Welcome to Pooh Corner

Welcome to Pooh Corner
Second Welcome to Pooh Corner title card
Starring	Joe Giamalva Patty Maloney Ronald Mangham Norman Merrill, Jr. Mark Sawyer Frank Groby Sharon Baird Shelagh Garren Peter Risch
Voices of	Hal Smith Will Ryan Ron Gans Phil Baron Kim Christianson Robin Frederick
Narrated by	Laurie Main
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	120
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Distributor	Walt Disney Domestic Television Distribution (1983–1985) Buena Vista Television (1985–1986)
Release
Original network	The Disney Channel (now Disney Channel)
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	April 18, 1983 – May 30, 1986

Welcome to Pooh Corner is a live-action/puppet television series that aired on Disney Channel, featuring the characters from the Winnie the Pooh universe portrayed by actors in human-sized puppet suits, except Roo, who was originally a traditional puppet. The animatronic costumes used for the characters were created by Alchemy II, Inc., headed by Ken Forsse who later created the toy sensation Teddy Ruxpin. The show was first aired on April 18, 1983, the day The Disney Channel was launched.^[1] Its timeslot for its early run was at 8:30 a.m. Eastern/Pacific Time, making it the third program of The Disney Channel's 16 (later 18) hour programming day.^[1] Reruns of the show aired on The Disney Channel until at least January 1997.^[2]

Hal Smith, Will Ryan, and Laurie Main were the only three actors from the original four Pooh shorts to reprise their roles here (Smith, who had voiced Owl ever since the beginning of Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise, had recently replaced Sterling Holloway as the voice of Pooh; Ryan had provided Rabbit's voice in the 1983 short Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore, replacing Junius Matthews; and Main was the narrator for Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore, replacing Sebastian Cabot). The show's title derives from the second Winnie the Pooh storybook, The House at Pooh Corner.

Background

The show was hosted by a middle-aged Englishman (played by Laurie Main) who would present each episode. He would relate what he was talking about to an event that occurred in the Hundred Acre Wood, the home of the Pooh characters, and then he would proceed to read from a book entitled Welcome to Pooh Corner. He would then narrate the episode acted out by the characters. The action was filmed before a blue screen, rather than using traditional sets (the same technique was used for Dumbo's Circus, another live-action/puppet series that ran on The Disney Channel).

Since the show was designed for The Disney Channel before it began airing commercials, there were no breaks for commercials. As a result, the show lasted a full thirty minutes. The main story ran about twenty minutes followed by two shorter segments. The first segment was a sing-along music video featuring one of nine songs, used over and over throughout the show's run. These songs were written by the Academy Award winning Sherman Brothers who had provided the majority of the Winnie the Pooh music over the years. The Sherman Brothers also wrote the show's theme song, using the music from the original Winnie-the-Pooh theme song from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, albeit with a slightly altered tempo.

The last segment of the show was a presentational arts and crafts demonstration that took place at the Thoughtful Spot. One of the cast members would speak to the narrator, looking directly into the camera, while they showed the viewers at home how to make something.

When the series first started out, the narrator was seen sitting in a small library. As the series progressed, he is moved into a small playroom which eventually is seen having plush versions of Pooh and his friends.

The costumes, Pooh plushes, the narrator's wicker chair and his book are now displayed in the walk-in prop warehouse of the Studio Backlot Tour at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Episodes

Holiday specials

Pooh Corner Thanksgiving (1983)
Christmas at Pooh Corner (1983)
Pooh's Funny Valentine's Day (1984)
Because It's Halloween (1984)
Christmas Is For Sharing (1984)

Educational specials

Too Smart for Strangers - a 1985 TV special (which was also released to home video), where Pooh and his friends tell the viewers about strangers and molestation and what to do.
Pooh's Great School Bus Adventure - a fifteen-minute 16mm educational film produced in 1986, where the characters explain the importance of school bus safety.
One and Only You - a ten-minute 16mm educational film produced in 1989, where the characters explain about positive self-image and getting along with others.
Responsible Persons - a ten-minute 16mm educational film produced in 1989, Pooh and friends demonstrate responsibility and promote interpersonal skills.

