A Very Merry Pooh Year

With a figure as likeable and sweet as Winnie the Pooh as well as how universal the characters and his stories are, they are often able to be squeezed into whatever event or holiday people can think up and result in something that will more than likely match the same spirit as the original books and films. With all the various movies that Winnie the Pooh has had, there have been plenty of specials revolving around familiar holidays from Halloween, Easter, Valentine’s Day and of course, Christmas, and while none of these films or specials are ever that incredible or ever match up to the quality of some of the best specials that Winnie the Pooh has provided, they never manage to be that bad and can even result in that familiar charm oozing out. The 2002 direct-to-video film, A Very Merry Pooh Year, which has the infamous Hundred Acre Woods gang celebrating Christmas, is very much in line with that sentiment.  In the Hundred Acre Woods on Christmas Eve, Pooh Bear (voiced by Jim Cummings) and all his friends get ready to spend the joyous time together, but in the rush of the season, accidentally get his present for Piglet (voiced by John Fielder) lost and is unable to remember where he placed it. Deciding to reminisce on other Christmas days before it finally arrives, the gang recollect on the good and bad that have come from the season and how they are grateful to be around each other once again, hopefully giving Pooh enough time to remember where he put Piglet’s gift. There is a such a likeable element to the fact that Winnie the Pooh can be placed in any sort of story however charmingly basic it may be, and still result in something meaningful and heart-warming as long as the characteristics are correctly portrayed and the stories never get too overboard, and this short special is no different. It’s true that there are some elements that hold it back from being a really great movie against some of the others in the line-up, but it would really take an extreme level of faltering in order to mess up something this innocently simple.

The plot for this film has the basic tropes you’d expect from a story centred around Winnie the Pooh, which keeps it in that delightful realm of being simple and full of child-like wonder, but always underlined with this bizarre maturity and even contemplative element. It never relies on components like bad guys or life-threatening situations, but rather the emotions of the characters and the charm that comes from the working off each other and getting over the small but memorable problems in a way that is charming and relatable to both kids and adults Something about the quiet nature feels incredibly non-threatening and comforting in a way that people will want to come back too, like an old stuff toy that is so tattered now but will also be loved in your heart because of the fun times in the past. Though there are only three stories going on in the movie and it very much feels like it has an anthology format because it doesn’t have that much to work with, each one gets the right atmosphere and tone correct that it doesn’t feel too distracting or off-putting. There is more truth to this than believed as the film is essentially just a stitched together feature with A Very Merry Pooh Christmas (directed by Gary Katona and Ed Wexler and written by Brian Hohlfeld, Ted Henning, Karl Geurs) being paired with the 1991 Christmas special, Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too (directed by Jamie Mitchell and written by Karl Geurs and Mark Zaslove) being injected into the film, which focuses on Pooh writing a letter to Santa with everybody’s gifts but it doesn’t go in time so he decides to go deliver it himself; its relatively sweet and has a nice ending to it, it’s a good story for this movie even though its apparent this came from a TV special rather than from the movie that’s being presented. The animation is a bit different, the voices sound different (Paul Winchell voiced Tigger before Jim Cummings eventually took him over), it’s clear that they just snatched it from another medium without changing anything about it, but it still works and it’s a good story to pull from. The second one has to do with Rabbit (voiced by Ken Sansom) deciding to leave the Hundred Acre Woods after Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore (voiced by Peter Cullen) cause a ruckus that pushes him to far, and the gang decides to change their personality to satisfy him. This leads to each one acting like the other, which at times can be a bit funny and it also has a nice conclusion to it, but this one definitely feels the most bizarre and traditional for a cartoon of any variety against the others which are lot more subdued and feel more in line with what Winnie the Pooh is. The last one is the one centred around the gift Pooh gives to Piglet, and while nothing drastically surprising or that special, it stills ends on a warm friendly note that does speak to the true meaning of the holiday. Overall, it’s very clear this was made just as a way to have something connected to the holidays, with the stories being made just as a semi-anthology splice which is kinda what these movies were to begin with anyway, so it seems to work fine. All the writers and directors who worked on this film had past experience in animation reserved for young children, so you can feel that this isn’t really going for anything stand-outish, but it doesn’t feel insultingly simple either, you can feel they were trying with what they had.

