''Welcome to Pooh Corner'' is a

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or 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 or strings to move ...

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, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

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 Comp ...

, featuring the characters from the

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

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 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 William Frank Ryan (May 21, 1949 – November 19, 2021) was an American voice actor, musician and singer. He provided the voice of Petrie in the 1988 animated film ''The Land Before Time''. He was also known for his voice work as Eugene Meltsner ...

, and

Laurie Main Laurence George "Laurie" Main (29 November 1922 – 8 February 2012) was an Australian actor best known for hosting and narrating the children's series '' Welcome to Pooh Corner'', which aired on The Disney Channel during the 1980s. Born i ...

were the only three actors from the original four Pooh shorts to reprise their roles here (Smith, who had voiced

Owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

ever since the beginning of Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise, had recently replaced

Sterling Holloway Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 4, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor and voice actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He did voice acting for The Walt Disney Company, playing Mr. Stork in '' Dumbo'', A ...

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 sp ...

's voice in the 1983 short '' Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore'', replacing Junius Matthews; 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''.

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 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 ''Dumbo's Circus'' is a live action/puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or co ...

'', 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 Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

-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 i ...

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'', 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 ...

(1983) #

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

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, thr ...

(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 observan ...

(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 and character can be ascertained. Different classes of strangers have been identified f ...

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 Child grooming is befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a minor under the age of consent, and sometimes the child's family, to lower the child's inhibitions with the objective of sexual abuse. Child grooming is also regularly ...

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 fo ...

. *''Pooh's Great School Bus Adventure'' - a fifteen-minute 16mm

educational film An educational film is a film or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. Educational films have been used in classrooms as an alternative to other teaching methods. History Determining which videos should count as the first educational fil ...

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

produced in 1989, where the characters explain about being yourself. *''Responsible Persons'' - a ten-minute 16mm

produced in 1989, Pooh and friends demonstrate taking responsibility for your actions.

Cast

With

- Mr. Narrator

Voice cast

* Hal Smith -

and

Tigger Tigger is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic stuffed tiger. He was originally introduced in the 1928 story collection '' The House at Pooh Corner'', the sequel to the 1926 book ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' by A. A. Milne. Like other Pooh chara ...

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 Philip Mitchell Baron (born May 10, 1949) is an American voice actor, puppeteer and songwriter who voiced Piglet in the Disney Channel live-action/puppet television series '' Welcome to Pooh Corner''. He was also the voice of the title characte ...

- Piglet * Diana Hale - Kanga * Kim Christianson - Roo * 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 Ma ...

(Eeyore) * Shelagh Garren * Joe Giamalva (Pooh) * Clancy Gorewit * Frank Groby * Patty Maloney (Piglet) * Ron Mangham (Tigger) * Norman Merrill Jr. * Peter Risch (Roo) * Mark Sawyer

Music

Music composers

Songs

The songs were written by the Academy Award-winning songwriting duo of

Richard M. Sherman Richard Morton Sherman (born June 12, 1928) is an American songwriter who specialized in musical films with his brother Robert B. Sherman. According to the official Walt Disney Company website and independent fact checkers, "the Sherman Brot ...

and

Robert B. Sherman Robert Bernard Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) was an American songwriter, best known for his work in musical films with his brother, Richard M. Sherman. The Sherman brothers produced more motion picture song scores than any ...

. The

also wrote the majority of the well known

songs, including "

The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers Tigger is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic stuffed tiger. He was originally introduced in the 1928 story collection '' The House at Pooh Corner'', the sequel to the 1926 book ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' by A. A. Milne. Like other Pooh chara ...

" 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 ''The Tigger Movie'' is a 2000 animated musical comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation with animation production by Walt Disney Animation (Japan), Inc., written and directed by Jun Falkenstein from a story by Eddie Guzeli ...

''. *"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 ...

in reference to the Pooh franchise as a whole, "

" (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 star ...

''. 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,

. The song depicts the importance of a certain body part that each character was singing about: *"

Eyes Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and con ...

" (Owl) *"

Ears An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists o ...

" (Pooh) *" Feet" (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 passe ...

" (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 eac ...

" (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!'', '' Donald Duck Presents'', '' 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