Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

'Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966)' was the first animated adaptation of A.A. Milne's children stories, and presents itself rather charmingly as a moving picture-book depicting the imaginary adventures of Christopher Robin and his favourite toys. In this first episode, directed by Wolfgang Reitherman (future director of 'The Aristocats (1970)'), Winnie the Pooh (voiced by Sterling Holloyway) attempts rather unsuccessfully to steal honey from a bee-hive in the uppermost branches of a tree, before getting himself stuck in the front-door burrow of an increasingly-exasperated Rabbit. The film seems to have been rather influential in the Soviet Union. The first Russian Winnie the Pooh cartoon, released as 'Vinni-Pukh (1969)', uses the same storyline. 'The Fox and the Hare (1974),' from my favourite animator Yuri Norstein, similarly uses the stylistic device of animating its characters as figures in a moving storybook. Here, I was slightly disappointed by the absence of Piglet. He appears for a moment in here, but doesn't say anything. John Fiedler, who subsequently voiced the character in 'Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968),' would continue to do so until his death in 2005, and his voice is quite unmistakable.

Sorry to be the spoil sport here but even as a 7 year old child when this came out I didn't like it. First I thought Pooh was a fat greedy pig , eats all Rabbit's honey and get himself stuck. After he should have been kicked out of the hundred acre wood for theft, selfishness and overall being a big pain. Second the other characters are mostly annoying and at best as in Owl just okay. How about Piglet, a nervous wreck, Rabbit another nervous wreck, Eeeyore a manic depressive, and Christopher Robin a wimp. Third and most importantly and something my kids comment on even today, why oh why is he called Pooh? Given that I've become more forgiving in recent years and definitely enjoy the animation.

This is a wonderful gem, with great memorable songs by the Sherman Brothers, and excellent animation.The story is great fun, with Pooh running out of honey and climbing up a tree to get it. Afterwards, he gets stuck in the door of Rabbit's house and has to wait until he's thin enough to budge.The characters were wonderful, especially Gophyr, I particularly loved the phrase, "that supercilious scoundrel has confiscated my honey". They are well voiced by the likes of Sterling Holloway, John Fiedler and Junius Matthews, with Sebastian Cabot giving a thoughtful insight as the narrator.This vignette is wonderful, highly recommended! 10/10 Bethany Cox

Like the other three Pooh shorts that made up the feature film of the Many Adventures released in 1977 and on video in the 80s, the Honey Tree short was one of those works I've watched countless times. It does have its 'valuable lesson' for the kids, but it's also just very silly, cute entertainment that ranges from jokes so absurd they work for some adults ("You messed up my moose" is a line I still quote today, the Gopher material is also rather off-key for a children's short), to the suspenseful moments that, for lack of a better description, capture kid's imaginations. And the whole structure of it being a book-as-animated short give it an inventiveness that don't come with other adaptations of books to Disney animation. Here, Rabbit becomes irate and near impatient as Pooh gets stuck in his rabbit-hole after consuming more honey than needed. Pooh then is stuck for a week until he can loose the excess baggage, where a very climactic and momentous pull of Pooh is lead in song and action. All of this is very clever, and even for little kids its got nothing at all complicated about it- even if all the points and little jokes aren't caught the thrust of the storytelling and joyous nature even in the safer moments are near-perfect. And unlike what apparently is meant for current pre-K programming today (Teletubbies aren't on anymore at least), the whole mood is very pure without being pandering. There's no overt vulgarity, and the over-the-top moments don't get old ("Don't feed the bear" is another quotable phrase). Highly recommended.