Too Much Pooh?

The Walt Disney Company makes close to two billion dollars a year in merchandise from the cuddly little bear.

This gives them a great incentive to keep coming out with new films, television shows and toys among other things. So after it was announced about the cancellation of "My Friends Tigger and Pooh", I got to thinking about the animated offerings the Mouse has come out with since Walt made that first short many, many years ago. It made me wonder, is this enough? Have they mined the Hundred Acre Woods until there's nothing left to use?

Film:

* 1966: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
* 1968: Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
* 1974: Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!
* 1983: Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore
* 1977: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (the trilogy of the Honey Tree, Blustery Day, and Tigger Too!)
* 1985: Winnie the Pooh and Friends (re-release of Day for Eeyore with additional shorts)
* 1997: Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin
* 1999: Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving
* 2000: The Tigger Movie
* 2002: Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year* Winnie the Pooh's Camping Trip Adventure
* 2003: Piglet's Big Movie
* 2004: Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo
* 2005: Pooh's Heffalump Movie
* 2005: Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie


Television:

* Welcome to Pooh Corner (Disney Channel, 1983-1995)
* The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (American Broadcasting Company, 1988-1991)
* The Book of Pooh (Disney Channel, 2001-2002)
* My Friends Tigger & Pooh (Disney Channel, 2007-2008)


Holiday TV specials

* 1994: Winnie the Pooh & Christmas Too!
* 1996: Boo! To You Too! Winnie the Pooh
* 1998: A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving
* 1998: Winnie the Pooh, A Valentine For You


I never realized that for a bear that just wants to spend his days lazily frolicking with his friends... he's a very busy bear!

So what do you think? Have we had enough of him? Or is it just the stories that have been told weren't worthy of being told?

No More Pooh...

It appears that the Disney Channel show: "My Friends Tigger and Pooh" will not be getting another season and will end its run after season two. Good luck to all those animators in finding new gigs. Hopefully things will start to look up for Disney Animation(TV and Film) later this year as we are really in a transitional period right now at the Mouse...


Hat Tip to the Animation Guild Blog.

Eight Years In The Hundred Acre Woods...

Eight years ago today, Tokyo Disneyland opened up "Pooh's Honey Hut" and became the most popular ride in the park.

It still is, I might add...

Many of you have heard me talk about this ride and yes, it is as amazing as I say it is. While Disneyland got "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" a few years later... the 30 million they spent on ours really does become painfully evident when you get a look at the Japanese version. Even worse when you ride it, considering the concepts for this were from the original blue sky phase for the ride we were supposed to get state-side.

Anyways, enough crying over spilt milk. The ride in Tokyo is a much more layered ride of what we have here where you ride his large trackless honey pots that are guided by GPS as you go through the story of Pooh and become immersed in the world A.A. Milne created. If you ever go to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort, this is the attraction to see.

Don't miss it...

Once you leave the ride, you'll dislike Michael Eisner even more knowing what we were robbed of.

Blustery Oscar...

On this day...

Thirty-nine years ago today the the 41st Academy Awards were held and Walt Disney Productions featurette "Winnie the Pooh
and the Blustery Day" wins the Short Subjects, Cartoon Oscar.

It's my favorite part of "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh"... pure innocence. It absolutely deserved the award. Disney Magic could be described no better.

In Memorium: Rabbit...

On this day, thirty-years ago...

A Rabbit in the Hundred Acre Woods fell silent.

Across the universe in Los Angeles, California, Junius Matthews passes from the earth into memory. He was the voice of Rabbit in the original three shorts that formed the movie "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh". No need to hide the hunny from Pooh, anymore...

His gift will live on in the hearts of children young and old.

Pooh In Motion: Convergence Part 2...

Another ride we've talked about and even showed you still pictures of is Tokyo Disneyland's "Pooh's Hunny Hunt" ride... well for those of you that can't yet afford to go there and would like to see it we have a special treat.

