A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving is a 1998 Winnie the Pooh animated television special featuring the voice talents of Jim Cummings, Paul Winchell, and John Fiedler. This special shows Pooh and his friends learning the true meaning of Thanksgiving. It was nominated for Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program.
It is 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, Gopher brings lemonade, Owl brings biscuits, Eeyore brings thistles (enough for everybody, despite him acknowledging the fact that he's the only one who likes them), and Tigger brings chocolate ice cream. 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: he will decorate the table, Tigger and Eeyore will go into the woods to collect cranberries for sauce, Gopher will make the pumpkin pie, Owl will be responsible for cleaning the dinnerware, 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, even with Gopher's use of dynamite for cooking the pumpkin pie. But Tigger and Eeyore accidentally lose all the berries they had gathered. The berries are found by Piglet and Pooh, who decide to use them as bait for their trap to catch a turkey. Unfortunately, they end up catching Eeyore and Tigger instead. Not realizing the mistake, they bring back the sack with Tigger and Eeyore inside. When the two escape, they accidentally destroy the decorations and food that Owl, Gopher and Rabbit had been preparing. Everybody is depressed, especially Rabbit and Tigger starts to sob over the ruined party. They all go home, believing there would be no Thanksgiving that year. However, Pooh soon realizes the truth: Thanksgiving is not about turkey and pumpkins; it is 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, acorns, lemonade, biscuits, thistles, and ice cream. When Rabbit sees the result, he too is happy.
Broadcast[]
The special originally aired Thanksgiving Day 1998 at 8 pm on ABC. It aired 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, however, released as part of the compilation film Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving.
Although Kanga and Roo did not appear in the special, they only appeared as stuffed animals in the live-action opening.
Oddly enough, Thanksgiving is not celebrated in the United Kingdom where Winnie the Pooh takes place, though it can be argued that Disney’s Winnie the Pooh has been Americanized.
Currently the original unedited version of the special cannot be found on a DVD or digital release as well as Disney+.