The Book of Pooh "Best Wishes, Winnie the Pooh / Double Time" Review

And the EmPoohrium is now open--a fresh new blog dedicated to the world of Winnie the Pooh! Things are still under construction here, but you can expect a lot of great stuff here in the days and weeks to come, including Pooh news, show reviews, cast and crew interviews, and maybe a couple of surprises. If you thought Winnie the Pooh could only be appreciated by children, the EmPoohrium will help you see the franchise through new eyes.

But that's not all there is to celebrate today...

Fifteen years ago on January 22, 2001, The Book of Pooh first hit the airwaves. Not only was it Disney's first new Pooh series in over a decade, it was also the first of two shows by Mitchell Kriegman to utilize an innovative twist on the Japanese Bunraku puppetry style. Unlike typical puppet shows like Sesame Street where the puppeteers are physically hidden from our view, The Book of Pooh was filmed in front of a green screen with the puppeteers dressed in green suits, constantly working together on screen to bring life to the puppets. Although the earliest forms of the Bunraku process actually date back to 1684, Mitchell revolutionized what Bunraku could do by placing the characters in a 3D computer generated environment resembling a pop-up book. The end result gives the series a unique look that makes you feel like you're right there with the characters.

Filming "A Day in the Life of a Pooh"

Mitchell Kriegman watches the episode come together

In honor of the 15th anniversary of this show, I thought it would be appropriate to watch and review the first episode. So without further adieu, here are my thoughts.


The first segment in the series, "Best Wishes, Winnie the Pooh," starts out interestingly. Instead of jumping right in and showing Pooh, it takes us to Rabbit's garden where Tigger is "helping" Rabbit spring clean by bouncing on a seesaw and propelling honey pots out of the garden. Rabbit's unhappy though--the honey pots are still full! Exasperated, Rabbit asks Tigger, "How could you?" Tigger demonstrates.



We catch up with Pooh "a bit further into the story" as Mr. Narrator puts it (breaking the fourth wall the first of countless times throughout the series). As Pooh walks along, he expresses a wish for a pot of honey in rhyme and to his delight, a honey pot suddenly appears out of the sky! He repeats the rhyme and a second pot appears. Not knowing these honey pots came from Rabbit's garden, Pooh now believes he has the ability to grant wishes by reciting rhymes. He goes to Piglet's house to tell him the news, and Piglet suggests sharing the special power with everybody else and granting their wishes.



Pooh and Piglet set up shop, and Piglet invites everybody over to see the Great Poohdini, carny style. Tigger, Rabbit, and Eeyore each tell Pooh their wishes--Rabbit wishes his garden covered the whole Hundred Acre Wood, Tigger wishes to bounce all the way to the moon, and Eeyore wishes his house was a castle. When Pooh asks Piglet what he wishes, Piglet simply says he wishes to spend time with Pooh. Unfortunately, when Pooh says his rhyme, nothing happens. Disappointed that their wishes didn't come true, his friends leave.



This leads in to the show's first song, "Your Best Wishes," where Pooh expresses his own disappointment that he didn't get to make his friends' wishes come true. Piglet cheers Pooh up, offering the suggestion that his heart was in the right place and even though he couldn't get his friends exactly what they wanted, he can still do nice things for them. Pooh agrees, and at night when everyone else is asleep, the two of them go around the wood and weed Rabbit's garden, give Tigger a telescope, and decorate Eeyore's house with flowers.



The next morning, everyone wakes up and finds their surprises. Pooh reveals he was the one behind them and his friends thank him. Piglet reiterates the moral of the story and states that in a way, Pooh was still able to grant everybody's wishes because of the nice things he did. "Perhaps you are the Great Poohdini after all," says Rabbit. Pooh invites everyone over for lunch, and as the story comes to an end, Pooh realizes he didn't do anything for Piglet... or so he thinks. The ever insightful Piglet points out that he in fact did, simply by being his friend.



"Double Time" opens again at Rabbit's house on a Friday where we learn how he manages a calendar and marks each day off with an X. With a full day of gardening and chores ahead, Rabbit hops to it, just as Pooh happens to arrive looking for honey. Pooh notices Rabbit's calendar and decides to help Rabbit out by marking off the last day, not realizing what he's actually doing. Just as Pooh leaves, Rabbit returns and finds that Saturday is crossed out now. Flustered as to how he managed to "lose a day," Rabbit attempts the impossible and tries to cram two days worth of chores into one to make up for the time he thinks he lost. Cue a very catchy song about about Rabbit frantically doubling his work load.



The next item on Rabbit's list is visiting his friends. First he stops at Pooh's house and talks so hastily that Pooh doesn't even get the chance to get a word in before Rabbit is off and away again. Next, he stops at Eeyore's house and hurriedly asks if he can "knock down his house and be on his way." Though confused, Eeyore obliges.



Next, Rabbit goes to Owl's house in a hurried way that reminds Owl of someone he once knew. Luckily, Rabbit manages to squeeze out an abridged version of Owl's story. After that, in my favorite scene of the episode, Rabbit is so focused on rushing his conversation with Kessie (a bluebird who first appeared in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) that he forgets he can't fly.



Finally, Rabbit meets up with Tigger and finds himself bouncing at twice Tigger's speed until he's finally slowed down by a tree branch. Rabbit's friends catch up with him at last and express their concern. The misunderstanding is cleared up, and now that Rabbit's done all of Saturday's chores today, he can take a well deserved day off tomorrow. The story closes with the gang relaxing on a hilltop. Being a rabbit of habit, Rabbit tries to find some work that he "forgot" to do, but his friends remind him that even the busiest of us need some time off every now and then. Everybody soon falls fast asleep.



Recap: Pooh shoos a bee away. The focus words are "Rhyme" and "Calendar."



Overall, this is a very excellent introduction to the series. Both stories in this episode are very solid and give a good feel for what this show is all about. One thing that occurred to me was "Best Wishes, Winnie the Pooh" felt somewhat more educational in nature while "Double Time" was a more humorous story with a moral at the end. That essentially sums up the majority of the show's episodes. There's usually one story of each type per episode--one educational story, one humorous story--and the morals within the episodes are all very carefully woven in so they feel very natural and don't talk down to kids. Additionally, the songs and music make the stories all the more entertaining. One background track I really liked was in "Double Time" when Rabbit is running back and forth through the wood. It's a quick silly musical cue, but it really adds to the whole idea that Rabbit's working so fast that he can barely keep up with himself.



Rating: 9 out of 10 Honey Pots. A very solid start.


Well, that pretty much wraps things up. There's lots more in store at the EmPoohrium, so keep checking back for the latest and greatest in Winnie the Pooh goodness!