The characters are all still very likeable and memorable, they work really well in the stories and the voice talent are still great as well. Each one has so effectively captured the voice and character of each one that it’s hard to imagine them as someone else, particularly Cummings as Pooh, who just seems to get better and better with every performance. It starts to become an issue of finding anything else to say about these performances as every time they deliver something, it always feels spot on and has become so unanimous with the role that it can’t even be spoken off in a different manner. It’s hard to pick out anything else about them because unlike some of the other specials and films where there is at least a plot they are following along with that involves them in a way that could let them interact in a different, this film feels like it’s just placing them in a situation and letting them sit in that moment (like placement holders for the stories rather than active members in furthering something), which works fine with what this story is, but it’s not going to be providing anything that hasn’t already been shown with these characters a dozen times over. You’ve seen them have fights and get back together, you’ve seen Pooh want to give Piglet something and have been overjoyed when it arrived, you’ve seen Rabbit crack and say he wants to leave but decides against it when he sees how much his friends care, it always going to be nice, but it’s not something that is going to Illicit a different response. The only time this isn’t the case is when the characters have to act against type in order to please Rabbit, because since these characters are since defined personalities, seeing those expected traits switched around is very simple, but also very noticeable and it’s incredibly odd seeing them all act like this; Piglet being overly energetic, Tigger being a scaredy-cat, Pooh being incredibly down and depressed, and (strangest of all), Eeyore being a completely jolly upright walking Pooh-shirt wearing constantly smiling honey smacking donkey, it’s at least a little different and easily the most memorable part of the movie. It does give credit to the strength and identity of each when simply changing them between each other is very odd.

The animation for Winnie the Pooh always kept a unique identity that often bled over into any special or film they made and gave the brand a distinct identity, adopting a sketchy drawn artistry that looked like something right out of the original A. A. Milne pictures books, providing backgrounds that might lack depth, but are rich in detail and artistry, and designs and animation qualities like doted eyes and overly penciled outlines that could be simplistic, but never feel distracting, it’s a look that’s very much its own and it has been used very effectively in other properties. Thankfully the style is mostly the same here although not to as high a level as most other movies. The backgrounds can look quite nice at times, some of the colors especially around the wintertime can look good and it overall has a pleasant look to it, but since the animation is kinda split into two, the quality does shift between both styles, and it can be noticeable. The look of the TV cartoon show looks quite good despite the obvious difference; the lines are very fluid, the colors are very warm and rustic, and it’s a style that really sells the atmosphere that Winnie the Pooh goes for. While the other animation style used for the movie footage is still bright and colorful, it does have much weaker lines and more fixed characters models. It feels much more traditional Disney cartoon rather than a specific Winnie the Pooh property, which isn’t bad, but it speaks to how much of an identity the brand has at this point that even a different nice-looking style will be distracting. One of the movie’s weirdest exclusions is the lack of any new songs in the movie; songs have always been one of the most memorable parts of these movies, and to have none here is pretty odd to say the least. It’s either classic Christmas carols or just ten second verses that don’t impact anything, it’s a shame how little effort was put into that area especially because the people who did write the songs are Michael and Patricia Silversher (otherwise billed as Silversher and Silversher) a songwriting team who have worked on Disney animated properties before, so its weird to see them not really try in this one.

A Very Merry Pooh Year (despite how odd that title is to say out loud) is a simple movie that was (let’s be honest) released for the sole purpose of marketing a Christmas-related outing for the beloved bear stuffed-with-fluff, and for that mindset, this movie honestly should’ve been a lot worse, but it’s pretty hard to muck up Winnie the Pooh. It’s nothing special and could have used some more striking elements to truly stand out among the other stories where even the lesser ones have something that stands out about them, but here it’s a perfect fine movie to show kids. It has the likeable characters and the correct atmosphere, and every once and awhile there’s a pretty image and maybe even a laugh. Take it for what’s it’s worth and see if this smackle is good enough for you.