The Book of Pooh

The Book of Pooh is an American children's television series that aired on the Playhouse Disney block on Disney Channel. It is the third television series to feature the characters from the Disney franchise based on A. A. Milne's works; the other two were the live action Welcome to Pooh Corner (to which this series bears resemblance) and the animated The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh which ran from 1988 to 1991. It premiered on January 22, 2001 and completed its run on July 8, 2003. The show is produced by Shadow Projects. Walt Disney Pictures released the first of two films, a direct-to-video spin-off film based on the puppetry television series titled The Book of Pooh: Stories from the Heart in 2001.

Overview
The series take places after the events of Milne's original stories since his son Christopher Robin is clearly an 11 year old. The series departs from many of the established facts of Milne's books; for example, Tigger resides in the Hundred Acre Wood from the start and Kanga and Roo are later introduced as newcomers. Neither Christopher nor his mother speak with an English accent, such is the case in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh where Christopher has an American accent. Kessie, the bluebird from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh episodes "Find Her, Keep Her" and "A Bird in the Hand" returns as a main character in this series.

Each show begins entering Christopher Robin's bedroom and hearing his mother say "Christopher, time for school." Christopher Robin answers "Okay, mom!", closes his book, grabs his backpack, and leaves. This is where the book with Pooh and his friends in it opens and the theme song begins. The show can be viewed as non-canonical in other ways. For example, Tigger can climb up—but more importantly climb down from trees and Christopher Robin and his mother's faces are never shown. Plus, Rabbit lives in a tree, as opposed to living in a burrow in other adaptations.

Cast
The characters in the show regularly sing and dance in ways that enhance the story being told. Many of the episodes do not have much basis in the original stories by A.A. Milne besides the characters.

The production design of the show was done by Chris Renaud, who would later become the co-director of the 2010 film Despicable Me.

The characters who appear regularly and the actors who voice them are:
 * Winnie the Pooh and Tigger: Jim Cummings
 * Piglet: John Fiedler (speaking voice)/Jeff Bennett (singing voice)
 * Rabbit: Ken Sansom
 * Eeyore: Peter Cullen
 * Owl: Andre Stojka
 * Kessie: Stephanie D'Abruzzo
 * Kanga: Kath Soucie
 * Roo: Nikita Hopkins
 * Christopher Robin: Paul Tiesler
 * Christopher Robin's Mother: Vicki Kenderes Eibner
 * Mr. Narrator: Roger L. Jackson

The show's versions of Tigger and Pooh later made an appearance in a music video by the We Are Family foundation.

Puppeteers

 * Heather Asch
 * Peter Baird
 * Jennifer Barnhart - Kanga
 * Carol Binion
 * Ron Binion
 * Matthew Brooks
 * Tyler Bunch - Tigger
 * Todd Coyle
 * Stephanie D'Abruzzo - Kessie
 * Sophie Doyle
 * Vicki Kenderes-Eibner
 * Jodi Eichelberger
 * Eric Engelhardt
 * David Matthew Feldman
 * Chris Fields
 * John C. Fields
 * Preston Foreder
 * James Godwin
 * B.J. Guyer
 * Robin Howard
 * Eric Jacobson - Piglet
 * Liz Joyce


 * Jim Kroupa
 * Tim Lagasse
 * Matthew Lavin
 * Peter Linz - Winnie the Pooh
 * Jon Ludwig
 * Rick Lyon
 * Lara MacLean - Roo
 * Noel MacNeal - Rabbit
 * Amanda Maddock
 * David Martin
 * Cathy McCullough
 * Paul McGinnis - Eeyore
 * Anney McKilligan
 * John Pavlik
 * Barbara Pollitt
 * John Tartaglia
 * Robin Walsh
 * Dan Weissbrodt
 * Steve Widerman
 * Alice Dinnean-Vernon
 * Victor Yerrid - Owl
 * Bryant Young

Style of puppetry
The style of puppetry is based on Japanese bunraku puppetry, and that — along with the cut-out-styled backgrounds — gives the show the look of a pop-up book, hence "The Book of Pooh". It was the first use of the Shadowmation process developed by creator Mitchell Kriegman which was later used in the PBS series It's a Big Big World.

Main themes

 * "Everyone Knows He's Winnie the Pooh" (opening theme) - Brian Woodbury
 * "Goodbye for Now" (closing theme) - Brian Woodbury and Mitchell Kriegman

Awards and nominations
The series received three Emmy Awards nominations, and tied with Sesame Street for Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series at the 29th Daytime Emmy Awards in 2002.

Film
The Book of Pooh: The Stories from the Heart is a direct-to-video animated spin-off based on the television series The Book of Pooh. The film was distributed by Buena Vista Television, produced by Shadow Projects and Walt Disney Television Animation and released on both VHS and DVD.

It contains 6 episodes, each of which focuses on one character. It is wrapped together by a loose plot in which the characters wait in Christopher Robin's room for his arrival. As is typical with the series, each episode features an original musical number. It is a compilation film of footage from the TV series.

Home media
Several VHS Tapes were released in 2001 and 2002: Fun with Words
 * The Words Are Out
 * Brain Drain
 * I Could Have Laughed All Night
 * X Marks the Spot

Fun with Friends
 * You Can Lead Eeyore to Books
 * The Spice of Life
 * Best Wishes, Winnie the Pooh
 * Double Time

A Valentine for Eeyore
 * My Gloomy Valentine
 * Mr. Narrator
 * Don Pooh Xote
 * Beastly Burden

Fun with Manners
 * Pleas and Thank-You's
 * The Rumor Millstone
 * The Wood Without Pooh
 * Friends of a Different Stripe

Fun with Make-Believe
 * Case of the Disappeared Donkey
 * The Littlest Dinosnore
 * Blue Ribbon Bunny
 * Under the Pig Top

The show became available to stream on Disney+ on its launch, November 12, 2019.