Here is the video for Pooh's Hunny Hunt... take a look and compare it to our very own "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" here in Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom. The quality difference isn't just noticeable... it's staggeringly different. Just take a look at the incredible detail that WDI did with this ride. There is a reason this is the number one ride in Tokyo Disneyland...

To get an overall impression of the ride just take a look at this slickly put together piece...

And here a video that centers on the middle of the ride showing quite a bit of detail... or this one which compliments the previous video...

And then we have another which is the least favorite of riders because it occurs at the end of the ride meaning it's over and they're going to have to get in another two hour line if they want to see it again...

WDI had originally proposed this type of project for the American parks, but the Suits weren't willing to pour this kind of money into it. The Oriental Land Company was, though... which is why they got the ride we all deserved and why we got the ride Eisner thought we would except. The reviews for "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" ride were lukewarm at best. Ironically, the lines for this ride are lukewarm at best as well. There were no four or five hour long waits for this attraction and there never will be. If this has been built in Disneyland we'd probably still have long lines to ride it just like in Tokyo. Now, we have to hope that Uncle John has taken a ride on "Pooh's Hunny Hunt" when he was at Tokyo Disneyland... and cross our fingers over a future rehab of the Anaheim or Orlando versions.

Let's not loose sight of the fact it was WDI that designed the ride in Tokyo. Many of the people that designed this breathtaking ride are still around. If only they could be turned loose; unleashing the talent they have within them...

Something quite beautiful could emerge....

Sweet Honey...

Seven years ago today, Tokyo Disneyland opened up "Pooh's Honey Hut" and became the most popular ride in the park.

It still is, I might add...

Many of you have heard me talk about this ride and yes, it is as amazing as I say it is. While Disneyland got "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" a few years later... the 30 million they spent on ours really does become painfully evident when you get a look at the Japanese version. Even worse when you ride it, considering the concepts for this were from the original blue sky phase for the ride we were supposed to get state-side.

Anyways, enough crying over spilt milk. The ride in Tokyo is a much more layered ride of what we have here where you ride his large trackless honey pots that are guided by GPS as you go through the story of Pooh and become immersed in the world A.A. Milne created. If you ever go to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort, don't forget as you visit Tokyo DisneySEA to check out the original park and ride this attraction...

Once you leave the ride, you'll dislike Michael Eisner even more knowing what we were robbed of.

Are You A Pooh Or An Eeyore?

Blue Sky got a lot of comments and e-mails about our "Success Of Failure" posts. It seemed to strike a nerve with many people. That got me thinking about the way Disney fans perceive the company and how it resembled the way Wall Street's perception of the stock market is. You know how investors deal with ups and downs?

The Bulls and the Bears.

While the Bulls tend to take an optimistic view, Bears tend to take a pessimistic view. So an analogy to this regarding Disney, using Disney characters, would be in order. Although in this case, it's my belief that the best character to use for Disney's version of a bull would be a... bear.

A bear?

A Pooh Bear, actually. Winnie the Pooh represents the bullish view on Disney because of his positive view toward everything. His perspective of the world and how he approaches it are all from a belief in all that is good. He never says an unkind word and always stays positive.

Now for the negative view of things, the ones who are always down on the company or wishing for Uncle Lasseter to fail... it's an obvious choice.

A jack ass.

Hehe... sorry, but I thought that was funny. A donkey, actually. Eeyore to be exact. While the little stuffed animal is a sweet character he is also completely the opposite of Pooh. Always negative. Always looking at everything from the perspective of what could go wrong and how nothing ever goes right. Couldn't you just see some of the comments made about "Ratatouille" being said by him?

So there you have it. Wall Street has the Bulls and the Bears and we Disney fans have the Poohs and the Eeyores.

So the question I have...

Which are you?

Remembering Happy Birthdays...

Today also would be the day that one of Walt's original "Nine Old Men" was born. Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman who went on to animate many Disney classics as well as direct several others like "The Sword In The Stone" or had a tremendous influence on a wonderful film like "The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh" came upon this earth on this day in Munich, Germany. Thankfully, his family immigrated to America and settled in California... and we're all the better for it.

Woolie, you are missed...