''Welcome to Pooh Corner'' is a live-action/

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

that aired on

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

, featuring the characters from the Winnie the Pooh universe portrayed by actors in human-sized puppet suits, except Roo, who was originally a traditional puppet. The animatronic costumes used for the characters were created by Alchemy II, Inc., headed by

Ken Forsse Earl Kenneth Forsse (September 17, 1936 – March 19, 2014) was an American inventor, author, and producer who created the toy Teddy Ruxpin and the subsequent animated series ''The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin''. After working for The Walt Disney C ...

who later created

Teddy Ruxpin Teddy Ruxpin is an animatronic children's toy in the form of a talking 'Illiop', a creature which looks like a bear. The toy's mouth and eyes move while he reenacts stories played on an audio tape cassette deck built into its back. It was crea ...

. The show was first aired on April 18, 1983, the day The Disney Channel was launched.''The Disney Channel Magazine'', April 1983 (Premiere Issue), pp. 7, 14. Its timeslot for its early run was at 8:30 a.m. Eastern/Pacific Time, making it the third program of The Disney Channel's 16 (later 18) hour programming day. Reruns of the show aired on The Disney Channel until May 30, 1997.TV Guide - May 24-30, 1997 Hal Smith, Will Ryan, and Laurie Main were the only three actors from the original four Pooh shorts to reprise their roles here (Smith, who had voiced Owl ever since the beginning of Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise, had recently replaced Sterling Holloway as the voice of Pooh; Ryan had provided

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 ...

's voice in the 1983 short ''

Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore ''Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore'' is a 1983 American animated featurette based on the sixth chapter of both books ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' and '' The House at Pooh Corner'' by A.A. Milne. Produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by B ...

'', replacing

Junius Matthews Junius Conyers Matthews (June 12, 1890 – January 18, 1978) was an American actor in films, theater, radio and television. He was the voice of Archimedes the Owl in Disney's '' The Sword in the Stone'' in 1963. He was also the original voice ...

; and Main was the narrator for ''Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore'', replacing Sebastian Cabot). The show's title derives from the second Winnie the Pooh storybook, ''

The House at Pooh Corner ''The House at Pooh Corner'' (1928) is the second volume of stories about Winnie-the-Pooh, written by A. A. Milne and illustrated by E. H. Shepard. It is notable for the introduction of the character Tigger. Plot The title comes from a sto ...

''.

Background

This series was the only incarnation in the history of Disney's incarnations of Winnie the Pooh in which we could actually see the narrator aside from only hearing his voice. He would present each episode. The show would start off with him greeting the viewers "Welcome to Pooh Corner" and then relate what he was talking about to an event that occurred in the

Hundred Acre Wood The Hundred Acre Wood (also spelled as 100 Aker Wood, Hundred-Acre Wood, and 100 Acre Wood; also known as simply "The Wood") is a part of the fictional land inhabited by Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Winnie-the-Pooh series of children's s ...

, the home of the Pooh characters, and then he would proceed to read from a book entitled ''Welcome to Pooh Corner''. He would then narrate the episode acted out by the characters. The action was filmed before a blue screen, rather than using traditional sets (the same technique was used for '' Dumbo's Circus'', another live-action/puppet series that ran on The Disney Channel). Since the show was designed for The Disney Channel before it began airing commercials, there were no breaks for commercials. As a result, the show lasted a full thirty minutes. The main story ran about twenty minutes followed by two shorter segments. The first segment was a sing-along music video featuring one of nine songs, used over and over throughout the show's run. These songs were written by the Oscar-winning

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 ...

who had provided the majority of the Winnie the Pooh music over the years. The Sherman Brothers also wrote the show's theme song, using the music from the original Winnie-the-Pooh theme song from ''

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is a 1977 American animated musical anthology comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. It is the 22nd Disney animated feature film and was first rel ...

'', albeit with a slightly altered tempo. The last segment of the show was a presentational

arts and crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

demonstration that took place at the Thoughtful Spot. One of the cast members would speak to the narrator, looking directly into the camera, while they showed the viewers at home how to make something. When the series first started out, the narrator was seen sitting in a small library. As the series progressed, he is moved into a small playroom which eventually is seen having plush versions of Pooh and his friends.

