Search - Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You Special Edition on DVD

For parents looking for a valentine's based video for their

Dennis A. Amith (kndy) | California | 01/07/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With "Valentine's Day" just around the corner, "Winnie the Pooh - A Valentine For You: Special Edition" is a re-release of the previous 2004 DVD "Winnie the Pooh - Un-Valentine's Day/A Valentine for You" but this time around, new to DVD comes the episode "My Hero" from the animated TV series "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" and Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Piglet Valentines day cards (six total). Also, this new 2010 release does not include the bad menu selection and introduction to the episodes that many were dissatisfied with in the 2004 release.



The first episode "A Valentine For You" (duration: 22:06) was a Valentine's Day special from 1999. In the 100 Acre Wood, Winnie the Pooh and his friends watch Christopher Robbin writing a Valentine's Day letter to a girl. When owl tells them that he is love sick and has the love bug, Winne the Pooh and friends misinterpret owl's explanation as if Christopher is sick and now they feel that they must help him through his illness.



The second episode is "Un-Valentine's Day" & "Three Piglets" (total duration for both episodes is: 27:30) which was aired on the animated TV show "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh". In this episode, Winnie the Pooh and the gang talk about Valentine's Day and how they have been inundated with Valentine's Day cards. Winnie the Pooh is known for giving his friends too many cards and the collection of cards is becoming a nuisance, so the only thing that Rabbit can do is to cancel Valentine's Day. But when Winnie the Pooh receives a Valentine's Day gift of honey, he feels that one of his friends sent it to him and this chain of events leads to others celebrating Valentine's Day in secret.



In the episode "Three Piglets", Winnie the Pooh tells his version of the "Three Little Pigs" story and how the pigs are trying to avoid the Big Bad Bunny.



VIDEO & AUDIO:



Video is featured in Widescreen (1:33:1) and for the most part, animation differs at times. For example, "A Valentines Day For You" is sharp, vibrant and doesn't show its age (considering it is a special). But the episodes from "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" definitely shows its age as it is not as clear, has some blurriness and also the occasional dust and scratches. You can tell through the quality of the animation that the TV episodes are quite old and there are major differences between the special and TV episodes. But as much as the parents or grown ups more likely to complain about the differences, I doubt the children will care.



As for audio, audio is presented in Dolby Digital Surround Sound and is featured in English, French and Spanish language tracks. Audio is dialogue and music driven and for the most part is clear and understandable. For home theater owners, I felt that the best setting was to have audio set at stereo on all channels.



Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.



SPECIAL FEATURES:



"Winnie the Pooh - A Valentine For You: Special Edition" comes with a total of six Valentines Day cards feature Pooh, Tigger and Piglet. As for special features, the following is included:



* My Hero - (11:35) New to DVD is an episode titled "My Hero: from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. In this episode, Piglet rescues Tigger from danger and now Tigger gives all his attention towards Piglet...but the attention tends to be a bit too much for Piglet.

* Catch the Love Bug - A game that was featured in the original 2004 DVD release, the remote control game allows viewers to use their remote to catch love bugs floating in the air. Catch five and you win!



JUDGMENT CALL:



As many of the Winnie the Pooh specials and television episodes that are holiday-related are making its way to DVD, "Winnie the Pooh - A Valentine For You: Special Edition" is quite timely as the DVD introduces children to Valentine's Day.



I'm sure for many parents with children, this DVD is quite timely as it does introduce the concept of Valentine's Day to children and the exchanging of gifts which the children will take part in school. For those who owned the original 2004 DVD release, there is really no major reason to upgrade to this DVD as the contents are nearly the same with the exception that it does include the "My Hero" TV episode, the six Valentine's cards and the new menu and trailers. For those hoping their would be some remastering of "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" episodes, similar to recent releases in the last year, picture quality is the same and the TV episodes does show its age and a bit blurry when compared to the specials.



But for the children, I doubt they will be as picky on the clarity of the animation as we are. I watched this with my son and he was entertained by it and laughed several times. The "Catch the Love Bug" remote control game is easy for them and for the most part, these animation included is fun for the children and the entire family.



If you are looking for a Valentine's Day animation for your child or another "Winnie the Pooh" animated release, definitely give "Winnie the Pooh - A Valentine For You: Special Edition" a chance!"