It’s “Pooh x 3” in this collection of classic animated shorts. According to the documentary included, when Walt Disney acquired the rights to A.A. Milne’s classic books, he believed that no one in the U.S. would flock to a Pooh movie. So he made three shorts to release one at a time both to save money and build awareness. Once “Winnie The Pooh And The Honey Tree,” “Winnie The Pooh And The Blustery Day” (1968) and “Winnie The Pooh And Tigger Too!” (1974) were finished, the studio later released all three as one feature-length motion picture. The Disney Studio designs don’t match the classic illustrations by Ernest Shepard, but the three Poohs are gentle and fun classics. The voices are exceptional and the animation, which incorporates pages from the books, is inspired. The songs by Robert and Richard Sherman (who also wrote the songs for “Mary Poppins” and many other Disney films) fit naturally into the stories. The first short, “Winnie The Pooh And The Honey Tree,” is worth the price by itself. Each of these 30-minute shorts is a movie unto itself that can be watched over and over again.
