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Welcome to Pooh Corner (1983)

This show was the Cornerstone of the Disney Channel

When Disney was blazing the trails of the relatively new cable market, "WELCOME TO POOH CORNER" was the cornerstone on which the young channel survived.

The show itself is borrowed from a 1930s Americanized version of Pooh stories which were first performed by the then famous, Sue Hastings Marionettes, at Radio City Music Hall, in New York. That was when audiences heard Pooh's voice for the very first time. newly adapted from Milne's text.

For the next twenty years or so, Ms. Hastings and her marionettes, under license from Stephen Slesinger, Inc., performed Winnie the Pooh at Children's Theatres around the country and for many prominent children's charitable events. In 1946 a filmed version of the marionette shows was aired on experimental television in New York City.

Slesinger chose marionettes to dramatize Milne's stories and verses, principally because animation was too costly. Apparently Disney chose this medium for the same reason when launching the Disney Channel.

The rights to perform Pooh on television was licensed to Disney in 1961 and in 1983 by Stephen Slesinger, Inc. who still owns those underlying rights, among other media and trade rights.

Evident within the textural composition of each episode of "Welcome to Pooh Corner" is a younger and more comfortable Disney Company as well. These shows were produced just before the company was propelled to the front lines of the mega media conglomerates. But their charm still shows right through, even though much slicker technologies flood our senses today.

Enjoy these early Disney Channel shows. They aren't making them like this any more.