Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966)

Such a frustrating disappointment

So much average

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

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

1966 was the year when the first animated short of Winnie the Pooh and his friends came out. These characters immediately became a phenomenon of popularity and they're still just as popular nowadays. It all started with "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" in 1966, followed by many other Winnie the Pooh's shorts, all of them taking place in the magical and childish world of the Hundred Acre Wood.This first adventure introduces us these adorable characters, as well as Winnie the Pooh, the little bear obsessed by hunny (honey), lovingly called «silly old bear» by Cristopher Robin. However, Piglet and Tigger's first appearance is only in the following short "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day". Anyway, we can see right from the start how the characters's personalities are.A delightful story, lovely songs (such as "Little Black Rain Cloud", "Up, Down and Touch the Ground", "Rumbly in My Tumbly" and "Winnie the Pooh"), great artwork and animation, charm and classic humor are another attribute here.The story is amusing and focus mostly on Pooh's determination to get some honey. Although he is a bear with very little brain, he's not the sort of bear to give up easily. It's funny how he often thinks of something, but no matter how hard he tries to think, the only thing that comes to his simple mind is honey. And it's funny that he does physical exercises, but not for the reasons you could think. You think he does physical exercises to get thinner? You better think again, he he he! He does physical exercises to get hungry, as an excuse to eat honey.The Gopher (who is not in the book) is hilarious, especially whenever he falls down his hole. That is spectacular! The nervous Rabbit can be unfair at times, but he does the right thing when he stops the Gopher from feeding Pooh with honey.As for Eeyore, his pessimistic personality is obvious right from the beginning, when he says «If it's a good day, which I doubt».

Like the other three Pooh shorts that made up the feature film of the Many Adventures released in 1977 and on video in the 80s, the Honey Tree short was one of those works I've watched countless times. It does have its 'valuable lesson' for the kids, but it's also just very silly, cute entertainment that ranges from jokes so absurd they work for some adults ("You messed up my moose" is a line I still quote today, the Gopher material is also rather off-key for a children's short), to the suspenseful moments that, for lack of a better description, capture kid's imaginations. And the whole structure of it being a book-as-animated short give it an inventiveness that don't come with other adaptations of books to Disney animation. Here, Rabbit becomes irate and near impatient as Pooh gets stuck in his rabbit-hole after consuming more honey than needed. Pooh then is stuck for a week until he can loose the excess baggage, where a very climactic and momentous pull of Pooh is lead in song and action. All of this is very clever, and even for little kids its got nothing at all complicated about it- even if all the points and little jokes aren't caught the thrust of the storytelling and joyous nature even in the safer moments are near-perfect. And unlike what apparently is meant for current pre-K programming today (Teletubbies aren't on anymore at least), the whole mood is very pure without being pandering. There's no overt vulgarity, and the over-the-top moments don't get old ("Don't feed the bear" is another quotable phrase). Highly recommended.

This was the very first adventure based on the famous children's books from Walt Disney animations, when I was younger this used to be very good. Winnie the Pooh, the bear with little brain, lives in the Hundred Acre Wood with many friends including, Rabbit, Eeyore, Kanga and Roo, Owl and Christopher Robin. No sign of Tigger or Piglet though. Anyway, in this Pooh runs out of honey and notices a honey tree. He is trying everything he can to get some honey from the tree. But he instead gets it from Rabbit and ends up stuck in his front door. Kids will obviously love this cartoon for the cute and cuddly Pooh bear, and a very good story. Winnie the Pooh was number 55 on The 100 Greatest Cartoons. Woeth watching!