Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (film) Special cartoon featurette; released on February 4, 1966. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. The Studio’s first animated treatment of the famous children books written by A.A. Milne. Winnie the Pooh and his friends, Christopher Robin, Eeyore the donkey, Owl, Kanga, and baby Roo, as well as Rabbit and Gopher, encounter a swarm of bees and a fabulous honey tree. Little modification was done on the original stories of the most famous teddy bear in the world. The most noticeable change was the introduction of a new character—Gopher. Sebastian Cabot narrated the story, and the theme song was written Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. Voices include Bruce Reitherman (Christopher Robin), Ralph Wright (Eeyore), Howard Morris (Gopher), Barbara Luddy (Kanga), Hal Smith (Owl), Junius Matthews (Rabbit), Clint Howard (Roo). Sterling Holloway was perfectly cast as voice of Pooh, and added to the popularity of the short, which inspired many sequels. 26 min. Released on video in 1981.
