Bruce Talkington (1949–2000)

I've long contended, that with the exception of a few decent songs, Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin is the worst of Disney's Pooh movies. It's the first film to really stray far from the Milne canon, playing excessively fast and loose with the Busy Backson chapter from The House at Pooh Corner. I believe that's a result of being produced as a direct-to-video release by the TV animation group that gave us the equally freewheeling The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh show more series. The whole film is forcefully squeezed between scenes in the closing chapter of the preceding The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh movie to give it some unearned credibility.

This adaptation ditches the most morose and gloomiest elements, but it also discards the lesson for which the film is most famous: "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart…I’ll always be with you.” (A quote often attributed to Milne but original to this Disney screenplay, written by Karl Geurs and Carter Crocker.) It's a bland, bare-bones regurgitation of the main story points without any soul.

FOR REFERENCE:

Adaptation written by Bruce Talkington and illustrated by John Kurtz based on the direct-to-video film Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin written by Karl Geurs and Carter Crocker, loosely based on A. A. Milne's The House at Pooh Corner, Chapter 5: "In Which Rabbit Has a Busy Day, and We Learn What Christopher Robin Does in the Mornings."

In our old book database, I first read this book to my daughter in 2002: I rated it "Indifferent," and Adelia rated it "Good."

(Pooh Project: Phase 2! I've managed to catalog all the shorter Pooh books my family owns (see the list here). While I work through few remaining longer Pooh books we own, I'm missing my daily dose of Pooh, so I'm going to start seeking out some of the Pooh books I don't own – yet – from libraries IRL and online. See the reviews here.) show less

I'm reading this as part of my Pooh Project as there are several Pooh stories herein.

This collection is full of not very scary stories targeted at very young children. Many of the stories are adaptation of Disney animated features, shorts, or TV episodes, but there are quite a few original stories also. It's bland, corporate creativity, but kids will probably like it. As for me, the Pooh stories were the best part, of course.

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Jack's Story / Tennant show more Redbank, author; adapted from the story by Tim Burton, adaptation by Michael McDowell, and screenplay by Caroline Thompson
~ 2 stars ~
I've never watched this movie. This adaptation seems pretty bare bones (see what I did there?), but it makes me think I should finally give the movie a try.

Winnie the Pooh: Frankenpooh / Bruce Talkington, author; John Kurtz, illustrator; adapted from the teleplay by Mark Zaslove and Carter Crocker
~ 3 stars ~
This adaptation of an episode of "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" actually amused me with it's meta bits as Tigger injects horror into Piglet's happy and cheerful story, turning it into a Frankenstein homage. And there's a fine twist ending. I immediately pulled up the show on Disney+ (season 2, episode 2) and rewatched it.

Mickey and Friends: Haunted Halloween / Diane Muldrow, author; Tilley Scott, illustrator
~ 2 stars ~
A storm and unreliable electricity cause Mickey Mouse and his friends to be briefly scared in turn by a series of mild misunderstandings. Super tame.

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad: The Headless Horseman / Jasmine Jones, author; adapted from the short film with story by Erdman Penner, Winston Hibler, Joe Rinaldi, Ted Sears, Homer Brightman, and Harry Reeves; adapted from the short story by Washington Irving
~ 2 stars ~
This adaptation strips away too much to just get to the slapstick of Ichabod Crane riding fearfully down the dark road on Halloween. The romantic triangle and the implications of Brom Bones involvement with the Headless Horseman are just gone, leaving a pretty thin and too straightforward ghost story.

Winnie the Pooh: Pooh's Bad Dream / Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld, author; Robin Cuddy, illustrator
~ 3 stars ~
I already reviewed this story earlier in the Pooh project when I read the original book:

It's "A Nightmare in Elm Tree" as a dream fiend comes for Pooh's true lifeblood -- his honey!

Or rather Pooh and friends provide comfort to young readers about bad dreams. After Pooh has a heffalump nightmare, he gets some reassurance from Christopher Robin and Piglet and is able to immediately master lucid dreaming (much to the jealousy of my daughter) and confront his fears. Nice.

It totally reminds me of the third Elm Street, "Dream Warriors" and the classic line, "In my dreams I can walk. My legs are strong. In my dreams I am the Wizard Master."

And, hey, since it's Pooh, I don't even mind putting up with dream sequences, which I usually hate.