With

Laurie Main - Narrator

With the Voice Talents of

Hal Smith - Winnie the Pooh and Owl
Will Ryan - Rabbit and Tigger (voicing and singer)
Ron Gans - Eeyore
Phil Baron - Piglet (voicing and singer)
Diana Hale - Kanga
Kim Christianson - Roo
John Walker - additional voice

Cast

Robin Frederick
Joe Giamalva
Patty Maloney
Ronald Mangham
Norman Herrill, Jr.
Mark Sawyer
Frank Groby
Sharon Baird
Clancy Gorewit

Music Composed by

Songs

The songs used in this series were written by Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman, including the character's songs that represent each character:

Welcome to Pooh Corner Theme Song" (Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman's Song)
"Try a Little Something New" (Rabbit's Song)
"Just Say, 'Yes I Can'" (Eeyore's Song)
"You're the Only You" (Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman's Song)
"I Hum to Myself" (Piglet's Song)
"The Right Side" (Pooh's Song; this song was originally written for Mary Poppins, but it was recorded.)
"Responsible Persons" (Owl's Song)
"Be A Buddy, Be A Pal" (Tigger and Roo's Song)
"Please and Thank-You" (Pooh and Piglet's Song)
"It's What's on the Inside That Matters" (Rabbit/Tigger and Piglet Song)
"Smile When You Say That" (Rabbit/Tigger and Piglet Song)
"Clouds" (Rabbit and Eeyore's Song)
"Trees" (Tigger and Owl's Song)
"Tiggers Go Up and Down" (Tigger)
Welcome to Pooh Corner Closing Song (Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman's Song)

"A Part of Me"

Sometimes, if an episode ended a few minutes early, a certain character would sing a song entitled "A Part of Me", which was written by one of the voice actors, Phil Baron. The song depicts the importance of a certain body part that each character was singing about:

"Eyes" (Owl)
"Ears" (Pooh)
"Feet" (Piglet)
"Nose" (Tigger)
"Mouth" (Eeyore)
"Hands" (Rabbit)

Trivia

Welcome to Pooh Corner differs from its other incarnations in a number of ways:
- Pooh is a little smarter than usual (despite being a bear of very little brain) and his eyes are different.
- Piglet always wears a scarf (known as a "muffler" by the narrator). He also has a talent for music.
- Tigger has a black nose, and has a talent for art. He also lives with Kanga and Roo, rather than have a house of his own.
- Rabbit is a talented magician, aside from being a gardener
- Eeyore has a talent for dancing. His house is made of wooden planks, complete with a door and weather vane, making it look a little like a barn.
- Owl always wears glasses and, on several occasions, a pilot's cap and scarf when flying. As Owl begins to take off, a sound of a plane's engine starting can be heard, followed by the take off. He also loves to cook.
- Roo's character originally was a toddler and would most often be sitting on something like Eeyore or Tigger's back, Kanga's pouch, or his high chair. In later episodes, his character was portrayed as being more preschool-aged; he was then able to walk around in more scenes and was never in his mother's pouch. He also always wore a red shirt, but later changed to a white collared shirt. (One Disney book from 1986 actually depicted Roo wearing the original red shirt.)
For the French version of the show, Les Aventures de Winnie L'Ourson, the host was played by French actor Jean Rochefort from 1985 to 1987, and then Vincent Perrot in 1988.
This is final film when Laurie Main provides Narrator's voice.
- This is final film when Hal Smith provides Winnie the Pooh's voice.
- This is final film when Will Ryan provides Rabbit's voice, also this is the only movie when Will Ryan provides Tigger's voice.

VHS releases

US releases

Six VHS tapes were released by Walt Disney Home Video in the mid-1980s for the then new video home rental market. Each tape contained four episodes.

Volume One contains the episodes "You Need A Friend", "Doing What I Do Best", "The Pooh Scouts" and "Brighten Your Corner".
Volume Two contains the episodes "Safety First", "Rabbit Learns to Share", "The Great Outdoors" and "Surprise, Surprise".
Volume Three contains the episodes "Piglet Pride", "Roo's Great Adventure", "Eeyore Talks to Himself" and "Snow Falls On Pooh Corner".
Volume Four contains the episodes "Hello, Hello There", "Practice Makes Perfect", "The Old Swimming Hole" and "Pooh Makes a Trade".
Volume Five contains the episodes "A Bicycle Built for Five", "My Echo and I", "Pooh Learns to Remember" and "Wishing".
Volume Six contains the episodes "Don't Quit", "Holiday for Pooh Bear", "Pooh Builds a Bee House" and "Piglet Lends a Helping Hand".

