The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - the 1988 animated series

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - the 1988 animated series

The new adventures of Winnie the Pooh is an American animated series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on author AA Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books in the series The new adventures of Winnie the Pooh it was the first time that a major Disney character has starred in an animated television series, as well as the first Disney television series based on a major animated film. The cartoon premiered in a limited run on the Disney Channel on January 17, 1988. Nine months later, the show moved to ABC as part of the Saturday morning lineup. The new episodes continued until October 26, 1991. Proving popular with children and older fans, it remained on US television for nearly two decades.

The series depicts the daily life of Christopher Robin and his companions Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Gopher, Owl, Kanga and Roo. Rather than a simple adaptation, the show has been more Americanized than Pooh's previous efforts. The episodes were about strong messages about honesty, responsibility, perseverance, cooperative effort, friendship and caring. Many stories are designed to help young children distinguish between fantasy and reality and overcome common childhood fears.

Publications ranging from the Los Angeles Times to TV Guide have given the series extremely positive reviews for its resemblance to previous Disney efforts and its high-quality production, receiving praise for its healthy tradition. The show won two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animation Program and two Humanitas Awards. The show was well received by both children and their parents. Most of the viewer mail the troupe received came from parents thanking the staff for producing a show they can watch with their children. The new adventures of Winnie the Pooh is credited with bringing about a resurgence of Pooh's animated media, including a number of television and video specials.

History

Winnie the Pooh was created by British author AA Milne in the 20s. The character is named after a teddy bear owned by his son, Christopher Robin Milne. He had named his he toy bear in honor of Winnie, a Canadian black bear he often saw at the London Zoo, and "Pooh", a swan they had met during the holidays. Drawing on this and other toys owned by his son, Milne created the world of Winnie-the-Pooh. He first appeared by name on December 24, 1925, in a Christmas story commissioned and published by the London Evening News. The following year, a collection of Pooh stories was formally released under the name Winnie-the-Pooh. The stories proved very popular and inspired a sequel.

The idea for a television series was first discussed in 1957. NBC suggested that Jay Ward undertake the pilot, later titled Il world of Winnie the Pooh, with an option for thirty-nine episodes. A few songs and snippets of dialogue were recorded, but the project was eventually abandoned. In 1961, Walt Disney bought the film rights to make an animated film with the characters. He later produced a series of three short featurettes in the late 60s and early 70s, starting with Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. Disney had also aired a variety show featuring characters using electronically controlled puppets and life-size costumes titled Welcome to Pooh Corner. This became the highest rated show on the Disney Channel. The original featurettes also proved popular, with video sales topping the charts in 1986 and 1987.

Characters

Winnie the Pooh is the main character, a "bear with a very small brain". Pooh is very naive but adorable and is always good-natured. Cummings defined the timeless program.

Piglet (Piglet) is Pooh's best friend. Piglet is shy, very kind and is obsessed with keeping things neat and tidy and loves beautiful things like flowers. His fears and nervousness often hinder his life since Piglet he runs and hides when not needed and often stutters when nervous, but he has been shown to have a lot of hidden courage and often faces danger to help others. Piglet sometimes he has an inferiority complex, even though his friends have a high opinion of him. Episodes about him tend to revolve around these traits as well as his small size.

Tigger is an exuberant tiger. Tigger is always full of great energy and optimism, and while he is always well-meaning, Tigger can also be mischievous and his actions have sometimes led to chaos and problems for himself and his friends. Tigger is very confident and has a certain ego, having a high opinion of himself. Tigger has a notable habit of mispronouncing various words or underlining wrong syllables in them. Unlike previous adaptations, Tigger is shown living in a large tree house. Winchell considered him a cross between the Dead End Kids and The Cowardly Lion of the Wizard of Oz.

Stopper (Rabbit) is a sarcastic and picky rabbit. In addition to wanting to be organized and practical, Cap's tendency to take the lead is inflated to the extent that Cap becomes a control freak who insists on doing things exactly right, his way, and in the correct order. The rabbit keeps a garden and does everything he can to protect it from other animals such as insects and crows and Cap gets angry when someone or something tries to steal his vegetables. Rabbit and Tigger usually get busy for each other, working together reluctantly. Cap was shown as green in the series, compared to yellow in later efforts.

Roo is a young kangaroo. Roo is wearing a light blue shirt. The smallest of the characters, Roo, is often seen hanging out with Tigger.

Kanga is Roo's mother. Kanga rarely appears, but he is kindhearted and calm.

De Castor (gopher) plays a bigger role in this series. De Castor (gopher) has proven to be a workaholic and is obsessed with dynamite and digging in his tunnels. De Castor (gopher) speaks with a southern accent and wears a helmet with a light attached. De Castor (gopher) often helps others with construction plans.

Eeyore (eyore) is a somber ass. Eeyore (eyore) is somewhat less caustic and sarcastic in this version than the original stories. Despite its depressive nature, Eeyore (eyore) is capable of great compassion. Eeyore (eyore) usually expects misfortunes to happen to him, such as having his club house torn down regularly, but accepts it when he does.

Ugh the owl (Hal Smith) is the oldest character in the series. Ugh the owl he introduces himself as a mentor and teacher to others, but is really quite distracted. TO Uffa he likes to tell stories about his distant relatives whenever something reminds him of one, but many of his stories are useless or absurd. The owl speaks with a strong southern English accent.