Mickey Mouse: Runaway Brain / Kathryn Cristaldi, author; adapted from the animated short film directed by Chris Bailey from a story by Tim Hauser
~ 2 stars ~
Mickey forgets an anniversary with Minnie and accidentally promises an expensive gift to make up for it. To earn cash, he answers an ad in the paper from a mad scientist and ends up swapping brains with a monster. Very dull shenanigans ensue.

I was going to watch the original short film on Disney+ to see if this adaptation was really bad or if the source material was the problem. But it turns out the film isn't on Disney's streaming service, and this article claims Disney is intentionally suppressing the Oscar-nominated short because of internal disapproval of it:
https://www.polygon.com/features/22738384/runaway-brain-evil-mickey-short-stream...

Winnie the Pooh: Boo to You, Winnie the Pooh! / Bruce Talkington, author; Robin Cuddy, illustrator; adapted from the teleplay by Carter Crocker
~ 2 stars ~
It's all pratfalls and misunderstandings in a story that isn't nearly as funny as it wants to be. Piglet is scared of Halloween, but ends up being braver than he thinks and saves it from being a Hallowasn't. I'm not a fan of the TV special upon which this is based either. Very meh.

Donald Duck: Donald Duck and the Witch Next Door / [originally an uncredited Little Golden Book]
~ 3 stars ~
Donald learns you shouldn't start feuds with your neighbor, especially if she is the witch Madam Mim. I quickly bored of Donald acting the ass, but I did like how Huey, Dewey, and Louie made the most of the situation in the end.

Aladdin: Who's that Ghost? / Kim Ostrow, author; Disney Storybook Artists, illustrators
~ 2 stars ~
On a rainy day, the Genie decides to spice things up with a prank that turns the palace into a haunted house. Dull.

Tarzan: One Brave Gorilla / Jasmine Jones, author; Disney Storybook Artists, illustrators
~ 2 stars ~
A trio of gorillas don't want young Tarzan tagging along with them, so they try to scare him off and get him lost, but it all backfires predictably in the end.

Peter Pan: Captain Hook's Shadow / Jasmine Jones, author; Disney Storybook Artists, illustrators
~ 2 stars ~
Michael Darling gets a bit of a solo story as he learns that some nighttime shadows are more ominous than others. I was almost liking it until it turns out the whole story happens because Peter Pan is a dick . . . which I guess is the point of Peter Pan. I really should try to read that book again some day.

The Little Mermaid: The Sunken Ship / Kathryn Cristaldi, author; Disney Storybook Artists, illustrators
~ 1 stars ~
Ariel hears a mysterious sound in a shipwreck that gives her a nightmare, but she confronts her fears and finds the source. But the source is one of those things only a really bad author would come up with: a small child's wind-up toy that can run continuously underwater for 24 to 48 hours. I'll suspend disbelief for mermaids but not for that crap.

Beauty and the Beast: The Haunted Castle / Jasmine Jones, author; Disney Storybook Artists, illustrators
~ 2 stars ~
One of those tired tales where a misunderstanding makes a character think something scary is happening when rather a very good thing is happening. Meh.

Toy Story and Beyond!: Where's Woody? / Jasmine Jones, author; Disney Storybook Artists, illustrators
~ 2 stars ~
Woody falls out the window, so Jessie and Buzz set out to rescue him. Once again, nothing is as scary as it seems.

Monsters, Inc.: The Spooky Slumber Party/ Kim Ostrow, author; Disney Storybook Artists, illustrators
~ 2 stars ~
Mike gets stuck in the human world when a transporting door malfunctions, so Sulley sets out to rescue him. Once again, nothing is as scary as it seems.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... ) show less

Ugh. The first Bruce Talkington book in my Pooh Project. His are among my least favorite books about Pooh.

This one shows little imagination. Told in couplets, it has Pooh waking up and eating some honey. He wonders if it is the first day of spring, so he wanders around the Hundred-Acre Wood and meets up with all his friends one by one as he explores his hypothesis. In the end he concludes he is correct and eats some more honey. All that's missing is a "Welcome Spring" party with all the show more friends in attendance to be the epitome of the most cliched Pooh story in existence.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... ) show less

This collection of short stories reprints and adapts a bunch of stories that I own in other collections or from their original, individual publication. In the spirit of recycling, I'll be cutting-and-pasting my original reviews when applicable.

I find it amusing that the editor of this collection felt it necessary to fiddle with every story from its original appearance, making minor changes in word order and word choice throughout, maybe to achieve a certain reading level or perhaps simply as show more a way to justify their existence? It's also funny when an illustration that was tiny in its first appearance is blown up here to fill half a page or more, showing all the warts the artist intended to be invisible at the smaller size.

