Kevin Show of hands, who here loved Winnie the Pooh as a kid? Personally speaking, I loved me some Winnie the Pooh on Saturday mornings as a kid, hence the screenshot from a clip on YouTube from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Today’s post is in honor of Winnie the Pooh Day 2022.
Saturday morning cartoons were one of my favorites as a kid. I’ve mentioned before that we only had the local channels back then. ABC didn’t come in worth a damn, no matter what we did with the antenna. The other channels that aired Saturday morning shows, CBS, Fox, and NBC, all came in clear as a bell. I was a bit too young for the NBC lineup, so we’d alternate between CBS, Fox, and ABC.
ABC was where it was at, with The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. My mom and I would watch it together, along with the other cartoons until they switched over to the boring grown-up stuff like news programs and golf.
Another show of hands, who remembers that feeling whenever the teacher or the A/V worker would wheel in the projector and pull that white screen down at the front of the classroom, just above the chalkboard? One day, the teacher brought in the projector, and threaded the film. We were gonna watch a movie, and guess what it was?
It was none other than Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day! I did a little digging, and as luck would have it, I found it on the Internet Archive. You’re welcome. It’s pulled from a home video edition from 1993, but it’s the original from 1968, the one we saw on the projector in class. I remember we all watched it, and that we were all cracking up from Piglet blowing away in the breeze. We were all so loud that the teacher from the class next door came in to see what was going on.
As a kid, books were the main way for me to pass the time. There were some Pooh books around the house here and there, but it wasn’t until recently I came across The House at Pooh Corner. Published in 1928, it’s an underrated classic with all the feels at the end. Not to mention, those 1920s illustrations are cool af.
In the story, they build a house for Eeyore, and play a game they totally made up called “Poohsticks.” [Side note: this reminds me of the game Calvin and Hobbes made up called “Calvinball,” for some reason.] The chapters themselves aren’t written cohesively like a regular chapter book, but instead written as standalone short stories. I know that would’ve confuzzled the hell out of me as a kid if I tried to read this early on when I was starting to get into chapter books.
At a hair under 200 pages, it’s quite lengthy for a kid, but no more so than the Harry Potter books, now that I think about it. It’s also a fairly quick read, but a fun one in any case. I won’t get into the ending as a favor to you, but I will say it served as the basis for Christopher Robin. I saw it at Redbox and rented it a couple years ago, but I’m happy to hunt for it again and review it if anyone’s interested. Yay, nay, or meh? Lemme know in the comments.
Over to you, readers. How are you gonna celebrate Winnie the Pooh Day? Revisiting old Pooh favorites, or going with something new? Ever seen Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, or Christopher Robin? Read The House at Pooh Corner? I’d love to hear your thoughts and takeaways, so drop ’em in the comments like they’re hot below, and let’s talk.
