The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

***The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh*** is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on the *Winnie-the-Pooh* books by author A. A. Milne, *The New Adventures* was the first time a major Disney character headlined an animated, made-for-television series. The cartoon premiered with a limited run on The Disney Channel on January 17, 1988. Nine months later, the show moved to ABC as part of their Saturday morning lineup. New episodes continued until October 26, 1991. Proving popular with children and older fans, it remained on television in the United States for nearly two decades.

The series depicts the everyday lives of Christopher Robin and his companions Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger, Eeyore, Owl and Gopher. Rather than a straightforward adaptation, the show was more Americanized than previous *Pooh* efforts. Episodes dealt with strong messages about honesty, responsibility, persistence, cooperative effort, friendship, and caring. Many stories are designed to help young children distinguish between fantasy and reality and overcome common childhood fears. The show had very high production values.

Publications ranging from *The Los Angeles Times* to *TV Guide* gave the series extremely positive reviews for its resemblance to the earlier Disney efforts and its high production quality, receiving praise for its wholesome tradition. The show won back-to-back Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program as well as two Humanitas Prizes. The show was well received by both children and their parents. Most of the viewer mail the crew received were from parents thanking the staff for producing a show that they can watch with their children. *The New Adventures* is credited with bringing about a resurgence of *Pooh* animated media, including a series of television and video specials.

The series became available on Disney+ when the service launched on November 12, 2019.

## History

### Origin

Winnie the Pooh was a character originally created by British author A.A. Milne in the 1920s. The character was named from a teddy bear owned by his son, Christopher Robin Milne. He had named his toy bear after Winnie, a Canadian black bear he often saw at London Zoo, and "Pooh", a swan they had met while on holiday. Drawing from this and other toys owned by his son, Milne created the world of Winnie-the-Pooh. He first appeared by name on December 24, 1925, in a Christmas story commissioned and published by the London Evening News. The following year, a collection of Pooh stories was formally released bearing the name *Winnie-the-Pooh*. The stories proved very popular and inspired a sequel.

The idea for a television series was first discussed in 1957. NBC suggested Jay Ward undertake the pilot, then titled *The World of Winnie the Pooh*, with an option for thirty-nine episodes. Some songs and bits of dialogue were recorded, but the project was ultimately abandoned. In 1961, Walt Disney bought the film rights to make an animated movie starring the characters. He subsequently produced a series of three short featurettes throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with *Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree*. Disney had also aired a variety show with the characters that used electronically controlled puppetry and life-sized costume titled *Welcome to Pooh Corner*. This became the highest rated program on the Disney Channel. The original featurettes also proved popular, with video sales topping the charts in 1986 and 1987.

### Broadcast history

During the 1980s, a debate emerged inside Disney about whether original programs should be aired on the Disney Channel or outsourced to other channels. Some executives felt there was nothing more important than the Disney Channel. Others such as Gary Krisel disagreed, feeling they risked losing a generation of TV viewers who did not have cable. In the end, a compromise was reached with Disney Channel President John F. Cooke, who agreed to "pay" Krisel's division a certain price if he could get first run rights. The show premiered on the Disney Channel on January 17, 1988. Thirteen episodes aired at 8:30am on weekends. The show's run ended that July.

The show then moved to Saturday morning where it aired for a full hour from 8:30am to 9:30am. For the second season, the show was cut back to 30 minutes to make room for new entries. The show was merged with *Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears* and aired as part of the *Gummi Bears-Winnie the Pooh Hour*. This partnership was short-lived and lasted only one year, when *Gummi Bears* moved to daily syndication. *Winnie the Pooh* returned as a solo effort the following year. New episodes intermixed with reruns returned for a third season in the fall of 1990. During this time, two of the show's characters—Winnie the Pooh and Tigger—were incorporated into the television special *Cartoon All Stars to the Rescue*. The show returned for a fourth season on September 7, 1991. The show was not renewed the following year. After the series ended, the crew produced *Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too*, a primetime spin-off of the show.

Despite production ending the year before, reruns of the show returned to ABC's fall schedule for the 1992–93 season. By the following year, the show was dropped by ABC and sold in syndication. Executives felt the show could make more money selling directly to television stations rather than accepting ABC's license fee. The show later returned on December 9, 1995 when reruns of the program replaced *The New Adventures of Madeline*, but the show left for the first part of 1996–97 season. The show then returned January 4, 1997 and continued until September 7, 2002.

The Disney Channel began airing reruns of the series on October 3, 1994. These continued until September 1, 2006, at which point it was taken off the schedule. It was also shown on Toon Disney, first airing April 18, 1998. Internationally, the show has aired in several countries including the Family Channel in Canada, India, and Poland. Reruns also aired on Playhouse Disney.

