With it being February and all, the Month of Love, I thought it would be a good time to look back on that time Pooh Bear and his pals learned the meaning of Valentine's Day. Much like Charlie Brown, Winnie the Pooh got a litany of holiday specials, most of which came out in the mid to late '90s, and this is one of them. I haven't seen it in 20 years, and at the time, I think I was very unfair with it when I wrote an old review, so I think it's time to go back to the Hundred Acre Wood and give it another chance. So our special opens with Pooh looking for Christopher Robin, who isn't at their usual meeting place. Concerned, Pooh goes to visit Piglet, who tries unsuccessfully to hide a Valentine's Day card he was making for him. Deciding that Valentine's Day is what's preoccupying Christopher Robin, Pooh sets out with Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, and Gopher to find him. They discover the lad writing a letter, though all they hear is the recipient's first name: Winnie. Ha! Well, Pooh, it seems your troubles are over. Christopher Robin is writing a Valentine to you... sure, it may seem strange for someone to write a Valentine's Day card to a stuffed animal, but hey, these guys are the only friends this kid has, so I say give him a break... Oops, looks like we spoke too soon: it isn't Winnie, it's Winifred! Incidentally, did you ever notice how nobody ever calls Pooh "Winnie"? It's technically his first name, but everybody calls him Pooh, and never Winnie. Always found that strange. Who, or what, is a Winifred? Well, Owl informs the group that Winifred is a girl. Funny they all act so surprised, though until now, the only female they've ever known was Kanga... and to a lesser extent, the little bird Kessie. Then, Owl sings a song about the difference between girls and boys... and it's a family friendly song, so don't shoo the kids from the room just yet. When he finishes his song, Mr. Know-it-Owl goes on to state that Christopher Robin was bitten by a "Smitten", and don't forget, this is the same guy who once thought CR went to a place called Skull and was captured by a Backson, so I wouldn't trust anything he says. However, they buy into his nonsense and know they must find a cure for their friend. Tigger suggests catching another "Smitten" to counteract the effects of the first, and Rabbit agrees, so Operation: Smitten Snatcher jumps into action. The bait: a reluctant Piglet, dressed in debonair clothing. Unfortunately, naive goofball that he is, Tigger had Piglet stand on an anthill with a bouquet of poison ivy, so that didn't work. If that was Plan A, I'd hate to think what Plan B would be.
It was then that Pooh noticed a strange, glowing bug on his honey pot. It was just a firefly, but to Pooh and his pals, it was the Smitten! The love bug! They pursue it to the deepest, darkest section of the woods. After a bit of running around, everybody getting separated and scaring each other half to death, Pooh successfully caught the firefly! Hooray! And with its help, everybody finds each other again. With that all settled, they can give the creature to Christopher Robin to cure him of his "ailments" and be with them again, instead of this "Winifred" chick. They meet up with him, and just as Pooh is ready to give him the bug, the boy shows them the card he was writing for Winifred and asks their opinion of it. Despite pushes from his friends to deliver the "Smitten", Pooh makes a very tough call and releases the firefly instead. His reasoning was that Christopher Robin was happy with the way things were, and that's how he wanted it for his friend. He goes home, sad and dejected, but all is not lost, for waiting for Pooh Bear at his house was a Valentine's Day card. Piglet, Rabbit, Gopher, Tigger and Eeyore found cards in their mail boxes too. For no matter who Christopher Robin would meet in his life, he assured Pooh that there would always be a special place in his heart for a certainly silly old bear.
This was actually better than I remembered it. Winnie the Pooh and Valentine's Too... I know they tried to do away with that particular title variation, but you know that's what they wanted to call it, is exactly what it sets out to be: a Valentine's Day special with the Winnie the Pooh gang, and yet another one with Kanga and Roo. It's funny Owl got left out of the Valentines giving, but then he didn't really contribute anything to the story, just came in long enough to tell the gang about Smittens and then flew away. Oh well, at least he didn't do as much damage here as he did in the 2011 Winnie the Pooh feature. Growing up with the original Disney Winnie the Pooh shorts from the '60s and '70s, and The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in the late '80s, I always found these late '90s specials to be a bit too saccharine and, for the most part, tearjerkers. I know it's all underscoring the relationship Pooh has with Christopher Robin, but it's more heavy-handed in these specials than in the earlier ones. Don't get me wrong, the way they did it at the end of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) was outstanding. Also, this was Paul Winchell's final time voicing Tigger, before the role was taken up full-time by Jim Cummings, who sings for Tigger at one point in this special. From what I heard, they actually fired Winchell because he no longer sounded like Tigger, and when the Imagineers working on the Winnie the Pooh ride at the Disney theme parks heard, they personally invited Winchell to voice Tigger fro the attraction. Very nice and respectful gesture there. So, in closing, I do recommend Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You, and see how the gang celebrates Love Day.
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