Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You (1999)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Un-Valentine's Day: I enjoy Un-Valentine's Day for how funny it is and for the Scrooge-esque Rabbit. I especially love the part when Tigger is handed some flowers to hand out during the play but instead eats them and comments that they could use some mustard. Another scene that I really love is when Pooh disguises himself as a mailbox for everyone to drop their Valentine's cards in. A Valentine For You: The gang walk in on Christopher Robin writing a letter to a girl named Winifred and they worry that he's forgotten about them. So they decide to go on a journey in order to cure Christopher Robin of the "love bug." At the end, Christopher Robin reveals to everyone else that he can still love them while also making in new friends, with the beautiful song Places in the Heart. Overall: I love the entire thing, every second of both segments. I especially love the song Places in the Heart, wonderfully melodic with a wonderful message. I also find Un-Valentine's Day especially to be very funny, especially with Pooh disguised as a mailbox and when the gang are putting on a play.

This is a half-hour television special, which, however, only runs for roughly 20 minutes without the credits. This one scored 2 Emmy nominations, one of them being for the song in the end "Places in the Heart" and I can definitely see why. It elevates the movie a lot and is far superior than the song the gang sings early when they are scared in the forest. Disney had great success with Winnie the Pooh in the 1960s I think and here they made another tale about the small famous honey-craving little bear (he is not bigger than a rabbit). The story could have been a bit better in my opinion though. The whole things is about all kinds of ways in which the animal gang mistakes Valentine's Day including comical confusion about lovebugs. It gets a bit repetitive at some point and is just not enough material for 20 minutes I think the voice acting was pretty good though and fans of the "Dumb & Dumber" films may be surprised by one voice actor here. Anyway, the ending was a bit too feel-good for my taste as well, because it really went against the meaning of Valentine's Day, at least today. It's for you and your loved one, not for you and your best friends. So all in all, some flaws in this one here, but also some reasons that make it worth the watch, like the song at the end. I guess all in all I give it a thumbs up.

I have to say I disagree with the previous reviewer. I love Winnie the Pooh, and I found A Valentine For You absolutely adorable. Of the Winnie the Pooh specials, in some way, A Valentine For You is perhaps the least well known. Wheras Halloween and Christmas were celebrated with Boo to You Too! and A Very Merry Pooh Year, and are holidays that the target audience would be more likely to celebrate, Valentines Day with this not so much. While I don't quite consider A Valentine For You as good as those two, I still love it. The animation is colourful and bright, with the backgrounds and character designs appealing, and the music while as memorable as I'm Not Afraid has a certain simple charm to it. The writing is droll with some inspired word-play while the story is really heartwarming and still with the childhood innocence that makes Winnie the Pooh so special. I loved the themes of love, unselfishness and friendships, these themes are important, and never once did A Valentine For You feel overly-didactic. The characters are as engaging as before and the voice acting is great, even if Paul Winchell sounds noticeably older here the wit and humour of the ever lovable Tigger is still there. All in all, adorable and really worth watching. 10/10 Bethany Cox