## Characters

* **Winnie the Pooh** (Jim Cummings) is the main character, a "bear of very little brain". He is very naive yet lovable and is always good-natured. Cummings called the program timeless.
* **Piglet** (John Fiedler) is Pooh's best friend. He is shy, very kindhearted and is obsessed with keeping things neat and tidy, and enjoys beautiful things like flowers. His fears and nervousness often hinder his life, as he runs and hides when unnecessary and often stutters when nervous, but has been shown to have a lot of hidden courage and often faces danger to help others. He sometimes has an inferiority complex, although his friends think highly of him. Episodes about him tend to revolve around these traits as well as his small size. Fellow actor Jim Cummings described his voice as "kind of like the wind blowing through tall grass. It sounded homey, and it sounding comforting." Fiedler was very proud of his work on the show and enjoyed the role just as much as when he started in 1968.
* **Tigger** (Paul Winchell, Jim Cummings) is an ebullient tiger. Tigger is always filled with great energy and optimism, and though always well-meaning, he can also be mischievous, and his actions have sometimes led to chaos and trouble for himself and his friends. He is very confident and has quite an ego, having a high opinion of himself. He has a notable habit of mispronouncing various words, or stressing wrong syllables in them. Unlike previous adaptations, Tigger is shown living in a large treehouse. Winchell thought of him as a cross between the Dead End Kids and the Cowardly Lion. Winchell voiced Tigger in the first two seasons, before Cummings took over the role for the last two seasons. When Cummings took over the role, Winchell said "Take care of my little friend for me."
* **Rabbit** (Ken Sansom) is a sarcastic and finicky rabbit. In addition to wanting to be organized and practical, Rabbit's tendency to take charge is inflated to the extent that he becomes a control freak who insists on doing things exactly right, in his way and in the proper order. He keeps a garden and does whatever he can to protect it from other animals such as bugs and crows and he gets upset when anyone or anything tries to steal his vegetables. He and Tigger are usually foils for each other, reluctantly working together. He was shown as green in the series, compared to yellow in later efforts. Sansom described voicing Rabbit as the best experience he's had.
* **Roo** (Nicholas Melody) is a young joey. He wears a light blue shirt. The smallest of the characters, Roo frequently is seen hanging around Tigger.
* **Kanga** (Patricia Parris) is Roo's mother. She rarely appears, but is shown to be kindhearted and calm.
* **Gopher** (Michael Gough) plays a more prominent role in this series. He is shown to be a bit of a workaholic, and is obsessed with dynamite and digging in his tunnels. He speaks in a Southern accent and wears a helmet with a light attached. He often helps the others out with construction plans.
* **Eeyore** (Peter Cullen) is a gloomy donkey. He is somewhat less caustic and sarcastic in this version than in the original stories. Despite his depressive nature, Eeyore is capable of great compassion. He usually expects misfortune to happen to him, such as his house of sticks to be knocked down regularly, but accepts it when it does.
* **Owl** (Hal Smith) is the eldest character in the series. He presents himself as a mentor and teacher to the others, but is really quite scatterbrained. He enjoys telling stories about his distant relatives, whenever something reminds him of one, but many of his stories are pointless or absurd. He speaks with a strong Southern English accent.
* **Christopher Robin** (Tim Hoskins) is a 10-year-old child that has adventures with the stuffed animals.

For the most part, the show used a limited cast consisting only of characters in the original Milne books. However, several minor characters did make appearances. Christopher Robin's mother (voiced by Patricia Parris) is shown occasionally, but always with her face obscured.

Kessie, a bluebird that Rabbit rescues, makes her first appearance in this series; she would later appear in *The Book of Pooh*. Stan Woozle and Heff Heffalump appear as a pair of honey thieves. This marked the first time heffalumps and woozles were seen on-screen. Prior to this, they had always been portrayed as creatures that did not exist and were representative of childhood fears. Instead, the show used other unseen villains such as Jagulars and the "Grab-Me Gotcha." A father and son heffalump also appeared from time to time. Other characters on the show include Owl's cousin Dexter (voiced by Hal Smith) and Skippy the Sheepdog. Chuck McCann provided additional voices as well.

## Setting

For this adaptation, the show underwent an Americanization. The setting was changed from native England to contemporary America. The series depicted Christopher Robin as a typical 1980s kid rather than a 1920s British child. He is shown living in a suburban house with his mother and no longer had an English accent. His mischievous imagination drew comparisons to Calvin from *Calvin and Hobbes*, as opposed to Milne's original interpretation. Additionally, unlike the earlier Disney featurettes, the show did not use a narrator or the storybook theme.

Although the show still used the Hundred Acre Wood as its main setting, several episodes took place in other locations. The characters occasionally traveled to the adjacent town, going to a grocery store or movie theater. Other episodes were set in more imaginative settings and involved the characters journeying into the clouds or down in a wishing well. One episode took place in the Wild West, in the form of a play. These styles of episodes were done away with later on. The writing staff felt they worked best in the Hundred Acre Wood.

The writers made a point of keeping the show as timeless as possible, having the Hundred Acre Wood become a "never, never land". The show did its best to leave out all the modern conveniences. The approach to episodes was to put more emphasis on adventure, yet keep the integrity of Milne's characters. To add excitement, the occasional waterfall or cliff was added, which the show found tough to fit in. The dialogue was updated to make the show more relatable to today's generation.