Winnie the Pooh and A Day for Eeyore Animated Short: 
There comes a point in every TV show where something irrevocably incomprehensible happens and it’s just not the same anymore. At that moment, the series has ‘jumped the shark’, referring to the infamous episode of Happy Days where Fonzie, well, jumped a shark. For the Pooh series, it is A Day for Eeyore. Although here it is not quite a specific moment, more a cumulative effect. From the different voices that don’t quite gel (most notably, of Hal Smith’s Pooh and Laurie Main’s narrator), to the re-recorded theme song, to the over-acting animation of the characters, it all ends up as this uninspired and misguided effort.

The Story Behind the Masterpiece: The Making of ‘The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’ Featurette:
This brand new featurette, a welcome addition to the mostly kid-orientated set, delves deep into the production of the three original shorts and the feature compilation that followed, wisely ending there in the Pooh timeline. Interviews with animators Ollie Johnson, Frank Thomas and Burny Mattinson; songwriters Robert and Richard Sherman; writer X. Atencio; historian Dave Smith; and voice actors Paul Winchell (Tigger) and John Walmsley (one of the three Christopher Robins) are highlights of this informative and entertaining retrospective. Narrated by Disney voice fave Corey Burton.

The Winnie the Pooh Art Gallery:
There are two options available for viewing the gallery: either the traditional remote controlled self-guided tour, or a video presentation that allows you to sit back and relax while a narrator takes you through the various screen shots, including brightly magic marker-colored concept art; production photos (alas, without captions); the original Ernest H. Shephard storybook illustrations; background paintings stunning in their simplified beauty; poster art for all three shorts and the feature; and theme park pictures ranging from Pooh’s 1972 presidential campaign to Tokyo Disneyland’s state-of-the-art Honey Hunt attraction. The video gallery option is obviously geared to children, what with its cloying circus music score, but it does allow for closer looks at the pictures.

The Winnie the Pooh Theme Song Performed by Carly Simon:
Carly Simon’s honeyed vocals perfectly compliment the sweetly simply lyrics in this video intercutting shots of Simon playing her guitar with clips from the feature.

The 100-Acre Wood Challenge Game:
A veddy-British accented narrator encourages you to pick one of three characters (Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit) for this DVD game. Complete the simple matching games, and you are treated to a video clip featuring your character.

Disney Storytime: Pooh’s Shadow:
DVD storybook introduced by Tigger. You can read along with the storyteller or to yourself.

Pooh’s Pop-Up Fun Facts:
A kid-friendly version of the audio commentary, with Pooh trivia superimposed at the bottom of the screen. A more fun version of this concept would have been to use VH1’s Pop-Up Video-style, honey pot-shaped icons ‘popping in’ instead of the plain text presented here as if almost an after-thought.

The Top Ten Things We Learn from These Pop-Ups:

1. The A.A. in A.A. Milne stands for Alan Alexander.
2. “Winnie the Pooh” was the first song written by the Shermans for this project.
3. Rabbit and Owl were the only original characters from the books not based on toys.
4. Walt Disney loved the scene where Rabbit tries to disguise Pooh’s posterior.
5. Owl’s story about his Uncle Clyde is actually the poem The Owl and the Pussycat.
6. Original Pooh illustrator Ernest H. Shephard was the father of Mary Shephard, the original illustrator for the Mary Poppins books.
7. Milne based Tigger on a black spaniel pup named Chum, who always bounced on everyone he met.
8. Pooh made his first appearance in Milne’s poem Teddy Bear.
9. In the original book illustrations, Pooh only wore his shirt in the snowy scenes.
10. The Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too album won the Grammy for Best Children’s Recording in 1974.