Christopher Robin is a boy protagonist of the adventures with stuffed animals.

Production

ABC eagerly commissioned 25 half-hour episodes of The new adventures of Winnie the Pooh for its first season, instead of the standard 13 to 17. Karl Geurs, a self-described Pooh fan, developed the series, which took many months. At the time, Walt Disney Television Animation only had 80 employees and two projects in production. The department still had no internal facilities built, so employees worked outside the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences building. Disney set the same high standards of expectation they had with their feature films. They had hoped to set a new standard of excellence in Saturday morning television, one with "a storytelling rich in language and values, plus delightful, well-acted characters" that would appeal to audiences of all ages.

The writing process began with the story premise presented to Zaslove, who served as the story editor for the first season. The best were selected and sent to ABC executives for approval, followed by plot diagrams and scripts. The process took about four weeks per episode. The troupe was a "dyed in the wool" fan of Milne's works, constantly checking their work with published Pooh books to stay true to Milne's original sense. Particular attention has been paid to keeping the personalities of the characters as they were originally written. The cartoon tried to strike the right balance between action and adventure sequences and moments of fantasy. Staff have often encountered problems working with the limited cast, with supervising director Ken Kessel saying, "You are held back by what the characters can do and who they are." The writing staff hoped to channel the spirit of Walt Disney's 40s shorts, drawing inspiration from artists Jack Hannah, Ward Kimball, and Jack and Dick Kinney.

The series had an internal standards director. Care was taken to ensure that there were no imitable behaviors that children could copy. A source of friction on the show was whether Gopher was allowed to have gunpowder. A consulting firm based in Glendale, California advised the team how characters should speak, look and act to better appeal to the target demographic. The relationship with the production staff was described as positive.

Like most other cartoons, animation has been outsourced to other countries. This was done primarily for cost reasons and the limited availability of artists in the United States. All the writing, music, directing, character design and color were done by approximately 30 Disney employees in Hollywood. After that, everything was sent overseas for animation. About 300 employees will work on inking and printing. An unusually high number of animation cels was used for the show, with 20.000 cels in each episode compared to 8.000-12.000 for typical cartoons. The show had more drawings per minute than any other television cartoon of the time. The first episodes were completed by TMS Entertainment in Tokyo, Japan and later by Walt Disney Animation UK Ltd. in London, England, Hanho Heung-Up in Seoul, South Korea and Wang Film Productions in Taipei, Taiwan. Sixteen episodes were also produced by Walt Disney Television Australia in Sydney, New South Wales. The show set a benchmark for similar cartoons that both Disney and other channels expected for future shows. In Manila, Philippines, Fil-Cartoons (branch of Hanna-Barbera) and Toon City also contributed some animations to the series.

After the animation was completed, the production reels were shipped back to the US where music and sound effects were added. The show's theme song, titled "Pooh Bear," was written by Steve Nelson and sung by Steve Wood. A version with Nelson on vocals later appeared on his album Listen What the Katmandu. Another version of the song with Jim Cummings on vocals (who also voiced Pooh and Tigger) appeared in reruns of the series on Disney Channel in 1994. Nelson also composed several additional songs that were shown in the first few episodes. The music was particularly praised by critics. The highlight of the show was composed by Thom Sharp. An orchestra was used to record the music, using instruments such as trumpets, winds and a whole section of strings. Composers were given the unique opportunity to peruse the animator's show sheets, allowing them to write music while writing an episode.

Producers actively sought out the surviving original vocal cast that had been used in 60s featurettes. Sterling Holloway, the original voice of Winnie the Pooh, had read for the part, but had aged to the point that he could no longer play the voice successfully. A casting was held and Jim Cummings was cast as his replacement, a role he has continued with to this day. John Fiedler and Hal Smith, the original voices of Piglet and Owl respectively, are back for the series. Paul Winchell also reprized the role of Tigger. On the advice of her cardiologist, Winchell mostly avoided working with the rest of the cast to avoid stress. The studio let him make the rumors of him on his own. At the time Winchell was making various trips to Africa to cure hunger. Cummings often replaced Winchell during these. In the third season of the show, Cummings permanently assumed the role of Tigger. Most of the sessions took place at B&B Sound in Burbank, California. The latest technology has allowed actors to record their roles without having to be in the same room. For example, Fiedler has always recorded his recordings from New York and Winchell has been able to make some from Florida

Technical data

Original title The new adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Original language English
Country United States
Music Steve Nelson, Thomas Richard Sharp
Television animation in the studio Walt Disney
Disney Channel Network (ep. 1-13), ABC (ep. 14-50)
Date 1st TV January 17, 1988 - October 26, 1991
Episodes 50 (complete)
Relationship 4:3
Episode duration 23 minutes
Italian network. Rai 1, Rai 2
Italian dialogues. Luigi Calabrò, Andrea De Leonardis, Giorgio Tausani, Manuela Marianetti
Italian dubbing studio. Trento Group, Royfilm
Italian dubbing director. Renzo Stacchi, Leslie La Penna

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Adventures_of_Winnie_the_Pooh