Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree

This is the first of the 4 Winnie the Pooh short films, and a really great one at that, too! Everything is introduced into this short classic, and the storyline fits perfectly. The animation is great and the songs are catchy. The voice cast is perfect, as well. But let me tell you this. I may be in my teenage years, but ANYONE would love Winnie the Pooh. By the way, this is the one out of the four I enjoyed the most through my whole life. Seriously. I do enjoy the other three, too, but if you want to make sure, see my reviews for the others. But you'll find this one more than satisfying. I highly recommend this, as well as the others.

'Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966)' was the first animated adaptation of A.A. Milne's children stories, and presents itself rather charmingly as a moving picture-book depicting the imaginary adventures of Christopher Robin and his favourite toys. In this first episode, directed by Wolfgang Reitherman (future director of 'The Aristocats (1970)'), Winnie the Pooh (voiced by Sterling Holloyway) attempts rather unsuccessfully to steal honey from a bee-hive in the uppermost branches of a tree, before getting himself stuck in the front-door burrow of an increasingly-exasperated Rabbit.

The film seems to have been rather influential in the Soviet Union. The first Russian Winnie the Pooh cartoon, released as 'Vinni-Pukh (1969)', uses the same storyline. 'The Fox and the Hare (1974),' from my favourite animator Yuri Norstein, similarly uses the stylistic device of animating its characters as figures in a moving storybook. Here, I was slightly disappointed by the absence of Piglet. He appears for a moment in here, but doesn't say anything. John Fiedler, who subsequently voiced the character in 'Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968),' would continue to do so until his death in 2005, and his voice is quite unmistakable.

This is Pooh's first adventure. It is in my opinion, the best of the Pooh offerings. Excellent songs with wonderful animation. It is great for people of all ages. Each character is introduced nicely, and the ideas are fresh and clever. Join Pooh and his friends here for a lot of adventure, involving his love for honey, where he tries to get it from the tree, to when he eats at Rabbit's, and to the end, when he gets all the3 honey he will want. This story is great for everyone. Kids will love it, and will want to see it over and over. A real winner!

Wonderful classic tells the story of Winnie the Pooh's honey craving and the lengths he will go to in order to get some. It's a fun story with the memorable image of Pooh stuck in the door to Rabbit's house that everybody is familiar with. The characters, as always, are lovable and memorable. In addition to Pooh and Rabbit, there's Kanga, Eeyore, Owl, Roo, Gopher, and, of course, Christopher Robin. Piglet and Tigger would appear in the next Pooh short from Disney. The animation is excellent and there's some great songs by the Sherman Brothers. Let's not forget Sebastian Cabot's terrific narration. It's a great cartoon and would appear later in "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh," which is where I first saw it.

This is a wonderful gem, with great memorable songs by the Sherman Brothers, and excellent animation.

The story is great fun, with Pooh running out of honey and climbing up a tree to get it. Afterwards, he gets stuck in the door of Rabbit's house and has to wait until he's thin enough to budge.

The characters were wonderful, especially Gophyr, I particularly loved the phrase, "that supercilious scoundrel has confiscated my honey". They are well voiced by the likes of Sterling Holloway, John Fiedler and Junius Matthews, with Sebastian Cabot giving a thoughtful insight as the narrator.

This vignette is wonderful, highly recommended! 10/10 Bethany Cox