Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day is an animated 1968 featurette based on the third, fifth, ninth, and tenth chapters of Winnie-the-Pooh and the second, eighth, and ninth chapters from The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne. The animated featurette was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company on December 20, 1968 as a double feature with the live-action comedy feature The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. This was the second of the studio's Winnie the Pooh theatrical featurettes. It was later added as a segment to the 1977 film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The music was written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. It was notable for being the final animated short produced by Walt Disney, who died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966, two years before it was released.

## Plot

At the beginning of the film, Winnie the Pooh visits his "thoughtful spot". As Pooh sits thinking, Gopher pops out of the ground and orders him to leave as it is a "Winds-day". By misunderstanding Gopher's warning, Pooh goes across everyone in the Hundred Acre Wood to wish them a very happy Winds-day. He arrives at the beech tree home of his good friend Piglet, who is nearly blown away while trying to rake leaves. Pooh grabs Piglet by his scarf, like the string of a kite. They pass by Kanga and Roo; Eeyore, whose stick house Pooh breaks as he passes; and Rabbit, whose carrots Pooh inadvertently helps harvest as he slides by.

The wind blows Pooh and Piglet to Owl's treehouse, where he lets them in. Pooh wishes Owl a happy Winds-day, as he has everyone else, but Owl informs them that the wind is due to "a mild spring zephyr". As Owl tells Pooh and Piglet some of the adventures of his relatives, the strong wind causes his house to sway and eventually collapse, for which he initially asks Pooh if he did it. Pooh says he doesn't think so. Christopher Robin and the others soon hear of the news and rush to the scene; as Owl's house is wrecked beyond the point of repair, Eeyore volunteers to seek out a new house for Owl, who proceeds to tell the others more stories for quite some time, boring them.

As night falls, the wind is still blowing, and Pooh is kept awake by noises outside. He opens his door for a visitor: Tigger, who introduces himself with his signature song ("The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers") before stating that he has come looking for something to eat. Disgusted by the taste of Pooh's honey, Tigger tells him that there are Heffalumps and Woozles in the forest that steal honey before departing. Frightened by Tigger's words, Pooh stays up all night to guard his honey but he however, falls asleep as a thunderstorm arrives. After he has a nightmare about Heffalumps and Woozles stealing his honey and chasing him around, Pooh wakes up in a flood caused by the storm.

In the flood, Piglet is washed away from his home in a floating chair, but not before he manages to write a message in a bottle for help. Pooh also manages to escape to higher grounds with ten honey pots he saved, only to also be washed away by the rising waters. Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, and Tigger gather at Christopher Robin's house, the only place in the Hundred Acre Wood that isn't flooded, while Eeyore continues to his task house hunting for Owl. Roo finds Piglet's bottle, and Owl flies off to tell Piglet that help is on the way.

Owl eventually finds Piglet as well as Pooh, but before he can inform them of the impending rescue – and tell another boring story – a waterfall threatens to carry them all over the side. Pooh switches places with Piglet as they take the plunge, and the waterfall washes them right into Christopher Robin's yard. Thinking that Pooh has saved Piglet, Christopher Robin tells Pooh he is a hero. Once the flood has ended, Christopher Robin throws a party for Pooh, where Eeyore announces he has found a new home for Owl. He leads everyone to his discovery which, known to everyone except for Owl and Eeyore, is Piglet's house. Piglet generously gives Owl his new home, despite having nowhere else to live for himself. Pooh then lets Piglet to move into his house, which Piglet happily accepts, and at Pooh's request Christopher Robin declares the occasion a "two hero party".