Episodes

Holiday specials

#Pooh Corner

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 ...

(1983) #

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 ...

at Pooh Corner (1983) #Pooh's Funny

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

(1984) #Because It's

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

(1984) #Christmas Is For Sharing (1984)

Educational specials

*''Too Smart for Strangers'' - a 1985 TV special (which was also released to home video), where Pooh and his friends tell the viewers about

strangers A stranger is a person who is unknown to another person or group. Because of this unknown status, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity (social science), identity and Character structure, character can be ascertained. Differ ...

and

molestation Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...

and what to do. During later years, the special had gained massive controversy over its mature themes, including one infamous scene where Pooh discusses about child grooming and

illegal touching In gridiron football, a penalty is a sanction assessed against a team for a violation of the rules, called a foul. Officials initially signal penalties by tossing a bright yellow colored penalty flag onto the field toward or at the spot of a fou ...

. *''Pooh's Great School Bus Adventure'' - a fifteen-minute 16mm educational film produced in 1986, where the characters explain the importance of

school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus ...

safety. *''One and Only You'' - a ten-minute 16mm educational film produced in 1989, where the characters explain about being yourself. *''Responsible Persons'' - a ten-minute 16mm educational film produced in 1989, Pooh and friends demonstrate taking responsibility for your actions.

Cast

With

* Laurie Main - Mr. Narrator

Voice cast

* Hal Smith - Winnie the Pooh and Owl * Will Ryan -

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- ...

Ron Gans Ronald Kenneth Gans (August 9, 1931 – June 29, 2010), sometimes credited as Ron Kennedy, was an American character actor and voice-over artist, known for portraying Q.T. the Orangutan on The Disney Channel's ''Dumbo's Circus'', the voice of Ar ...

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 ...

* Phil Baron - Piglet * Diana Hale - Kanga * Kim Christianson -

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 ...

* John Walker - additional voices

The Puppets Performers

Sharon Baird Sharon Baird is an American actress, voice actress, singer, dancer and puppeteer who is best known for having been a Mouseketeer. Early life Baird was born August 16, 1943 Seattle, Washington to Eldon Baird, an aerospace worker, and Nikki Mar ...

(Eeyore) * Shelagh Garren * Joe Giamalva (Pooh) * Clancy Gorewit * Frank Groby *

Patty Maloney Patricia Anne Maloney (born March 17, 1936) is an American actress. Early life She was born in Perkinsville, New York. She stands and weighs . Career Maloney is best known as Honk from ''Far Out Space Nuts'', as Lumpy from the ''Star Wars ...

(Piglet) * Ron Mangham (Tigger) * Norman Merrill Jr. * Peter Risch (Roo) * Mark Sawyer

Music

Music composers

* Will Ryan * Phil Baron

Songs

The songs were written by the Academy Award-winning songwriting duo of Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The

also wrote the majority of the well known Winnie the Pooh songs, including " The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers" and "

Heffalumps and Woozles ''Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day'' is a 1968 American animated featurette based on the third, fifth, ninth, and tenth chapters of ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' and the second, eighth, and ninth chapters from ''The House at Pooh Corner'' by A. A. Milne ...

" from the 1960s, and in 2000 wrote the score to '' The Tigger Movie''. *"Welcome to Pooh Corner Theme Song" *"Try a Little Something New" (Rabbit's Song); is sung by

. It is about how Rabbit deals with his "naughty habits" of 'mundanity and stagnation.' The song was re-written for the later 1999 VHS production, ''Sing a Song with Pooh Bear,'' in which Tigger and Owl perform it as a duet. *"Just Say, 'Yes I Can' " (Eeyore's Song) *"You're the Only You" (Tigger's song); is his personal "theme song" specifically for this series, as opposed to his widely accepted

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

in reference to the Pooh franchise as a whole, " The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers" (also written by the Sherman Brothers). In the song, he asserts that "the wonderful thing about Tiggers is: I'm the only one". *"I Hum to Myself" (Piglet's Song); is about how Piglet deals with his fears by humming to himself. *"The Right Side" (Pooh's Song); was originally written in 1961 or 1962 as part of the Sherman Brothers' score for ''

