A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving

A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving is a 1998 made-for-TV special featuring the voice talents of Jim Cummings, Paul Winchell, and John Fiedler. The special shows Pooh and his friends learning the true meaning of Thanksgiving. It was nominated for Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program.

Plot
It's Thanksgiving time in the Hundred Acre Wood and Pooh and his friends are all very excited. They prepare a Thanksgiving party and everybody brings something: Pooh brings honey, Piglet brings acorns, Tigger brings ice cream, Eeyore brings thistles (enough for everyone, despite him acknowledging that he's the only one who likes it), Gopher brings the lemonade and Owl makes biscuits. However, when Rabbit arrives he points out that these things have nothing to do with Thanksgiving, and that they need something more special. Fortunately, he has a plan: Owl will be responsible for preparing the tableware, Gopher will cook the pumpkin soufflé, Tigger and Eeyore will go to the woods to collect cranberries, And Pooh and Piglet will go after a turkey.

They all agree with Rabbit's ideas and do their best to get their parts of the work done. Owl and Gopher have little trouble with their tasks, in spite of Gopher's use of dynamite for cooking the pumpkin, but Tigger and Eeyore accidentally lose all berries they had gathered. The berries are found by Piglet and Pooh, who decide to use them as a trap to catch a turkey. Unfortunately, they end up catching Eeyore and Tigger instead. Not realizing the mistake, they bring back the sac with Tigger and Eeyore inside. When the two escape, they accidently destroy the decorations and food that Owl, Gopher and Rabbit had been preparing. Everybody is depressed, especially Rabbit, and they all go home, believing there would be no Thanksgiving that year. But Pooh soon realizes the truth: that Thanksgiving Day is not about turkey and pumpkins, it's about being with friends and expressing gratitude for all good things they have. He calls his friends back and they all recreate the original party, with honey and ice cream and lemonade. When Rabbit sees the result, he too is happy.

Broadcast
The special originally aired Thanksgiving Day 1998 at 8 pm on ABC. It reaired every year on Thanksgiving for several years afterward; however, it has not been aired since 2003. According to TVTango.com's ratings database, the first airing brought in a 3.8 household rating.

Home video
The video has not been released by itself in the United States, with the exception of specially released tapes that were given to members of the Academy Awards for that year's show. It was released as part of the VHS A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving tape Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving along with episodes of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1999.

Cast

 * Jim Cummings as Winnie the Pooh / Tigger (singing voice)
 * John Fiedler as Piglet
 * Paul Winchell as Tigger (speaking voice)
 * Peter Cullen as Eeyore
 * Ken Sansom as Rabbit
 * Andre Stojka as Owl
 * Michael Gough as Gopher
 * Tim Hoskins as Christopher Robin