Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day is a 1968 American animated featurette based on the third, fifth, ninth, and tenth chapters of Winnie-the-Pooh and the second, eighth, and ninth chapters from The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne. The featurette was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company on December 20, 1968, being shown in theaters with The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. This was the second of the studio's Winnie the Pooh theatrical featurettes. It was later added as a segment to the 1977 film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The music was written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. It was notable for being the last Disney animated short to be produced by Walt Disney, who died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966, two years before its release.
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Stories written
by A. A. Milne
- Sterling Holloway
- John Fiedler
- Paul Winchell
- Hal Smith
- Jon Walmsley
- Ralph Wright
- December 20, 1968
- October 19, 1969
March 11, 1977 (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh)
25 minutes
United States
English
It starred the voices of Sterling Holloway as Winnie the Pooh, Jon Walmsley as Christopher Robin (replaced Bruce Reitherman), Barbara Luddy as Kanga, Clint Howard as Roo, Paul Winchell as Tigger, Ralph Wright as Eeyore, Hal Smith as Owl, Howard Morris as Gopher, John Fiedler as Piglet, Junius Matthews as Rabbit, and Sebastian Cabot as the narrator.
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. The Academy Award was awarded posthumously to Disney. This was also the only Winnie the Pooh production to ever win an Academy Award.[1] (Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, which was released six years later in December 1974, was nominated for the same Academy Award, but lost to Closed Mondays.)
The animated featurette also served as an inspiration for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride in the Disney theme parks in which the rider experiences several scenes from the cartoon, including Pooh's Heffalump and Woozle dream.[2]
Sources[edit]
The film's plot is based primarily on seven A. A. Milne stories: "In which Eeyore finds the Wolery and Owl moves into it" (Chapter IX from The House at Pooh Corner) "In which Tigger comes to the forest and has breakfast" (Chapter II from The House at Pooh Corner), "In which Pooh & Piglet go hunting and nearly catch a Woozle" (Chapter III of Winnie the Pooh), "In which Piglet does a very grand thing" (Chapter VIII from The House at Pooh Corner), "In which Christopher Robin gives a Pooh Party and we say goodbye" (Chapter X of Winnie-the-Pooh) and "In which Piglet is entirely surrounded by water" (Chapter IX of Winnie-the-Pooh), with elements taken from "In which Piglet meets a Heffalump" (Chapter V from Winnie-the-Pooh: Winnie the Pooh's nightmare of Heffalumps and Woozles). In A. A. Milne's original story, Pooh shows more initiative during the flood, finding his way to Christopher Robin by riding on one of his floating honey pots, which he names The Floating Bear, then having the inspiration of using Christopher Robin's umbrella to carry them both to Piglet's house.[3]
Plot[edit]
On a very windy day, Winnie the Pooh visits his "thoughtful spot". As Pooh sits thinking, Gopher pops out of the ground and advises him to leave, claiming that it is a "Winds-day". Misunderstanding Gopher's warning, Pooh decides to wish everyone in the Hundred Acre Wood a happy Winds-day. He starts with his best friend Piglet, who is nearly blown away while trying to rake leaves. Pooh grabs Piglet by his scarf, which unravels and leaves Piglet hanging on like a kite.
The wind blows Pooh and Piglet to Owl's treehouse, where he invites them in. As Owl tells Pooh and Piglet some of the adventures of his relatives, the strong wind causes his tree to sway and eventually collapse, taking the house with it. Christopher Robin and the others soon hear of the news and rush to the scene. As Owl's house is wrecked beyond the point of repair, Eeyore volunteers to seek out a new house for Owl.
As night falls, the wind is still blowing, and Pooh is kept awake by noises outside. He opens his door for a visitor: a bouncing tiger named Tigger, who introduces himself with his signature song ("The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers") before stating that he has come looking for something to eat. Disgusted by the taste of Pooh's honey, Tigger tells him that there are Heffalumps and Woozles in the forest that steal honey before he leaves. Frightened by Tigger's words, Pooh stays up to guard his honey, but falls asleep as a thunderstorm brews. After having a nightmare about being attacked by Heffalumps and Woozles, Pooh wakes up in a flood caused by the storm.
In the flood, Piglet is washed away from his home in a floating chair, but not before he manages to write a message in a bottle for help. Pooh manages to escape to higher ground with ten honey pots, only to also be washed away by the rising waters. Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, and Tigger gather at Christopher Robin's house, the only place in the Hundred Acre Wood that isn't flooded, while Eeyore continues house hunting for Owl. Roo finds Piglet's bottle, and Owl flies off to tell Piglet that help is on the way.
Owl eventually finds Piglet as well as Pooh. As Owl attempts to ease Piglet's fears by telling him another story, a waterfall threatens to carry the three all over the side. Pooh switches places with Piglet as they take the plunge, and the waterfall washes them right into Christopher Robin's yard. Thinking that Pooh has rescued Piglet, Christopher Robin deems Pooh a hero. Once the flood has subsided, Christopher Robin throws a party for Pooh, where Eeyore announces he has found a new home for Owl. He leads everyone to his discovery which, known to everyone except Owl and Eeyore, is Piglet's house. Piglet generously lets Owl have his home, despite having nowhere else to live himself. Pooh then invites Piglet to move into his home, which Piglet happily accepts, and at Pooh's request, Christopher Robin declares the occasion a "two hero party", in which Pooh is a hero for saving Piglet and Piglet is a hero for giving Owl his home.
Production[edit]
Shortly before Walt Disney's death on December 15, 1966, the animation department was finishing work on The Jungle Book and preparing for The Aristocats. In late summer 1967, before The Aristocats went into production, it was decided to go ahead with a featurette-length sequel to Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.[4] The short commenced production under the title Winnie the Pooh and the Heffalumps.[5] Because The Honey Tree was popular with American audiences, it was decided Blustery Day would be the first animation project without Disney. Under the new circumstances, the "Nine Old Men" animators Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and Milt Kahl were brought onto the project. Wolfgang Reitherman remained as director, but he decided to feel more faithful to the source material.[6]
During a story meeting for the short, Disney considered Wally Boag to be perfect for the role of Tigger, who was added to the short.[7] However, after Disney's death, Boag's performance of the character was considered to be "too zany for a children's film," and Paul Winchell took the job instead.[7] Following a British backlash to The Honey Tree led by film critic Felix Barker, Piglet was added to the short, having only appeared during the titular song sequence in the prior short.[8] For the part, Disney had heard John Fiedler's voice on television and selected him to voice the character. Although Fiedler's natural speaking voice was higher than most men's, he still had to raise it considerably to achieve the character's high pitch.[9]