UK releases

The show was also released on VHS PAL in the UK as part of a six-volume set which also each featured an episode of Good Morning, Mickey!, Donald Duck Presents, The Mouse Factory and Mousercise. Each tape contained one episode of Welcome to Pooh Corner.

Volume One contains the episode "Eeyore Joins the Band".
Volume Two contains the episode "Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti".
Volume Three contains the episode "A Bicycle Built for Five".
Volume Four contains the episode "Piglet's Slumber Party".
Volume Five contains the episode "Eeyore's Costume Party".
Volume Six contains the episode "Handyman Tigger".
Volume Seven contains the episode "Do It Now".
First Christmas Volume contains the special "Christmas at Pooh Corner"

DVD releases

Disney Safety Hits Vol. 2 (Pooh's Great School Bus Adventure & Too Smart for Strangers)

References

1 2 The Disney Channel Magazine, April/May 1983 (Premiere Issue), pp. 7, 14.
↑ The Disney Channel Magazine, Vol. 14, no. 6, December 1996/January 1997: p. 28.

External links

Welcome to Pooh Corner at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by N/A	Disney Channel Original Series	Succeeded by Good Morning, Mickey!

Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne

Books	When We Were Very Young (1924) Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) Now We Are Six (1927) The House at Pooh Corner (1928) Return to the Hundred Acre Wood (2009) The Best Bear in All the World (2016)

Characters	Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) Disney version (1966) Piglet (1926, 1966 (in the theme), 1968) Tigger (1926, 1968) Christopher Robin (1924, 1966) Rabbit (1926, 1966) Eeyore (1926, 1966) Roo (1926, 1966) Heffalumps (1968)

Featurettes	Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966) Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1969) Winnie-the-Pooh (1969) Winnie-the-Pooh Pays a Visit (1971) Winnie-the-Pooh and a Busy Day (1972) Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983)

Short films	Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons (1981)

Feature films	The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977, since 1966) Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966) Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1969) The Tigger Movie (2000) Piglet's Big Movie (2003) Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005) Winnie the Pooh (2011)

Direct-to-video films	Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997) Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving (1999) The Book of Pooh: Stories from the Heart (2001) Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year (2002) Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo (2004) Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie (2005) Super Sleuth Christmas Movie (2007) Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too (2009) Super Duper Super Sleuths (2010)

Television	Welcome to Pooh Corner (1983–1987) The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988–1991) The Book of Pooh (2001–2004) My Friends Tigger & Pooh (2007–2010)

Specials	Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too (1994) Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1995) Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh (1996) A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving (1998) A Valentine for You (1999)

Video games	Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood (1986) Disney's Animated Storybook Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1995) Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1999) Ready to Read with Pooh (1997) Tigger's Honey Hunt (2000) Piglet's Big Game (2003) Winnie the Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure (2005) Disney Friends (2007) Winnie the Pooh's Home Run Derby (2010)

Songs	"Winnie the Pooh" (1966) "Up, Down and Touch the Ground" (1966) "Rumbly in My Tumbly" (1966) "Little Black Rain Cloud" (1966) "Mind over Matter" (1966) "A Rather Blustery Day" (1968) "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" (1968) "Heffalumps and Woozles" (1968) "The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down" (1968) "Hip Hip Pooh-Ray!" (1968) "House at Pooh Corner" (1970) "I Hum to Myself" (1983) "Just Say, 'Yes I Can'" (1983) "The Right Side" (1983) "You're the Only You" (1983) "Try a Little Something New" (1983) "Wherever You Are" (1997) "Every Season Brings a Reason" (1999)

People	Christopher Robin Milne E. H. Shepard Harry Colebourn Shirley Slesinger Lasswell Stephen Slesinger David Benedictus Mark Burgess

Related	Ashdown Forest Bother! The Brain of Pooh Disney franchise Hundred Acre Wood The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction More Songs from Pooh Corner Pooh's Hunny Hunt Poohsticks Return to Pooh Corner The Tao of Pooh The Te of Piglet Winnipeg the Bear

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.