A Very Merry Pooh Year is a direct-to-video Winnie the Pooh anthology film released in 2002 which featured the 1991 Christmas TV special Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too, as well as the newly-made special, Happy Pooh Year.
This was the only Winnie-the-Pooh film where Jeff Bennett provided Piglet's and Christopher Robin's singing voices. It is also the first Winnie-the-Pooh film where Owl is absent and the first Winnie-the-Pooh film that Carly Simon is involved in. It is also the series finale of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and a part of Disney Movies Anywhere program.
The story begins with an opening segment in which Pooh Bear hides a present he has for Piglet. Then our friends gather together and tell Roo about a past Christmas (as seen in Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too). Later, they recall a New Year's in which Rabbit wanted to move away because he was irritated with Pooh's honey-eating, Tigger's bouncing, Piglet's being afraid and Eeyore's gloominess. So they all made resolutions to change and swapped personalities.
The film was released direct-to-DVD on November 12, 2002. The bonus features included a game "Covered in Snow" and the song selection. The film was released for the first time on Blu-ray on November 5, 2013 as the "Gift of Friendship Edition".
DVD special features[]
Included are a "Covered in Snow" game, a "New Year's Eve" countdown and song selection with on-screen lyrics. The "Covered in Snow" game you choose objects, but the same objects can be chosen over and over. You can also put the DVD in your DVD-ROM drive (if you have one) to register it (like many other Disney DVDs).
Near the end of the film, when Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore went back to their normal selves, the part where Piglet ran to Rabbit shows the snow prints where Eeyore was standing went over Piglet's animation.
In the Christmas Too segment when Eeyore, Tigger, and Rabbit see Pooh dressed up as Santa Claus and Piglet dressed up as a reindeer, when Tigger says "Although, that’s a sorry looking reindeer", the scene switches back to Eeyore examining Pooh as Santa and Pooh saying "I must be Santa Claus".
Trivia[]
This was the last Winnie the Pooh film to be produced in full screen, as most Winnie the Pooh films (including the direct-to-video films starting with Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo) have been produced in widescreen. It is also the final direct-to-video film produced by the Disney studio to be produced in full screen, as subsequent direct-to-video films after this one are produced exclusively in widescreen format.
During the live-action opening sequence:
The shots of Kanga, Roo, and Owl's stuffed toys are reused from The Tigger Movie.
The shot of the storybook is the same as the one used in A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving and Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You.
Kanga, Roo, and Gopher have minor roles in the film, only appearing during the party scenes. They, along with Christopher Robin, are also the only characters who do not change their personalities.
Welcome to Pooh Corner:Robert Rabbit • Happy The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh:Mrs. Robin • Birdzilla • Mama Heffalump • Junior Heffalump • Papa Heffalump • Crows • Kessie • Pygmy Piglets • Crud • Smudge • Stan and Heff • Wooster • Bruno • Ted, Pinky & Vacuum Head • Pack Rats • Nasty Jack • Nasty Jack's Gang • Bugs • Jagular • Rabbit's relatives • Long John Cottontail • Dexter • Skippy Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin:Skullasaurus • Butterflies • Tyrannosaurus Rex Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You:Winifred The Tigger Movie:Squirrel • Tigger's mom Piglet's Big Movie:Packy the Magic Beltbag Pooh's Heffalump Movie:Lumpy • Mama Heffalump My Friends Tigger & Pooh:Darby • Buster • Beaver • Woodpecker • Opossum Twins Pooh's Super Sleuth Christmas Movie:Santa Claus • Holly Winnie the Pooh:Balloon • The Backson • Rabbit's Friends and Relations Christopher Robin:Evelyn Robin • Madeline Robin • Giles Winslow Jr.
