Winnie-the-Pooh Pays a Visit

If you only know the dumbed-down Disney version of Winnie the Pooh, then you know nothing. I haven't read A.A. Milne's original books, but the cartoon shorts from the Soviet studio Soyuzmultfilm provide a cool take on the characters. "Vinni-Pukh idyot v gosti" ("Winnie the Pooh Pays a Visit" in English) depicts Winnie and Piglet visiting Rabbit, who decides to be friendly by offering them something to eat...only to see Winnie stuff himself! Seriously, the honey-loving ursine's eating habits here border on John Belushi in "Animal House".

The Winnie the Pooh shorts weren't the only instance in which the Soviet Union made a neat - if bizarre - version of a story that Disney previously filmed. The 1983 TV movie "Meri Poppins, do svidaniya" is something that looks like the result of an acid trip. It contains 1980s music, and Bert (played by Dick Van Dyke in the more famous version) looks like a cross between Elliott Gould and Keith Richards.

Anyway, this one is quite fun.

Vinni-Pukh goes to visit his friend rabbit Rabbit is a voice of reason; Vinni lives in the here and now and that means to eat as much honey as he can. This leads to some serious problems when it comes to life in a rabbit warren. This is well done, though I was not able to get it with English subtitles.