''Seasons of Giving'' (also known as ''Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving'') is a 1999 American
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
animated musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...
which included ''
A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving
''A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving'' is a 1998 made-for-TV special featuring the voice talents of Jim Cummings, Paul Winchell, and John Fiedler. The special shows Pooh and his friends learning the true meaning of Thanksgiving. It was nominated for P ...
'', and two episodes from ''
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' (''Groundpiglet Day'' and ''Find Her, Keep Her''). It features new songs by The
Sherman Brothers
The Sherman Brothers were an American songwriting duo that specialized in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) and Richard M. Sherman (born June 12, 1928). Together they received various accolades in ...
.
Plot
Groundpiglet Day
Tigger wants to ski, but Winnie the Pooh and Piglet point out that there's no snow. So, they go ask Rabbit what day of the year it is, but after opening his front door and letting the wind blow in, Rabbit's calendar pages (November to February) get torn off and get swept under Rabbit's bed, but he has no idea, and announces that it's February 2,
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day ( pdc, Grund'sau dåk, , , ; Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from ...
. In an effort to find out if there are two more weeks of winter or if spring comes tomorrow, they ask Gopher if there is a shadow. Gopher glares and points out he's a
gopher
Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They are ...
not a
groundhog, so they have Piglet pretend to be a groundhog. His hat falls over his eyes, preventing him from seeing. Thinking that winter is over, they all prepare for spring by airing out their houses, planting gardens and spring cleaning. Later that day, it snows. Feeling that he's been duped, Rabbit is quite mad with Piglet for lying to him, telling him that it's all his fault. Piglet tries to defend himself, but Rabbit refuses to listen. Rabbit storms back home to see wind blowing into his house and the calendar pages being blown outside. After putting the lost pages back on the calendar, he realizes that it's not actually
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day ( pdc, Grund'sau dåk, , , ; Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from ...
, it's only November 13. Feeling contrite over what he has done, Rabbit goes to apologize to Piglet, only to find a note from Piglet saying that he's gone to look for a real groundhog. Rabbit frantically goes looking for Piglet. Meanwhile, Piglet looks for a groundhog, but gets covered in snow. He digs himself out and heads home, but leaves his cap behind in the snow pile. Rabbit finds the snow pile and, thinking that Piglet is frozen solid, rushes him back home, where Pooh and Tigger are waiting. They try to help "Piglet", but end up melting the snow pile, forcing them to collect the melted snow in a bowl just as Piglet arrives. After Rabbit apologizes to Piglet for his mistake, he realizes that Piglet is right behind him and that the "frozen Piglet" was just a normal snow pile. Rabbit then tells everyone that it's November 13. So, they decide to get ready for
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
.
A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving
When Thanksgiving finally arrives, Winnie the Pooh and his friends bring food for the big dinner: honey, acorns, lemonade, biscuits, thistles and ice cream. However, Rabbit informs them that the items they brought are not traditional to Thanksgiving. He insists that a special traditional time of year should include special traditional items: turkey, cranberry sauce, special dishes and pumpkin pie. Rabbit assigns Owl to wash the dishes, Gopher to make the pumpkin pie, Tigger and Eeyore to pick the cranberries, and most importantly, Pooh and Piglet to get the turkey (which Piglet believes to be a monstrous bird). Tigger and Eeyore gather the cranberries, but fail to notice that there is a hole in the sack they used to gather the cranberries. Meanwhile, Gopher blows up some pumpkins to make the pumpkin pie, creating a big mess in Rabbit's house. When Tigger and Eeyore head back to gather more cranberries, they end falling in the turkey trap Pooh and Piglet had set up. Thinking they have captured a real turkey, Pooh and Piglet bring the sack containing Tigger and Eeyore back to Rabbit. Tigger and Eeyore manage to break out of the sack, shocking everyone. In his excitement, Tigger flings the pumpkin pie in the air. Chaos breaks out as Rabbit manages to catch the pie, only to get his face planted into the pie by Tigger after knocking him off the fallen table. Owl loses control of the pile of plates he washed and thanksgiving decorations are destroyed. Demoralized, Rabbit calls off the feast and sadly heads back home. Everyone else disappointedly follows soon. While sadly and contemplatively eating his honey, Pooh realizes that if they all shared the food they originally brought, everyone can have a great Thanksgiving. Inspired and reinvigorated by this insight, Pooh rallies everyone and they surprise Rabbit with the Thanksgiving dinner they have set up. Dazed and confused at first, Rabbit is warmed by the gesture. They are all joined by Christopher Robin, who proposes a toast (with lemonade) to the best Thanksgiving celebration ever. Everyone sings about what Thanksgiving is really about: friends and thankfulness.
