| Winnie the Pooh and a | |
| Director: | Rick Reinert |
| Producer: | Rick Reinert |
| Narrator: | Laurie Main |
| Music: | Steve Zuckerman |
| Distributor: | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Company |
| Released: | (limited) (with The Sword in the Stone) |
| Runtime: | 25 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore is a 1983 American animated short film based on the sixth chapter of both books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne. Produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution, the short initially received limited release on May 11, 1983,[1] before expanding to a wide release on May 25 as part of a double feature with the re-issue of The Sword in the Stone (1963),[2] which it accompanied in most countries except Australia where it accompanied a reissue of Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). Directed by Rick Reinert, the featurette featured the voices of Hal Smith, John Fiedler, Will Ryan, Ralph Wright, and Paul Winchell.
Additionally, the animation was produced by Rick Reinert Productions, which went uncredited. It would be the first Disney animated film since the 1938 Silly Symphonies short Merbabies to be produced by an outside studio.[3] The company had also previously produced the educational Disney short Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons in 1981.
Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore was the fourth and final animated featurette in the Winnie the Pooh film series and one of Disney's original theatrical featurettes adapted from the Pooh books by A.A. Milne.
The film begins with Pooh taking a walk to a wooden bridge over a river where he likes to do nothing in particular. On the way, he finds a fir cone and picks it up only to trip and drop the cone into the river. Noticing that the flow of the river takes the cone under the bridge, Pooh invents a racing game out of it. As the game uses sticks instead of cones, he calls it "Poohsticks".
Later that day Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit and Roo are playing Poohsticks when they see Eeyore floating in the river. After being rescued, Eeyore tells them that he fell in due to being bounced from behind. The gang accuses Tigger of causing this, which he denies until the narrator reveals that he had indeed deliberately bounced Eeyore earlier. As Tigger leaves in disgust, Pooh and his friends notice that Eeyore is gloomier than usual.
Pooh follows Eeyore to his Gloomy Spot, where he learns that it is Eeyore's birthday, but nobody has taken any notice to celebrate it. Feeling sorry for Eeyore, Pooh decides to give him an empty honey pot as a birthday present and has Owl write a message on the pot. Afterwards, Owl flies off to tell Christopher Robin about the birthday. Meanwhile, Piglet, who was informed by Pooh of the situation, prepares to give a balloon to Eeyore, but gets distracted by Owl and accidentally causes the balloon to pop. A saddened Piglet presents the balloon to Eeyore anyway as Pooh arrives with the empty honey pot a minute later. Eeyore is gladdened, as he can now put the broken balloon into the pot and remove it again.
Later, a party is thrown for Eeyore during which Tigger invites himself to the festivities. An argument ensues over whether or not Tigger should stay at the party due to the way he treated Eeyore earlier until Christopher Robin suggests that they all play Poohsticks. Eeyore wins the most games despite being a first-time player, but Tigger wins nothing at all, causing him to conclude that "Tiggers don't like Poohsticks". At the end of the day, Tigger sadly leaves the bridge, but Eeyore comforts him as they both go home. Meanwhile, Christopher Robin, Pooh and Piglet all stay on the bridge and decide that "Tigger's all right, really" and "everyone's all right, really".
See main article: List of Winnie-the-Pooh characters.
Only Hal Smith, Ralph Wright, John Fiedler, and Paul Winchell returned in the roles they had originated. Hal Smith additionally replaced Sterling Holloway as Pooh. Kim Christianson became the fourth actor to portray Christopher Robin in as many featurettes, after Bruce Reitherman, Jon Walmsley, and Timothy Turner. Dick Billingsley assumed the role of Roo, succeeding Dori Whitaker and Clint Howard. Will Ryan replaced the late Junius Matthews as Rabbit, Julie McWhirter Dees replaced the late Barbara Luddy as Kanga, and Laurie Main replaced the late Sebastian Cabot as the narrator. Some later rereleases of this movie feature a cast list which differs from the original (Jim Cummings as Pooh, Ken Sansom as Rabbit, Tress MacNeille as Kanga, Trevyn Savage as Christopher Robin and Aaron Spann as Roo, respectively). Steve Zuckerman replaced Buddy Baker as the musical composer for Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore. However, if there is a version of this movie which features this more contemporary cast, it has yet to be released to the public, as the version featuring these credits uses the same audio track from the original release.
The first home video release for Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore was Winnie the Pooh and Friends, released on VHS in 1984,[4] followed by other releases of this film, including the 1989 Walt Disney Mini-Classics release and the 1994 Storybook Classics release. It has since been included as a bonus feature on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray releases of The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh, with the Blu-ray edition presenting the short in high definition.[5]