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

''. In the song, Pooh explains how he makes the best out of a bad situation. *"Responsible Persons" (Owl's Song) *"Be a Buddy, Be a Pal" (Tigger and Roo's Song) *"Please and Thank You" (Pooh and Piglet's Song) *"It's What's on the Inside That Matters" (Rabbit/Tigger and Piglet Song) *"Smile When You Say That" (Rabbit/Tigger and Piglet Song) *"Clouds" (Rabbit and Eeyore's Song) *"Trees" (Tigger and Owl's Song) *"Tiggers Go Up and Down" (Tigger) *"The Man in the Moon is a Tigger" (Tigger) A song first featured in the episode "Practice Makes Perfect" and most likely Featured in the episode of the same name *''Welcome to Pooh Corner Closing Song''

"A Part of Me"

Sometimes, if an episode ended a few minutes early, a certain character would sing a song entitled "A Part of Me", which was written by one of the voice actors, Phil Baron. The song depicts the importance of a certain body part that each character was singing about: *" Eyes" (Owl) *" Ears" (Pooh) *"

Feet The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

" (Piglet) *"

Nose A nose is a protuberance in vertebrates that houses the nostrils, or nares, which receive and expel air for respiration alongside the mouth. Behind the nose are the olfactory mucosa and the sinuses. Behind the nasal cavity, air next passes th ...

" (Tigger) *"

Mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

" (Eeyore) *"

Hands A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each " ...

" (Rabbit)

Home media

VHS releases

US releases

Six VHS tapes were released by

Walt Disney Home Video Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, an ...

in the mid-1980s for the then new video home rental market. Each tape contained four episodes. * Volume One contains the episodes "You Need A Friend", "Doing What I Do Best", "The Pooh Scouts" and "Brighten Your Corner". * Volume Two contains the episodes "Safety First", "Rabbit Learns to Share", "The Great Outdoors" and "Surprise, Surprise". * Volume Three contains the episodes "Piglet Pride", "Roo's Great Adventure", "Eeyore Talks to Himself" and "Snow Falls On Pooh Corner". * Volume Four contains the episodes "Hello, Hello There", "Practice Makes Perfect", "The Old Swimming Hole" and "Pooh Makes a Trade". * Volume Five contains the episodes "A Bicycle Built for Five", "My Echo and I", "Pooh Learns to Remember" and "Wishing". * Volume Six contains the episodes "Don't Quit", "Holiday for Pooh Bear", "Pooh Builds a Bee House" and "Piglet Lends a Helping Hand".

UK releases

The show was also released on VHS PAL in the UK as part of a six-volume set which also each featured an episode of ''

Good Morning, Mickey! ''Good Morning, Mickey!'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It was first aired on April 18, 1983 when Disney Channel was launched. It was one of the Disney Channel's first original programs, a ...

'', ''

Donald Duck Presents ''Donald Duck Presents'' is an American animated television series that aired on The Disney Channel beginning in 1983 and which featured Disney animated shorts. Although Donald Duck shorts were the primary programming, additional cartoons featuri ...

'', '' The Mouse Factory'' and '' Mousercise''. Each tape contained one episode of ''Welcome to Pooh Corner''. * Volume One contains the episode "Eeyore Joins the Band". * Volume Two contains the episode "Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti". * Volume Three contains the episode "A Bicycle Built for Five". * Volume Four contains the episode "Piglet's Slumber Party". * Volume Five contains the episode "Eeyore's Costume Party". * Volume Six contains the episode "Handyman Tigger". * Volume Seven contains the episode "Do It Now". * First Christmas Volume contains the special "Christmas at Pooh Corner"

DVD releases

*Disney Safety Hits Vol. 2 (Pooh's Great School Bus Adventure & Too Smart for Strangers)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Welcome To Pooh Corner 1980s American children's television series 1980s American music television series 1983 American television series debuts 1984 American television series endings American children's fantasy television series American children's musical television series American television shows based on children's books American television shows featuring puppetry Disney Channel original programming English-language television shows Television series about bears Television series by Disney Television series based on Disney films Winnie the Pooh (franchise) Winnie-the-Pooh television series