As a fan of Winnie the Pooh, 'The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' was always one of my favourite shows as a child. Not all childhood favourites have held up, but 'The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' is one of the strongest examples of those that have.
While the original three 60s-70s short films ('Honey Tree', 'Blustery Day' and 'Tigger Too') and the 1977 'The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' are just a little better, 'The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' is one of the Winnie the Pooh franchise's high points. "Babysitter Blues" is fantastic fun and is the most fun depiction of babysitting one can imagine. Not quite a top 10 episode, then again there is not a bad episode to this show (one of few shows for that to be the case).
The animation is very bright, well drawn and colourful, everything looking lush, detailed and smooth, with some of the night-time scenes and the opening prison break, one of a fair few episodes that opens with a dream sequence, adopting a darker look. The music is playfully jaunty and beautifully orchestrated, enhancing scarier moments with hauntingly urgent and eerie scoring, sadder moments with poignant and particularly lush and emotional scoring and the more playful moments with a jaunty touch. The theme tune is very rousing and one of the catchiest theme songs of any animated show of the late 80s.
Writing has a perfect mix of whimsy, drollness, wit, charm and childhood innocence, Pooh and Tigger having the lion's share of the best lines and a lot of younger viewers will find a lot of themselves in Christopher Robin, having all most likely dreamed of exciting adventures, not wanting to go to sleep at night, mistaking something for something else making a mess in the process and saying some of the things he does.
"Babysitter Blues" story is simple but beautifully paced and enthralling. The first half is hugely imaginative in visuals and writing and highly entertaining, especially the prison break, the pirate ship pillow fight, the disaster in the kitchen, and slaying the vacuum. The second half, also related to the babysitting theme, is not as inventive and a tad more sedate in pacing, so it does feel like a slightly different episode, but this does not matter because what happens is still incredibly charming and epitomises everything one loves about Winnie the Pooh.
Love all the characters still, Pooh is as lovable as ever, Roo is adorable and Tigger is hilarious. Also love their bond, and their love and loyalty for Christopher Robin. All the voice acting is excellent, it has become somewhat of a cliché to constantly praise Paul Winchell as Tigger but it is hard not to as he brings so much life to the character, as good as Jim Cummings was and still is later he doesn't reach iconic levels like Winchell does.
Overall, fantastic episode and so much fun. 10/10 Bethany Cox
While the original three 60s-70s short films ('Honey Tree', 'Blustery Day' and 'Tigger Too') and the 1977 'The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' are just a little better, 'The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' is one of the Winnie the Pooh franchise's high points. "Babysitter Blues" is fantastic fun and is the most fun depiction of babysitting one can imagine. Not quite a top 10 episode, then again there is not a bad episode to this show (one of few shows for that to be the case).
The animation is very bright, well drawn and colourful, everything looking lush, detailed and smooth, with some of the night-time scenes and the opening prison break, one of a fair few episodes that opens with a dream sequence, adopting a darker look. The music is playfully jaunty and beautifully orchestrated, enhancing scarier moments with hauntingly urgent and eerie scoring, sadder moments with poignant and particularly lush and emotional scoring and the more playful moments with a jaunty touch. The theme tune is very rousing and one of the catchiest theme songs of any animated show of the late 80s.
Writing has a perfect mix of whimsy, drollness, wit, charm and childhood innocence, Pooh and Tigger having the lion's share of the best lines and a lot of younger viewers will find a lot of themselves in Christopher Robin, having all most likely dreamed of exciting adventures, not wanting to go to sleep at night, mistaking something for something else making a mess in the process and saying some of the things he does.
"Babysitter Blues" story is simple but beautifully paced and enthralling. The first half is hugely imaginative in visuals and writing and highly entertaining, especially the prison break, the pirate ship pillow fight, the disaster in the kitchen, and slaying the vacuum. The second half, also related to the babysitting theme, is not as inventive and a tad more sedate in pacing, so it does feel like a slightly different episode, but this does not matter because what happens is still incredibly charming and epitomises everything one loves about Winnie the Pooh.
Love all the characters still, Pooh is as lovable as ever, Roo is adorable and Tigger is hilarious. Also love their bond, and their love and loyalty for Christopher Robin. All the voice acting is excellent, it has become somewhat of a cliché to constantly praise Paul Winchell as Tigger but it is hard not to as he brings so much life to the character, as good as Jim Cummings was and still is later he doesn't reach iconic levels like Winchell does.
Overall, fantastic episode and so much fun. 10/10 Bethany Cox