Be Patient, Pooh ~ 3 stars

Pooh is just adorable as he impatiently awaits his birthday party at suppertime. The story delivers a nice mix of humor and educational stuff like time telling, daily structure through mealtimes, and activities to do with friends.

Roo's New Babysitter ~ 3 stars

Frequently re-read with my daughter throughout her childhood, this amusing little story of role reversal still pleases us today.

I do have to wonder about Kanga's "shopping and supper" outing with the mysterious "Aunt Sadie," especially when she returns without a single bag or purchase. So many possibilities, the mind boggles. What does a kangaroo get up to on a girls' night out?

The Sleepover ~ 2 stars

Piglet's anxiety gets the best of him during a sleepover at Pooh's house, so Pooh enables him by moving the sleepover to Piglet's house. Ummmmm.

Eeyore's Good Day ~ 2 stars

Eeyore doesn't feel right with nothing to despair over, but Pooh's clumsiness soon enables his depression. Ummmmm.

Tigger's Moving Day ~ 3 stars

Tigger needs a new house with more bouncing room. Fortunately, unlike most places right now, the Hundred Acre Wood seems to have an inventory of empty and available residential properties. Tigger's friends help with the moving and their friendship and support make the new house feel like a home. Sweet.

Pooh Welcomes Winter ~ 3 stars

"Winter is coming," intoned Pooh grimly, unaware of the events in motion that would one day result in innocent little Piglet becoming the hardened assassin who would lay low the Night King of the Woozle Walkers with an astonishingly deft act of knife work.

But first Pooh will have to deal with a little bit of mistaken identity regarding the chubby and quiet white fellow who has appeared in the Hundred Acre Wood just as Pooh is expecting Winter's arrival and is planning a party in his honor. But he seems cold; best warm him by the fire!

This cute little tale is part of the My Very First Winnie the Pooh series, probably my favorite of the many Pooh series I bought and read to my daughter. Frequent contributor Kathleen W. Zoehfeld is probably my favorite Pooh author after Milne. Hers were the Pooh books my daughter wanted to read over and over again throughout her childhood, and considering the way my little college junior was chuckling as I read it to her yet again today, they still hold up for her too.

This version is abridged quite a bit but still holds up.

Scavenger Hunt ~ 2 stars

Christopher Robin sends the Pooh friends hunting for three concrete objects and one very sappy ending.

This is an adaptation of the original reader version by Isabel Gaines.

A Good Night's Sleep ~ 2 stars

This is the only story in the whole book that I haven't read before in some other form, and unfortunately it's a bit dull. When Rabbit can't sleep due to birds singing outside his bedroom window, he invites himself to move in with Pooh, which somehow results in Pooh becoming his assistant gardener. Pooh can't take Rabbit's early hours and grueling workload, so he brainstorms with Piglet to figure out a way to get rid of the birds.

Rabbit's Bad Mood ~ 2 stars

Rabbit's titular bad mood is caused by his garden vegetables turning out poorly: the carrots are shrunken the lettuce is wilted, the "raddish [sic]" he just bit into is too hot and spicy, and the turnips never grew at all.

After imagining that Rabbit's bad mood is a storm behind his eyes to be calmed or a cloud over his head to be blown away, Piglet and Pooh fetch some friends to fix Rabbit's mood. Owl and Tigger quickly start gaslighting him, positing that Rabbit forgot to water or even plant the seeds. And when they have Rabbit on the ropes and starting to doubt himself, they switch stories to an excess of rain ruining the garden. That's the ticket!

My stand-alone copy of this story is part of a set of "My Very First Winnie the Pooh" books I ordered in special from Australia as they do not seem to have been published in the United States. The Australian version is credited to Kathleeen W. Zoehfeld, who wrote the majority of the "My Very First Winnie the Pooh" series. However, the verso page of this collection attributes the writing to Katherine Quenot, a French writer. So I'm unclear if Zoehfeld wrote the story and Quenot simply translated it into French as "Une Journée Avec Winnie l'Oursin: Coco Lapin est de mauvaise humeur," or if Quenot wrote the original story in French and Zoehfeld was part of the team that adapted it into English or just had her name slapped on the cover randomly by Australian editors. I don't really trust the attribution skills of the editors of this collection as they give a 2017 copyright for the story when the French edition seems to have an October 2002 publication date and the English version has a 2003 copyright. Also the art is credited to "Philippe L'Atelier Harchy," which seems to be a mistaken variation on the name of prolific Disney artist Atelier Philippe Harchy.

