The movie is made from three previously released animated short movies based upon the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne: "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966), "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" (1968), and "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too" (1974). This is also the last movie in the Disney canon that Walt Disney was personally involved with, because one of the shorts ("Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree") was released during his lifetime, and he was involved in the production of "Blustery Day". A fourth and final short movie based on the original books, "Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore", was released in 1983. It is included as a bonus feature on the VHS and DVD release of the movie.
The characters from the movie became very popular. There have been sequels, television programs, clothing, books, and toys based on the characters. The movie is different from the three individual shorts by having newly created material to link the stories together. It also has an ending to close the stories. The ending is based on the final chapter of "The House at Pooh Corner". It was always Walt Disney's intention to make a movie, but he decided to make shorts instead — after production had begun — to familiarize US audiences with the characters. All three shorts as well as future movies boast classic songs by the Sherman Brothers including "Winnie the Pooh" and "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers".
The movie also inspired an attraction of the same name at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Hong Kong Disneyland. A much more elaborate attraction, also based on the movie, opened in Tokyo Disneyland as "Pooh's Hunny Hunt".
For the character Piglet, hand gestures and other movements were used by the animators to make expressions, because he (and Pooh) had the look of dolls or stuffed animals with relatively simple button eyes. The scene where Rabbit deals with Pooh's being part of the "decor of his home" was not in the original book, but was reportedly made by Disney when he first read the book.
Movie critic Leonard Maltin called the original Pooh featurettes "gems". He also noted that the artwork resembles the book illustrations, and that the particular length of these short movies meant that the moviemakers didn't have to "compress or protract their script." The movie has a 91% "fresh" rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Ruth Hill Viguers, however, when writing in "A Critical History of Children’s Literature" during the 1960s, mentioned Disney's Winnie the Pooh along with several other Disney adaptations as having “destroyed the integrity of the original books”.
The American Film Institute nominated "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" for its Top 10 Animated Films list.
"The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" was first released on VHS, Betamax, CED videorecord, and laserdisc in the early 1980s. In 1996, it was re-released on VHS as part of the Masterpiece Collection. It included video footage of the making which was shown before the movie starts. It was released on DVD for the first time in 2002 to commemorate its 25th anniversary, with digitally restored picture and sound. The separate shorts had also been released on their own on VHS in the 1990s.
The 25th anniversary edition DVD includes, among other bonus features, "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Story Behind the Masterpiece", which documents the history of the books and their initial movie adaptations. It also features interviews with animators Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, and Burny Mattinson, as well as the Sherman brothers, Paul Winchell, and others. Digital Media FX reviewer Shannon Muir said that the audio and video quality of the movie on this DVD was very high.
The "Friendship Edition" DVD was re-released on June 19, 2007. All of the special features from the previous "25th Anniversary Edition" DVD were recycled; the only new addition being an episode of Playhouse Disney's computer-animated series "My Friends Tigger & Pooh". The DVD re-release coincides with the 30th anniversary of the release of the movie.
The Blu-Ray version was released for the first time in August 2013.
The Black Cauldron (movie)
The Black Cauldron is a 1985 American animated fantasy movie produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. It is based on the first two books in "The Chronicles of Prydain" by Lloyd Alexander, a series of five novels which in turn is based on Welsh mythology.
The movie is about the evil Horned King who hopes to secure the magical Black Cauldron and rule the world with its help.
The movie is directed by Ted Berman and Richard Rich. They directed the previous Disney animated movie "The Fox and the Hound".
It was not very popular when it was first released. Now it has become a cult movie. It cost $25 million to make. It earned only $21 million at the North American box office. It is said to be one of the worst box-office failures from Walt Disney Animation Studios.
The Rescuers Down Under
The Rescuers Down Under is a 1990 American animated adventure movie. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution on November 16, 1990. The movie is the sequel to the 1977 movie "The Rescuers". The original movie was based on the novels of Margery Sharp. This movie is based on the characters created by Sharp.
This movie, "Fantasia 2000", "Winnie the Pooh", "Ralph Breaks the Internet", and "Frozen II", are the only Disney sequels that are part of the Disney canon. This is because all three were produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Set in the Australian Outback, "The Rescuers Down Under" was Eva Gabor's final movie role before her retirement from acting in 1994 and death in 1995.
"The Rescuers Down Under" has three characters from the first movie: Bernard, Bianca, and the Chairmouse. All of them are played by the same actors as in the first movie.
"The Rescuers Down Under" was released in the Walt Disney Classics video series on September 20, 1991 with a home video trailer for "The Jungle Book", while "The Rescuers" was released on VHS a year later in September 1992. However, unlike "The Rescuers", "The Rescuers Down Under" did not make it to the "Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection". It was re-released on VHS and DVD on August 1, 2000 as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection. This released in Epilogue Version VHS & DVD in THX-Certified on May 20, 2003.
"The Rescuers Down Under" was released alongside "The Rescuers" on Blu-ray in a "2-Movie Collection" on August 21, 2012 to commemorate the first movie's 35th anniversary.
Fantasia 2000
Fantasia 2000 is a 1999 American animated movie. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a sequel to "Fantasia" (1940). Like the earlier movie, it has animated segments set to pieces of classical music. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is the only segment that is in both movies.
The soundtrack was performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with conductor James Levine. A group of celebrities introduce each segment in live-action scenes. The celebrities include Jerry Seinfeld, Bette Midler, Penn & Teller, James Earl Jones, Quincy Jones and Angela Lansbury.
"Fantasia 2000" was shown at Carnegie Hall on December 17, 1999. It was part of a five-city concert tour, with performances in London, Paris, Tokyo and Pasadena, California. An exclusive release in IMAX theatres followed from January 1 to April 30, 2000. It became the first animated feature-length movie in the IMAX format. "Fantasia 2000" was opened in the United States on June 16, 2000. It has earned $90.8 million in gross revenue worldwide.