Pooh and His Pals Become Cowboys, Pirates and Old-Fashioned Superheroes

Winnie the Pooh and his Hundred-Acre friends generally live very simple lives and go about in the same clothes (or, in most cases, lack thereof) day after day. However, one fun thing about the television series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is its expansive imaginative scope. Some episodes allow these plush pals to venture into more unconventional territory. In Cowboy Pooh, part of the Playtime series of Winnie the Pooh videos, we see three episodes along these lines, each spoofing a specific genre.

The Good, the Bad and the Tigger - This Western spoof, also included in the video Growing Up With Winnie the Pooh: It's Playtime With Pooh, finds Pooh (Jim Cummings), Piglet (John Fiedler), Rabbit (Ken Sansom) and Tigger (Paul Winchell) in Christopher Robin's (Tim Hoskins) bedroom admiring his elaborate train set. When his mother calls him away, he warns everyone not to play with the train while he's gone, but Tigger can't resist, sparking a lengthy imaginative sequence set in the Old West. Tigger is a train robber, Pooh is his unwitting accomplice, Piglet is the sheriff determined to mete out justice however difficult that may be, Rabbit and Eeyore are his faithful sidekicks and Gopher (Michael Gough) is the grim judge eager to hand down a sentence for a "swinging."

This episode is a lot of fun because of the way it uses Western conventions, from dastardly villains to dusty, half-deserted towns. The score seems Copeland-inspired, and the chase sequences along the rickety railroad tracks prickle with excitement. Lots of fun, too, are the outfits, complete with ten-gallon hats (and one sombrero). Of course, this being Pooh, the story ends gently for all concerned, but some pretty harrowing situations precede the satisfying resolution that includes a lesson in forgiveness and fessing up to wrongdoing.

Pooh Marks the Spot - I wish I'd watched this video a little sooner; I could have included its infectious pirate ditty in my list of nautical songs for Talk Like a Pirate Day in September. "Yo ho, everyone knows a pirate's life is free. Yo ho, wherever we go, pirates is what we'll be!" Catchy. The pirates in question are Captain Piglet, Tigger, Pooh and Gopher, who roam the Hundred-Acre Wood in a magnificent pirate ship on wheels. I don't know who is responsible for the construction of that contraption - though I suspect a collaboration between handyman Gopher and creative Tigger - but I wish I had one. And someplace where I could ramble around in it, of course.

Rabbit does not think so highly of their pirate activities, especially once they start digging up his garden in search of buried treasure, so he concocts a plan to trick them and hopefully curtail their revelry. However, when a trippy dream sequence leaves him with a boatload of guilt, Rabbit wonders if he went too far. Aside from the brief dream, which is frankly pretty creepy, this does not take place in a fantastical setting, but there are pirate costumes aplenty as well as that remarkable ship. The conclusion includes a cute twist that emphasizes the kindness and creativity of these forest friends.

The Masked Offender - I'm pretty sure that I've seen this before, but as Tigger's secret identity, the Masked Offender, is all I remember, I wonder if I encountered it in another episode or perhaps a book. The rest of the story doesn't seem very familiar. In any case, this is another entertaining tale that seems to draw from classic heroes like the Three Musketeers and Robin Hood. Part of the episode occurs within a storybook Christopher Robin is reading, and this is where we find the most elaborate costumes and props, but Tigger doesn't do too badly in coming up with an outfit for himself after the story inspires him to follow suit.

There's humor in Tigger's choice of name, unintentionally changing "Defender" to "Offender," since all of his attempts to "rescue" others only serve to irritate them. Poor Piglet, roped into being his sidekick, doesn't know how to tell Tigger his heroics are not welcome. This is another episode that includes a mean-spirited practical joke orchestrated by Rabbit, but in this case, he doesn't work alone. Owl (Hal Smith) is particularly anxious to put a stop to Tigger's stunts. However, when a true emergency beckons, will a chastened Tigger step up to the plate to finally be a true hero? The storybook portions of this episode are great fun, but it's the intense action sequence involving one of those impossibly steep Hundred-Acre Wood canyons that really makes this episode.

Disney has released Winnie the Pooh Halloween specials before. Cowboy Pooh includes none of those, but the three episodes, taken together, feel Halloweenish because most of the characters spend the majority of their time in costume. Thus, this is a particularly good video for October, but any time of year, it may just inspire a creative playtime costume or two.

The Town Egghead's Priorities Shift in The Last Days of Eugene Meltsner

I’ve always been a sucker for super-nerdy types in television and movies. In the Christian video series Adventures in Odyssey, Eugene Meltsner (Will Ryan) fits that role perfectly. This brainiac whose eyes are perpetually hidden behind his thick glasses is always tinkering with something, and in The Last Days of Eugene Meltsner, the gangly geek’s mind is preoccupied with a big project. The deadline looms before him, and he does not have the patience to deal with kids messing around with his equipment. However, after giving young Dylan and his sister a taste of his newest contraption, he abruptly changes his focus. What’s going on?