The art of the stand-alone book does seem to have been produced or manipulated at some point in France as Pooh lives under the name "M. Sanders" (for Monsieur Sanders) instead of the "Mr. Sanders" (for Mister Sanders) found in E. H. Shepard's illustrations. And apparently, the French artists, the American writer and the Australian editors do not know the difference between moles and gophers, as Gopher will attest below:


https://i.imgur.com/WvGN2yC.png

The version of the story presented in this collection eliminates the "M. Sanders" label and the gopher picture. Also, the text is consistently different in word choice throughout from the Zoehfeld version, as if a third author stepped in to translate the script. I'm amused to think that Zoehfeld may have written the original script, then it was translated into French by Quenot, and then this book editor paid someone else for a new translation not knowing there was already an English version extant.

At least this version doesn't end with the previously unseen Eeyore suddenly showing up to share some irritating word salad insight.

But it's another Pooh story that's more interesting for what's going on behind-the-scenes.

Why Take a Nap? ~ 2 stars

Roo refuses to take a nap because FOMO! But his friends all assure him they will just be doing boring chores. And, gee willikers a good nap may just give Roo the energy he needs to win the big sack race later in the book.

Heavy-handed nap propaganda for parents whose tots just won't settle down.

As with "Rabbit's Bad Mood" above, I own a 2003 Australian version of this story under the title Nap Time for Roo which is attributed to Kathleen W. Zoehfeld. But this collection credits the story to Katherine Quenot and artist "Philippe L'Atelier Harchy." There is a French version entitled Petit Gourou n'aime pas la sieste in the "Une Journée Avec Winnie l'Oursin" series that was published in October 2002. Once again, the English version in this collection doesn't match the same word choice used throughout the Zoehfeld version, so I don't know who originated the story or produced this version.

Boo to You, Winnie the Pooh ~ 2 stars

It's all pratfalls and misunderstandings in a story that isn't nearly as funny as it wants to be. Piglet is scared of Halloween, but ends up being braver than he thinks and saves it from being a Hallowasn't. I'm not a fan of the TV special upon which this is based either. Very meh.

This is an adaptation of the book by Bruce Talkington adapting the teleplay by Carter Crocker, so being twice removed, it's quite watered down.

Piglet's Night-Lights ~ 2 stars

Piglet's fear of the dark causes him to fret over a camping trip, but he faces his fear as his Hundred-Acre pals spend the dark night helping him learn about all the many sources of light around him. Manages to be educational and tell a story, but the words and pictures didn't quite gel, with the text describing the pictures too many times or falling behind what the pictures reveal.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents:
• Be Patient, Pooh / Kathleen W. Zoehfeld, writer; Robbin Cuddy, illustrator
• Roo's New Babysitter / Kathleen W. Zoehfeld, writer; Robbin Cuddy, illustrator
• The Sleepover / Laura Driscoll, writer; Josie Yee, illustrator [from Laura Driscoll's Winnie the Pooh 5-Minute Stories: A Charming Collection of Hundred-Acre Wood Tales]
• Eeyore's Good Day / Laura Driscoll, writer; Josie Yee, illustrator [from Laura Driscoll's Winnie the Pooh 5-Minute Stories: A Charming Collection of Hundred-Acre Wood Tales]
• Tigger's Moving Day / Kathleen W. Zoehfeld, writer; Robbin Cuddy, illustrator
• Pooh Welcomes Winter / Kathleen W. Zoehfeld, writer; Robbin Cuddy, illustrator
• Scavenger Hunt / Megan Ilnittzki, adaptation writer; Studio Orlando, illustrators; based on the book Pooh's Scavenger Hunt by Isabel Gaines
• A Good Night's Sleep / Annie Auerbach, adaptation writer; based on the book Winnie the Pooh: A Good Night's Sleep
• Rabbit's Bad Mood / Katherine Quenot, writer; Atelier Philippe Harchy (attributed as Philippe L'Atelier Harchy), illustrator
• Why Take a Nap? / Katherine Quenot, writer; Atelier Philippe Harchy (attributed as Philippe L'Atelier Harchy), illustrator
• Boo to You, Winnie the Pooh / Bruce Talkington, adaptation writer; Carter Crocker, original teleplay writer; Robbin Cuddy, illustrator
• Piglet's Night-Lights / K. Emily Hutta, original writer; Atelier Philippe Harchy, illustrator

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... ) show less