| A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving | |
|---|---|
 Screenshot of the dinner scene | |
| Written by | Carter Crocker |
| Directed by | Jun Falkenstein |
| Voices of | |
| Music by | Carl Johnson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies | Walt Disney Television Animation Walt Disney Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | November 26, 1998 (1998-11-26) |
A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving is a 1998 made-for-TV special featuring the voice talents ofJim Cummings,Paul Winchell, andJohn Fiedler. The special showsPooh and his friends learning the true meaning ofThanksgiving. It was nominated forPrimetime Emmy forOutstanding Children's Program.[1]
It's Thanksgiving in the Hundred Acre Wood and Winnie the Pooh and his friends bring food for the feast. Pooh brings honey, Piglet brings acorns, Gopher brings lemonade, Owl brings biscuits, Eeyore brings thistles, and Tigger brings "hot chocolatey" ice cream. But Rabbit tells them that they need a real feast with turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie and sends them on a scavenger hunt to get them (Eeyore and Tigger to pick the cranberries, Gopher to gather pumpkins for the pie, and Pooh and Piglet to get the turkey).[2][3][4] When everything goes wrong (Tigger and Eeyore losing the cranberries, Pooh and Piglet mistaking the former two for a turkey caught in their trap, the decorations and pumpkin pie getting destroyed), Rabbit believes Thanksgiving is ruined and therefore cannot proceed. Despite everyone else giving up on Thanksgiving as well, Pooh comes to realize that it's more about giving and sharing what you have with your friends. In light of this realization, he gathers all of his friends back up (including the initially-hesitant Rabbit) and they proceed with their original Thanksgiving feast.
The special was originally airedThanksgiving Day 1998 at 8 pm onABC.[5] It reaired every year on Thanksgiving until 2003. According to TVTango.com's ratings database, the first airing brought in a 3.8 household Nielsen rating.
The video has not been released by itself, with the exception of specially released tapes that were given to members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences forthat year's show. It was released as part of theVHS cassetteWinnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving with the narrator's lines were redubbed by Laurie Main, and the ending scene was shortened down, along with select episodes ofThe New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1999.
'Tis the weekend for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a new Winnie the Pooh special, the Hollywood Christmas Parade and several ice skating specials.