Episodes
Welcome to Pooh Corner "You Need a Friend" • "Doing What I Do Best" • "The Pooh Scouts" • "Brighten Your Corner" • "Safety First" • "Rabbit Learns to Share" • "The Great Outdoors" • "Surprise, Surprise" • "Piglet Pride" • "Roo's Great Adventure" • "Eeyore Talks to Himself" • "Snow Falls on Pooh Corner" • "Hello, Hello There" • "Practice Makes Perfect" • "The Old Swimming Hole" • "Pooh Makes a Trade" • "A Bicycle Built for Five" • "My Echo and I" • "Pooh Learns to Remember" • "Wishing" • "Don't Quit" • "Holiday for Pooh Bear" • "Pooh Builds a Bee House" • "Piglet Lends a Helping Hand" • "Pooh Borrows Trouble" • "Clouds" • "The Fastest Rabbit in the Wood" • "When I Was Younger" • "Eeyore Joins the Band" • "Eeyore's Costume Party" • "A Swing for Eeyore" • "Do it Now" • "Carrots, Carrots, and More Carrots" • "Hi Neighbor" • "Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti" • "Rabbit's Cousin" • The Great Kite Race" • "Fine Feathered Friend" • "Piglet's Slumber Party" • "Piglet Learns to Swing" • "Handyman Tigger" • "Pooh Corner Singing Society" • "Pooh Cares for a Carrot" • "Tigger Finds a Hobby" • "Almost Perfect Picnic" • "The Iceboat Cometh" • "It Must Be Summer" • "Song of Eeyore" • "Tale of a Tail" • "Pooh Goes Boom"
The Book of Pooh Season One: "Best Wishes, Winnie the Pooh/Double Time" • "Are You Me?/Rabbit's Happy Birthday Party" • "Circumference Equals Pirate 'Arrr' Squared/Pooh's to Do" • "Pigletry/Dinosnores" • "I Could Have Laughed All Night/X Spots the Mark" • "My Gloomy Valentine/Mr. Narrator" • "Vegetable of Contents/A Welcome to Beat the Band With" • "Owl's Book/The Autobiography of Tigger" • "You Can Lead Eeyore to Books/The Spice of Life" • "The Words Are Out/Brain Drain" Season Two: "Please and Thank-You's/The Rumor Millstone" • "Over the Hill/Tigger's Replacement" • "The Wood Without Pooh/Friends of a Different Stripe" • "Mothers of Invention/Once Upon a Happy Ending" • "Piglet's Perfect Party/A Wood Divided" • "Bravehat/Scaredy Cat" • "Blue Ribbon Bunny/Under the Pig Top" • "The Book of Boo" • "Could it Be Magic?/Diary of a Mad Gardener" • "The Case of the Disappeared Donkey/The Littlest Dinosnore"
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree: "Winnie the Pooh" • "Up, Down, Touch the Ground" • "Rumbly in My Tumbly" • "Little Black Rain Cloud" • "Mind Over Matter" Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day: "A Rather Blustery Day" • "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" • "Heffalumps and Woozles" • "Rain, Rain, Rain Came Down, Down, Down" • "Hip-Hip-Hooray!" Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh: "I Am Not Afraid" • "I Wanna Scare Myself" Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin: "Forever & Ever" • "Adventure is a Wonderful Thing" • "If It Says So" • "Wherever You Are" • "Everything is Right" The Many Songs of Winnie the Pooh: "It Really Was a Woozle, Yes it Was" Sing a Song with Pooh Bear: "Kanga Roo Hop" • "You're the One and Only One" • "Harvest What You Grow" • "My Song" Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You: "Girls are Like Boys" • "When the Love Bug Bites" • "Places in the Heart" Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year: "Jingle Bells" • "Snow Snows" • "Merry Pooh Year" • "Hunny, Not for Me" • "Auld Lang Syne" The Tigger Movie: "Someone Like Me" • "Whoop-de-Dooper Bounce" • "Lull-a-Bee" • "Round My Family Tree" • "How to Be a Tigger" • "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" Piglet's Big Movie: "If I Wasn't So Small" • "A Mother's Intuition" • "With a Few Good Friends" • "Sing-Ho (For the Life of a Bear)" • "The More It Snows (Tiddely-Pom)" • "The More I Look Inside" • "Comforting to Know" Springtime With Roo: "We're Huntin' Eggs Today" • "Easter Day With You" • "The Way It Must Be Done" Pooh's Heffalump Movie: "Little Mr. Roo" • "The Horribly Hazardous Heffalumps" • "The Name Game" • "Shoulder to Shoulder" • "In the Name of the Hundred Acre Wood/What Do You Do?" Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie: "Trick 'R Treating With Our Friends" • "Brave Together" • "As Long As I'm Here With You" Learning Adventures: "A Word That Sounds Like Autumn" • "Letter Shapes and Sounds" • "Counting" • "Bouncerific" • "The Shape of Things" • "Big Small Wonderful Wood" • "Different as Night and Day" • "Honey Pot" Winnie the Pooh: "The Tummy Song" • "A Very Important Thing to Do" • "The Winner Song" • "The Backson Song" • "It's Gonna Be Great" • "Everything is Honey" • "Pooh's Finale" Christopher Robin: "Goodbye, Farewell" • "Busy Doing Nothing" • "Christopher Robin"
Television Songs Welcome to Pooh Corner: "Welcome to Pooh Corner Theme Song" • "Try a Little Something New" • "The Right Side" • "Yes, I Can" • "You're the Only You" • "I Hum to Myself" • "Please and Thank You" • "Responsible Persons" • "Welcome to Pooh Corner Ending Theme" The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: "Pooh Bear" • "'Cause It's Make Believe" • "The Floating Song" • "Nothing's Too Good for a Friend" • "Under the Bed" • "I Don't Have A Name" • "King of the Beasties" • "The End" • "Pirates is What We'll Be" • "Tigger, the Private Ear is Here" The Book of Pooh: "Everyone Knows He's Winnie the Pooh" • "Goodbye for Now" • "Your Best Wishes" • "On the Double" • "Who is Me" • "Think, Think, Think" • "What Piglets Are" • "I Watch for Signs" • "We're Making a Cake" • "If I Could Be Big" • "Isn't that Funny?" • "Find the X" • "Everyone Wants a Valentine" • "That's What We Do" • "Keep it Simple" • "Have You Got a Book For Me?" • "Give It a Try" • "On Your Way Back Home" • "The Birdbird Song" • "Nightmare Wranglers" • "Carry On" • "What's Your Name, River" • "Where Do Words Go?" • "Under a Spelling Bee's Spell" • "Adventure" • "Mental Altitude" • "I Want to Know Everything Now" • "Happy Tailiversary" • "Get Growin'" • "Tigger's Lullaby" • "Perfect Party" • "If We Were Talkin'" • "Someone New to Meet" • "My Hero" • "I Want To Be Scary" • "Broken Friendships" • "Do the Roo" • "Call Me Buck-a-Roo" • "At Chez Piglet" • "Nothing Ever Happens" • "Too Much Honey" • "Lost in a Book" My Friends Tigger and Pooh: "A Few Simple Rules" • "Bouncin'" • "The Grass is Greenier" • "The Password Song" • "Underneath the Same Sky" • "One Big Happy Family" • "Think, Think, Think" • "The Question Song" • "Floating in a Cloud" • "Different Can Be Good" • "The Little Things You Do" • "There's a Party" • "No More Fun In the Snow" • "Butterflies" • "What Makes a Pony a Pony" • "When We Work Together" • "Christmas Comes Tomorrow" • "Time to Go (On a Trek Through the Snow)" • "Snowman Song" Miscellaneous: "Luv-a-bye" • "Playtime Song" • "Learning Song" • "Friendship Song"
See Also
Winnie-the-Pooh and His Friends • Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons • The Disney Afternoon • The Many Songs of Winnie the Pooh • Sing a Song with Pooh Bear • Sing a Song with Tigger • Whoopty-Dooper-Loopty-Looper-Alley-Ooper bounce • "Into the Hundred Acre Wood!"
