Of all the different Winnie the Pooh projects that have come out of Disney since the 1960s, the best one (apart from maybe the original three featurettes) has got to be the 1988-91 series "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh", taking the lovable toys and really expanding what kinds of stories could be told with them. It's where Disney really proved they're identifiable and defined enough where you could do basically anything with them, and that even the lightest and loosest of plots can still be made entertaining.
I say this because the Christmas special that aired in 1991 just after the series finished its regular run (though Disney would try hard to keep it alive for the next decade or so) is very much in that vein. Because when you get down to it, while many things certainly happen throughout the runtime, virtually everything they go through ultimately proves pointless in the end. It works though because the focus is always how the characters interact off one another and how they always try to make things right for everyone. Pooh himself trying to make these gifts himself ,and then later scarifying spending Christmas with the others, prove extremely touching in and of themselves not only because the heart's in the right place in general, but also because Pooh is such an innocent, simple-minded soul that it's hard not to admire him stepping up his game like that, even though he's still met with failure.
But what I'm here to talk about, of course, is the animation. Unlike the series proper (mostly animated by Walt Disney Animation Australia, with the final season going to Wang and Hanho Heung-Up), this project was given to Disney's new France division (with ink/paint work by Sunwoo). They got their start working on DuckTales' "Treasure of the Lost Lamp" and would later help with TaleSpin, Goof Troop, an A Goofy Movie. And man, does it show - their style was in general much more off-the-wall than one is probably used to seeing from Pooh and the gang, with far more wacky expressions and varied movement. However, their sketchiness to everything also brings to mind the Xerox method that was employed in the original featurettes, so there's still a layer of familiarity despite that. Although, as you'll find out here, their work here is extremely uneven, ranging from fantastic to downright cringe-worthy...
The special opens by the camera following a snowflakes as it flies through the Hundred Acre Wood, leading us to the gang before being eaten by Tigger. I'm pretty sure the flake is CG, and for the early 90s on a TV budget, it looks really dang nice. And while this is a rather standard way to introduce a special, it certainly sets the stage for this being a more emotional story.
Almost immediately after the dialogue begins comes a rather big wake-up call as to what kind of animation we're in for, with a physical gag that is made 10x funnier thanks to the fluidity and speed of both the action and impact.
Pooh asks Christopher Robin to add a honey pot to Rabbit's portion of the list in case "some guests were to arrive". I like this pose, like he knows exactly where he's going with this.
Christopher Robin freezes on this pose after letting go of the letter until he disappears from the screen pan. It's so incredibly noticeable and awkward, it honestly makes me chuckle.
Winnie the Pooh is a character made for confused looks, but this one conveys a lot of attitude for such an innocent character.
This shot is full of Piglet popping between poses and briefly stretching for emphasis between words. I'm a sucker for this kind of style in general, but it especially fits a nervous character like Piglet.
Really strong, confident drawing of Pooh. That's all.
The brief bit of them flying from a deflating balloon doesn't really leave an impression because it feels like we've seen this before from the franchise. Still, this one shot from it is really well-animated.
Check out the squash-and-stretch used on Tigger here. That is one long tail.
The Winnie the Pooh characters, being treated as fairly down-to-earth toys, aren't normally very flexible in appearance. This shot is about as close as we get to that, and as nice as it looks here as a brief moment, it definitely would've looked off-putting if done more regularly.
Rabbit has a very well-timed wild take when he first discovers the bugs outside his house. But within it in is this horribly unsettling drawing. Good luck falling to sleep tonight.
Rabbit continually trying to swat with his broken swatter has a lot of frantic energy and confidence to it that you wouldn't see from most of the series' other studios. Just from this drawing alone you can sense his determination, and it looks even better in motion.
This may not look like much, but Rabbit is on ones throughout this entire shot. They didn't have to go the extra mile here, but they did.
The part where they try to revise the list doesn't fare as well, however. It's not the worst animation, but you can tell they were struggling to keep some characters on-model. This Rabbit looks relatively okay, but someone at Sunwoo really screwed up on the eyebrows.
The first scene of act 2 is very similar to the earlier scene in Pooh's house, with the designs being a little simplistic but still full of personality.
Peter Cullen going "fa la la la la" in his monotone Eeyore voice gives me life.
The envelope quickly sweeps under the house and a half-second later, all we hear is an "Oh bother" from Pooh. Funny stuff.
Unfortunately, this is the portion where the animation starts to take a turn for the worse. Pooh Bear looks relatively presentable, extra lines on the face notwithstanding, but what the heck is up with Piglet?
Pretty sure this brief bit with Tigger was traced from his introduction scene in "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day". Yeah...
You gotta laugh at how the little bouncing contraption just immediately shatters like that. The impact is really well defined and the timing gets a pretty big laugh too.
I like how devious Rabbit's face is considering how much he's reveling the moment, but when staring at it... oof, there is just so much wrong with it.
I like how Piglet just continually struggles through the snow while Pooh is trying to pose as Santa to his friends. I admire that you're trying, little guy, but it's a lost cause.
The best bit of animation in the later half is definitely this action-packed shot, where they decide to accomplish the friends running away, Pooh sliding down, and crashing off-screen all in one shot. The angle definitely gives this moment much more of a punch than if they kept it at the side view. Just don't stare at Piglet's face for too long.
This scene is emotional enough from a writing standpoint, but I think the pretty winter backgrounds (the strongest we've seen in the special so far) help tie it all together.
I love how this is staged. There's very little movement going on apart from Pooh just slowly trudging through the snow and wind, and they linger on it for long enough where his defeat is able to really settle in and connect with the audience.
And probably the only thing more beautiful than that are these really cozy campfire shots. Just look at how attractive the orange glow is on everything, especially in contrast to the grayish-green backdrop in the first image.
Gah, take this Tigger away from me! I think it's got some defects.
Uhh... that's a little better, I guess.
Eeyore reacting to his umbrella: "It works. Didn't expect it to. But I'm kind of... glad." Aww...
It wouldn't be Winnie the Pooh if it didn't close on a really wholesome wide shot, and this is certainly among the better ones. Plus we get a chord from the "New Adventures" theme, the only real tie this has to that series despite being made by most of the same crew.
So yeah, if you like Winnie the Pooh at least a little, go ahead and check this special out. You'll have a good time and it'll certainly give you a fair share of the holiday feels.