[
]
Find Her, Keep Her
A month later, on Christmas Eve, everyone (except Gopher and Christopher Robin) are at Rabbit's house celebrating Christmas. When Rabbit receives a letter from a bluebird named Kessie, he tells the story of how he met Kessie. In a flashback, Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Rabbit are trying to save a carrot from the winter storm, but are forced to abandon it upon seeing Kessie blowing away in the wind. They save her, but also make a mess in Rabbit's house. Rabbit decides to take care of her. Later, after an accident with preparing a bottle of milk for Kessie, he leaves Pooh and Piglet to watch over Kessie while he goes to work in the garden. They try giving Kessie a bath, but another accident occurs that causes the house to explode soap bubbles, with Kessie caught inside one. Rabbit manages to save her and makes her promise not to go in the air again despite how much she enjoys it. Later that summer, Rabbit reluctantly lets Kessie play with Tigger, but they end up on a fallen tree dangling over a cliff. Rabbit and Owl manage to save them before the tree falls down the cliff. Owl intends to teaches Kessie to fly, but an overprotective Rabbit refuses to let her, thinking that it is dangerous, and with that, they go home. In the fall, Kessie looks out the window to see wild ducks
flying south for the winter. For days, she tries to fly without Rabbit knowing, but is caught by Pooh. Deciding to help, Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet have an idea on how to get Kessie south for the winter, a giant
slingshot
A slingshot is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two natural rubber strips or tubes attached to the upper two ends. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket that holds the pro ...
. When Kessie is about to take off, Rabbit arrives and stops her. He yells at Pooh for teaching Kessie to fly against his wishes and expresses disappointment to Kessie for breaking her promise, but Kessie explains that flying is what she's meant to do. Next, he tells Tigger to stay out of the conversation when he interrupts and let go of the slingshot. Tigger protests, so Rabbit forcefully does it for him, but (realizing too late that he is still inside the slingshot) is launched forwards and falls off the same cliff Kessie had fallen off of that summer. Kessie quickly swoops down and grabs Rabbit, and brings him back to the top. Now that Kessie can fly, she plans on going south the next day; this upsets Rabbit. The next morning, Owl, Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger say goodbye to Kessie as she prepares to fly south. Meanwhile, Rabbit finds a potted carrot that Kessie had planted in the summer. Deciding to respect Kessie's wishes, he rushes to say goodbye to Kessie, but is too late. However, he is happy when Kessie comes back to say goodbye. Pooh and Piglet later talk about seeing Kessie against before seeing Rabbit nearby, waiting for Kessie to come back. Back in the present, Rabbit tells Roo that he has not seen Kessie since then. Everyone hurries outside to decorate a tree. Christopher Robin arrives to help decorate. After the tree is done, Rabbit realizes he forgot the most important part: a star to go on top of the tree. Rabbit is really sad but then sees a falling star. Everyone gathers to make a wish, only to realize that it's not a falling star. It is Kessie holding a star, which she puts on the tree. Rabbit and Kessie hug, and Kessie wishes Rabbit a Merry Christmas.
Voice cast
*
Jim Cummings
James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Since beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as th ...
as
Winnie the Pooh and
Tigger
Tigger is a fictional character, fictional character, an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic Stuffed toy, stuffed tiger. He was originally introduced in the 1928 story collection ''The House at Pooh Corner'', the sequel to the 1926 book ''Winnie- ...
(singing and new segments)
**
Paul Winchell
Paul Winchell (''né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, humanitarian, inventor and ventriloquist whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Paul Winchell S ...
as
Tigger
Tigger is a fictional character, fictional character, an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic Stuffed toy, stuffed tiger. He was originally introduced in the 1928 story collection ''The House at Pooh Corner'', the sequel to the 1926 book ''Winnie- ...