This is an episode that incorporates several fantastical inventions that allow the characters to travel to another place – or at least pretend that they are doing so. We see them traversing the desert hitched up to a team of ants and zooming through the bloodstream in a tiny submersible. Mr. Whittaker (Hal Smith), the kindly proprietor of beloved local hangout Whit’s End, and Dylan have a pulse-pounding virtual adventure, while Eugene has a real one as he gets caught in a bank heist and finds unexpected stores of heroism.

This is an interesting video because of what it reveals about Eugene, who is one of the central characters but is most often used for exposition or comic relief. Here, he’s right at the heart of the episode, and other characters, particularly a cousin named Bernard who works as a janitor, discuss his history, which includes being orphaned at an early age. This exploration is great, since Eugene is such a terrific character, and it’s nice to see him so involved in exciting exploits that include disarming a bomb and dangling from the side of a building.

On the other hand, I found this episode a little harder to connect to than others I’ve watched. It’s hard to say just why. The animation and voice work is perfectly up to snuff, with Ryan being the cast standout this time around as Eugene undergoes a rapidly changing series of emotions. He gets most of the laughs of the episode but also the pathos. Bernard is a fairly engaging side character, but none of the others really entertained me that much this time around. Whit, on the other hand, continues to be a steady source of wisdom and common sense.

Eugene quotes a psalm at one point in the episode, and its theme of treasuring each day because life could end tomorrow carries throughout the story. He seems to take it as an indication that nothing he does matters unless its results are immediate. His abandonment of his experiments is, in effect, a rejection of what makes him so special. Hence, the episode’s focus is using one’s gifts for good and not giving in to despair. It’s a good message, but I’m not sure it comes across as well as it could, particularly since the episode ends on a comical note that robs Eugene of a bit of his dignity.

The Last Days of Eugene Meltsner is a fun video for fans of Eugene, and it also invites contemplation about how one’s priorities might shift when faced with mortality. While I didn’t find it quite as entertaining as some of the others, it is still a solid episode.

Dylan Tries to Prove Whit's Innocence in Adventues in Odyssey: Shadow of a Doubt

Back in the 1990s, my grandparents introduced me to the Christian video series Adventures in Odyssey, which focuses on the residents of a small, close-knit community where extraordinary things always seem to be happening. That video was a spoof of science fiction, specifically Star Trek, and other videos have similarly spoofed particular genres. In Shadow of a Doubt, we get a nice blend of mystery and courtroom drama.

John Avery Whitaker (Hal Smith), the kindly Captain Kangaroo type who runs the malt shop Whit’s End, has been arrested under suspicion of being the Cat Burglar, a shadowy diamond thief. The evidence is stacked against him; his face is on surveillance footage, his fingerprints are on a glass at the scene of the crime and his faithful assistant, geeky Eugene Meltsner (Will Ryan),discovered some diamonds buried behind the shop. It doesn’t look good for Whit, but local kid Dylan Taylor (Victor DiMattia), who considers Whit a true friend and mentor, can’t believe he could ever commit such a crime. With a camcorder in tow and his trusty hound dog by his side, can Dylan clear his name in time?

This half-hour-long 1993 video written and directed by Mike Joens and Ken C. Johnson is fairly typical for the series in that it involves several established, realistic characters interacting with minor, overblown ones. Most of the really funny moments have to do with these quirky minor characters; in this case, that means the overzealous drill sergeant of a detective who comes to arrest Whit and the hot-headed prosecuting attorney who makes a case against him in court. The video also pokes fun at sensational journalism and people’s reactions to it in a series of newspaper clipping montages that remind me of the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The animation is pretty standard for a direct-to-video series. It’s not blow-you-away great, but it’s perfectly serviceable, and some of the characters have a very appealing look to them, especially Whit and Eugene. The suspenseful music by John Campbell adds to the fun. The voice work is good as well, and I especially enjoyed the interplay between brawny, booming Investigator Stark and his diminutive partner, Reed, who rolls his eyes frequently and speaks in a flat, higher tone. Whit, arguably the central character in the series, speaks in his usual folksy, comforting manner, though there’s an edge of panic that creeps in now and then as he realizes how few people believe him.

The one thing that surprised me about this installment is that the video never quotes from the Bible or even mentions God. In Star Quest, for instance, the passage about the importance of each part of the body is crucial to the climax of the episode. Whit, Eugene and Dylan act in a manner consistent with the other videos, but it is a recollection of a pertinent childhood memory from his dad that helps bolster his faith in his old friend. Still, although this episode is not as overtly Christian as others in the series, it’s a funny, exciting episode that celebrates the value of supporting your friends in their darkest hours.