Search - Growing Up with Winnie the Pooh - Love and Friendship on DVD

So Just What Have We Got Here?

George Buttner | Dayton, Ohio United States | 08/07/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With the packaging job Disney has done on this, it can be kind of hard to tell from the cover just what exactly is on this DVD and who might enjoy it. So let's get that out of the right away. What's actually on this disc is nothing less than four stories from "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh." This series aired on ABC in the 80's and 90's and can still be seen today on Disney Channel in the early morning hours (and also airs in some other markets.) But if you don't have access to Disney channel and you find yourself missing this series (and can get past the cutesy packaging on this disc) then this DVD might just be worth it.







This DVD features:





"A Very, Very Large Animal"



When Piglet is depressed about being small, Pooh and the others try to help him feel big. The plan backfires, however...



"No Rabbit's a Fortress"



Rabbit is tired of everyone messing up his garden and builds a fortress to keep them out. He finds, though, that he's also kept himself in!



"Stripes"



Tigger's stripes wash away in the bath, and everyone is convinced that Tigger has disappeared and there's a new animal in the Hundred Acre Wood.



"Tigger's Shoes"



Rabbit is especially tired of Tigger's bouncing and plays a trick on him with shoes that he claims will help his bouncing, but are actually weighted down.





What I find most interesting about this disc is that Disney seems to be marketing this line towards a preschool audience. The back of the box features the tag "Pooh Makes Growing Up Fun - Feelings & Emotions, Problem-Solving, Creativity, Social Skills." (This disc, by the way, is tagged as focusing on "Social Skills.") Yet there's some stuff that goes in this series that you would never see any any program targeted towards a preschool audience today --- blowing stuff up with dynamite, presumed character death, etc. Not that this is at all a knock on the series --- this was a wonderful show --- but that sort of stuff just wouldn't fly today.







DVD Format Review:



This DVD includes a couple of special features and also includes Disney's Fast Play. I can't say I really care much for Disney's editing overall. They've deleted the wonderful original opening theme to "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" and replaced it with a little sing-songy cutesy number that isn't really memorable, but no doubt targeted at the same preschool audience the packaging is. The DVD includes Disney's FastPlay, which means that if you don't go to the menu, it'll start automatically. I don't really have any problem with this --- at least it's not like some other DVDs I've seen where if you do opt to go to the menu, it'll eventually start playing anyway. Episodes from the original show are split up and all of the closing credits for each story are shown at the very end (you at least to get here some of the show theme here.) Unfortunately, they made a mistake and including the wrong credits sequence for the first story. In between each story is a cheaply produced created segment featuring sort-of stick figures of the characters on a stage with the narrator describing the "sharing and caring" action. On a final note, although the DVD lets you select stories individually, it then tries to rope you into continuous play, because it doesn't return the menu when the story is finished, it just goes on to the next story.







Bonus Features:



There are two bonus features on this disc. The first is a singalong of the classic song "Up, Down, Touch the Ground." Nice choice. The other is a counting game in which the characters made some heart shaped cards to cheer up one of the others that's feeling grumpy. Not anything thrilling, but not too bad.





5 stars for program content, 3 stars for bonus features, 2 1/2 stars for overall packaging and presentation."