(archive footage)
*
Steve Schatzberg as
Piglet (singing and new segments)
**
John Fiedler
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
as
Piglet (archive footage)
*
Ken Sansom as
Rabbit
Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...
*
Brady Bluhm
Brady Bluhm is an American actor. He played Christopher Robin in many ''Winnie the Pooh'' films. He has also played roles in ''Dumb and Dumber'', its sequel '' Dumb and Dumber To'', and the TV series '' Get a Life''. Bluhm was a member of the Churc ...
as
Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, based on his son Christopher Robin Milne. The character appears in the author's popular books of poetry and ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' stories, and has subsequently appeared in various Disney a ...
**
Tim Hoskins as
Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, based on his son Christopher Robin Milne. The character appears in the author's popular books of poetry and ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' stories, and has subsequently appeared in various Disney a ...
(archive footage)
**
Frankie J. Galasso
Frankie J. Galasso is an American musician and actor. He is best known as a member of the boy band Dream Street.
Early life
Galasso was born in New York City to Lisa (''née'' Cicero) and Francesco Galasso and attended Salesian High School in N ...
as Christopher Robin's singing voice
*
Gregg Berger as
Eeyore
Eeyore ( ) is a fictional character in the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by A. A. Milne. He is generally characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, anhedonic, old grey stuffed donkey who is a friend of the title character, Winnie-the-P ...
(new segments)
**
Peter Cullen as
Eeyore
Eeyore ( ) is a fictional character in the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by A. A. Milne. He is generally characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, anhedonic, old grey stuffed donkey who is a friend of the title character, Winnie-the-P ...
(archive footage)
*
Amber Hood
Amber Hood is an American voice actress in animation and video games.
Selected credits
Animation
* ''Blaze and the Monster Machines'' — Monkey
* ''Blood+'' — Kaori Kinjo (English dub)
* '' Codename: Kids Next Door'' — Jessica
* ''Doc Mc ...
as
Kessie (new segments)
**Laura Mooney as Kessie (archive footage)
*
Nikita Hopkins
Nikita Matthew Hopkins (born 13 August 1991) is an American screenwriter, visual artist, and former child voice actor and singer who had a career for seven years as the singing and speaking voice of young Roo in six movies and videos of ''Win ...
as
Roo
Roo is a fictional character created in 1926 by A. A. Milne and first featured in the book ''Winnie-the-Pooh''. He is a young kangaroo (known as a joey) and his mother is Kanga. Like most other Pooh characters, Roo is based on a stuffed toy an ...
*
Tress MacNeille
Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series ''Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrench ...
as
Kanga
*
Andre Stojka
Andre Stojka is an American voice actor. He is best known for his role as the voice of Owl in the Winnie-the-Pooh franchises starting with ''Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin'' inheriting the role from Hal Smith after hi ...
as
Owl
*
Michael Gough
Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British character actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer Horror Films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthu ...
as Gopher
*
Laurie Main as The Narrator
Songs
Release
''Seasons of Giving'' was originally released on VHS on November 9, 1999. It was released on DVD on November 4, 2003.
It was reissued again as a 10th anniversary gift set edition on DVD on September 29, 2009 the same day as ''
Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa'' DVD. This release included a collectible stocking gift pack.
See also
*
List of Christmas films
Many Christmas stories have been adapted to feature films and TV specials, and have been broadcast and repeated many times on television; since the popularization of home video in the 1980s, their many editions are sold and re-sold every year d ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Winnie-the-Pooh
1999 animated films
1999 films
1999 children's films
1999 direct-to-video films
1990s American animated films
1990s Christmas films
1990s musical comedy-drama films
1990s fantasy comedy films
1990s musical fantasy films
American children's animated fantasy films
American films with live action and animation
American children's animated musical films
Animated anthology films
Animated Christmas films
American Christmas films
American fantasy comedy films
American musical comedy-drama films
American musical fantasy films
Children's comedy-drama films
Winnie-the-Pooh films
Direct-to-video fantasy films
Disney direct-to-video animated films
Winnie the Pooh (franchise)
Disney Television Animation films
1999 comedy-drama films
1990s children's animated films
Films directed by Jun Falkenstein
1990s English-language films
Cultural depictions of Christopher Robin Milne