. Why,
when all the other specials have faded into DVD oblivion?
So what’s the story? Winnie The Pooh is trying to find a way to get the letter he and his fiends wrote to Santa to The North Pole in time for Christmas. Now, in another special this would be a crazy journey ending with Pooh Bear arriving at the North Pole. (Muppet Letters to Santa for instance). Not here, the story stays tightly focused on the characters. And maybe that’s what makes Pooh different from other cartoons.
After writing their letter to Santa, they realize Pooh never asked for anything. So they get the letter back and add honey. After he fails getting the letter to The North Pole, he tries to play Santa and give his friends the gifts they wanted. This is a cool segment because all the characters get a chance to be in the center of the special. That’s another reason I like this one, everyone gets something to do. Except Owl, Kanga, and Roo who aren’t in it. It is later retconned that Kanga and Roo hadn’t moved there yet. So where the heck is Owl? Anyway, when Pooh’s attempts to make his friends happy by playing Santa fails, Pooh decides the only logical choice is to take the letter to Santa himself.
However, that doesn’t work very well. Meanwhile the others realize that they miss Pooh and would rather have him with them on Christmas Eve rather then getting fancy gifts. It’s such a simple moral, and very well done. In the end Christopher Robin arrives with all the gifts the gang had asked for, and even though he gets a pot of honey he is still more concerned that he messed up the letter to Santa. You gotta love Pooh, rather than being thrilled to get he honey he is still thinking of others.
This special was included in a DVD release called “Merry Pooh Year” which is a good release. The special is intact and the flashback doesn’t feel to forced. Unlike the awful Heffalump movie which I won’t even dignify. The DVD has another story about the gang celebrating New Year’s which is worth a watch. It’s pretty well done for a DVD release (I guess it was intended as the final episode of the “New Adventure of Winnie the Pooh” show).
So what about the music? Yeah that’s the one thing I can’t really say anything good about. Are there even any songs in this? They usually manage to get one or two songs in there but for whatever reason it didn’t happen here.
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