Winnie the Pooh in Seasons of Giving

Disney's Winnie the Pooh - Seasons of Giving is a composite of three stories that make up seventy minutes. This starts off with many coming attractions for theatre (February 2000) and video, so they are kind of old now and we usually fast forward through them. If you are familiar with the line of videos for Winnie the Pooh they have a series under Friendship, Learning and Playtime. These videos run from twenty-five minutes to forty-five minutes consisting of three or more stories.

The difference with Winnie The Pooh – Seasons of Giving and the other collections is the stories go together, when one ends it leads into the next making it flow smoother. There are five new songs brought to this video that are delightful to hear year round.

The movie begins with Tigger, Piglet and Pooh on a windy day trying to figure out if it is winter yet. They head to Rabbit’s house since he has a calendar, but they are all unaware that pages flew off the calendar making it seem like Groundhog’s Day. The gang wants to make sure there is no more winter so they go in search of a Groundhog. Gopher is not up for this task so Piglet is recruited, but cannot see a thing because his hat is over his head. No one else knows that and assumes since he cannot see he means no shadow, so winter is over.

Everyone now goes to their home for their spring-cleaning and wake up to mounds of snow. Rabbit is upset and storms over to Piglet’s house to protest on his Groundhog duties. Piglet is sad when Rabbit leaves so off he goes to find a real Groundhog. A lot of silliness happens with Rabbit thinking Piglet melted in the snow and Rabbit finds the missing calendar pages alerting his friends that it is only November.

Here is the opening line for the next story when Tigger announces he must get his hot chocolatey ice cream ready for Thanksgiving. Now it is Thanksgiving day with all the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood bringing their favorites to a table set up for their Thanksgiving dinner. When Rabbit arrives it all changes when he informs them Thanksgiving is all about Tradition. They are all glad to have learned this and ask Rabbit what they can do. It just so happens Rabbit came with a list of chores for each to do in preparation of their Thanksgiving Feast.

You have to wonder why Rabbit would send Pooh and Piglet to get a turkey and not do it himself, but he is in charge of decorations leaving Owl for china and Gopher for pie. Eeyore and Tigger are paired up to hunt berries but get stuck in a trap Pooh and Piglet make to catch a turkey.

When they all get back to the table around noon disaster strikes and everything is ruined so the dinner is called off. While sitting at home eating his honey Pooh decides he should share what little he has and heads over to Piglet’s House. They all gather again with their favorites they made earlier to the table in the Hundred Acre Wood. They all go to Rabbit’s house asking him to come to the Thanksgiving Feast and they enjoy themselves.

Next a note arrives from Kessie so Roo asks who that is which leads into the repeated story of how they rescued the bird one winter. Rabbit took care of Kessie, read to her and taught her about gardening. Rabbit was not happy when Owl started teaching Kessie to fly so she could go south for the winter. It is apparent that Rabbit has fond feelings for Kessie and does not want to see her get hurt. The rest of his friends are eager to assist in learning to fly, which makes Rabbit upset.

After Kessie leaves Piglet is asking Pooh why Rabbit did not like Kessie, so Pooh explains to Piglet that sometimes people care too much, I think it is called Love. Then Piglet is surprised to hear this and wants to see if Rabbit knows about this, but they show Rabbit alone on the hill saddened by Kessie’s departure. Pooh tells Piglet that Rabbit already knows and this is the end of the story to Rue on how Rabbit saved Kessie.

This leads into the story of decorating the Christmas tree. Christopher Robbin is in the story as well and they all work together until Rabbit realizes they forgot a star for the top of the tree. They look into the sky thinking they see a falling star but it turns out to be Kessie wishing Rabbit a Merry Christmas. Piglet states that Rabbit did get his wish after all.

We first got this video when Matthew was almost five and he would watch this video over and over again, no matter what the time of year is. He liked to dance around when the songs were playing and I learned most of the songs by heart to sign along out loud. Winnie the Pooh - Seasons of Giving shows how the friends make their holidays brighter by sharing stories and favorites for their meal.

They learn to overcome their defeats and continue with new traditions while enjoying the season. This is a video that is great to watch any time of the year.

Previously published on Epinions