“Winnie the Pooh” Comes to Blu-ray & DVD

All the beloved characters from the Hundred Acre Wood are back!!!  On October 25, 2011, Winnie the Pooh made it’s way to DVD, Blu-ray, and Movie Download from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.  Winnie the Pooh includes an exclusive short, sing-along option and hours more of exciting bonus features.  Reuniting audiences with Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore (who has lost his tail), Winnie the Pooh is a honey of an in-home release containing hours of immersive bonus features, including exclusive animated shorts “The Ballad of Nessie” and “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon;” a sing-along viewing option; an informative behind-the-scenes featurette for the whole family and deleted scenes with director commentary – all available on Blu-ray Combo Pack.  The Blu-ray Combo Pack is available online and in stores, retailing for $44.99.

Inspired by the beloved stories from A.A. Milne’s books and crafted in Disney’s classic style, Winnie the Pooh, is the most critically-acclaimed animated film of 2011.  It is narrated by the voice of John Cleese and features the vocal talents of legendary voice actor Jim Cummings (over 350 voices including Gnomeo & Juliet) and a host of other distinctive actors including Craig Ferguson (TV’s ‘The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson’), Tom Kenny (TV’s ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’), Bud Luckey (Toy Story 3) and musical performances by Zooey Deschanel (indie folk band “She & Him”).

The all-new Winnie the Pooh brings back to life the timeless charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes and characters.  Sure to become a family favorite for every household, it is directed by Stephen Anderson (Meet The Robinsons) and Don Hall (The Princess and The Frog) and Executive Produced by John Lasseter.

BLU-RAY BONUS FEATURES

–  Exclusive bonus short “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon” – In this charming short, Pooh comes up with a daring plan to get a hold of some honey by fooling a group of bees.
–  “The Ballad of Nessie” – The animated short film included in the theatrical release is the heartwarming tale of how Nessie found her new home in the Loch Ness.
–  “Winnie the Pooh and His Story Too” – A fun and informative behind-the-scenes look at the film, designed for the whole family.  Hosted by John Cleese (narrator of the film), and with occasional help from Pooh himself, this featurette explores Winnie the Pooh’s history from his beginnings as a character in a book, to his continued life in the movies.  The filmmakers reveal how they worked to keep the look of the characters and settings in this movie consistent with their first appearances on-screen in 1966.  Pooh, being a bear of very little mind, finds much of this confusing, but the Narrator and the filmmakers make it all clear to Pooh – and you!
–  Deleted Scenes introduced by directors, Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 5 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “Rabbit’s Friends and Relations,” “Original Eeyore Intro,” “Original Tigger Intro” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail.”
–  Sing-Along with the Movie – Follow the red balloon and changing word colors to seven song lyrics featured in the film.
–  Disney Song Selection – “Winnie the Pooh Theme Song,” “The Tummy Song,” “A Very Important Thing To Do,” “The Backson Song,” “It’s Gonna Be Great,” “Everything is Honey” and “The Winner Song Finale.”

DVD BONUS FEATURES

–  “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon”
–  “The Ballad of Nessie”
–  Deleted scenes introduced by directors, Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 3 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “Rabbit’s Friends and Relations” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail.”

MOVIE DOWNLOAD BONUS FEATURES

–  “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon”
–  “The Ballad of Nessie”
–  Deleted Scenes introduced directors.  Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 3 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “Rabbit’s Friends and Relations” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail.”

DISC SPECIFICATIONS

STREET DATE:  October 25, 2011
SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICES:  3-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray +  DVD + Digital Copy) – $44.99 U.S. and $51.99 Canada
2-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD) – $39.99 U.S. and $46.99 Canada
1-Disc DVD – $29.99 U.S. and $35.99 Canada
High-Definition Movie Download – $39.99 U.S. and $44.99 Canada
Standard-Definition Movie Download – $29.99 U.S. and $35.99 Canada
FEATURE RUN TIME:  Approximation run time 60 minutes
RATED:  G
ASPECT RATIO:  1.78, 16×9
SOUND:  5.1
LANGUAGES:  English, French and Spanish

SOCIAL MEDIA

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FILM SYNOPSIS

Disney returns to the Hundred Acre Wood with Winnie the Pooh.  Featuring the timeless charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical “bear of very little brain” and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo – and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail.  “Ever have one of those days where you just can’t win, Eeyore?” asks Pooh.  Owl sends the whole gang on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit.  It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply set out to find some honey.  Disney’s all-new Winnie the Pooh movie is inspired by three stories from A.A. Milne’s books in Disney’s classic, hand-drawn art.

MY THOUGHTS

My boys and I watched Winnie the Pooh together and it was awesome!  I remember playing the individual Winnie the Pooh episodes when my oldest was a little guy, so it was really neat to watch the movie with all three of them.  One of my favorite special features was the episode, “The Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon.”  We really enjoyed watching and singing along with the seven song lyrics in the special feature, “Sing-Along with the Movie.”  My boys love Christopher Robin and Piglet and I love Eeyore and Kanga.  A big thanks to Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment for this Blu-ray Combo Pack review opportunity on The Mommy-Files.  I can’t wait until Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment releases the next Winnie the Pooh movie.

I received a copy of the “Winnie the Pooh” Blu-ray Combo Pack from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment to facilitate this review.  All opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine.