Official thread for Disney's Winnie the Pooh: DVD Out 10/25 (Updated 9/9 post #34)

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BACKSON (voice of Huell Howser)

The Backson is a horrible, malicious, ferocious creature that has captured Christopher Robin—at least that’s what Owl convinces the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood. According to Owl, the Backson is a giant creature with a tail, a shaggy hide, sharp horns and red hair. It doesn’t smell very good—unless monkeys’ feet smell good—and it’s behind some of life’s greatest frustrations—stopped clocks, holey socks, broken crayons and spilled tea, among others. But is there really such a thing as a Backson… or has Owl misinterpreted Christopher Robin’s note, “Gone out. Busy. Back soon,” as something much more serious?

©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Eric Goldberg was the supervising animator for the Backson song. “To illustrate to all of his friends just what a Backson is and does, Owl starts drawing on a chalkboard,” says Goldberg. “Once he starts drawing, we’re in chalk world. It’s animated and drawn in a way that looks crude enough for the audience to believe that Owl has actually drawn it. We come out of it when Owl has convinced them all and they go off in search of the creature they think has Christopher Robin.”

(L-R) Don Hall, Craig Ferguson, Stephen J. Anderson Ph: Eric Charbonneau ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

• “The Backson Song” is performed by the voice of Owl, Craig Ferguson, along with the voices of Owl’s friends.
• Animating to music requires a good ear, which Goldberg admits, he doesn’t have. But he finds a way to make it work, much like he did for “The Princess and the Frog,” for which he supervised the animation for Tiana’s song, “Almost There.”

 

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It had been 35 years since the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood had stepped foot in Walt Disney Animation Studios (recent films came from the straight-to-DVD unit), so it was important to Lasseter and the directors to bring these characters back in a very special way on the big screen. “Our mandate was that Winnie the Pooh should find a broad audience—little kids, big kids, teenagers, 20-somethings and beyond,” says Hall. “We felt we needed to take him back to his roots.”

Reference for Owl's House ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

To get a feel for the stories’ setting, the filmmakers visited Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England, where A.A. Milne wrote the Winnie the Pooh books and where the real Christopher Robin spent his summer vacations. They visited several London museums to check out E.H. Sheperd’s original drawings, and screened the classic films for the cast, crew and their families—earning laughs from all ages, which was encouraging to the team.

Owl's House ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

“We all fell in love with the featurettes that Walt did back in the late ‘60s,” says Hall, who wasn’t as familiar with the characters at the project’s onset, but has since become a fan. “We watched the old films again and again and we also went back to A.A. Milne’s original text—we read both books and tried to pull stories that we felt hadn’t been explored much on film.”

Trees (and star, Winnie The Pooh) ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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Then the team turned to their secret weapon: Burny Mattinson. “I’m a story man,” says the veteran Disney animator. Mattinson is one of the few Disney artists who can say he worked with Walt Disney—and he’s still on staff at Walt Disney Animation Studios more than 50 years later.

©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

“We were so lucky to have Burny, one of the greatest storymen of all time, leading the development of the story,” says executive producer John Lasseter. “They had a blast visualizing and telling these stories, and it shows.”

Progression 1 of 5 Story Sketch ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adds Hall, “There’s nobody better to channel the spirit, the charm of classic Disney. We call him the Pooh guru because he’s been our guiding light throughout the process.”

Progression 2 of 5 Layout ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mattinson started in the Disney’s mailroom in 1953. He was just 18, but that didn’t stop him from rising through the ranks—within six months, Mattinson was working as an in-betweener on “Lady and the Tramp” (1955). Ten years later, he met Winnie the Pooh. “I started working on ‘Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree’ in 1964,” says Mattinson. “I was working as an assistant to Eric Larson at the time—he was one of the Nine Old Men.”

Progression 3 of 5 Rough Animation ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

The film, says Mattinson, started out as a feature—but Walt Disney decided to release an abbreviated version as a featurette. “The first featurette did so well,” says Mattinson, “Walt said ‘let’s put out a second one.’ And ‘Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day’ did even better and won an Academy Award®.”

Progression 4 of 5 Clean-up ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

According to Mattinson, Winnie the Pooh—the films and the merchandise that followed—became a huge success. The Studio created a third featurette, “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too,” for which Mattinson served as a key animator. The featurettes were later combined into a 1977 feature, “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.”

Progression 5 of 5 Final Color ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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The animated short film "The Ballad of Nessie" will be the leading film opening with Winnie the Pooh.

ABOUT THE SHORT

MacQuack, Nessie ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Set in the “bonny blue highlands” of Scotland, “The Ballad of Nessie” is a whimsical and colorful tall tale about the friendly Loch Ness monster, Nessie, and how she and her best friend MacQuack the rubber duck came to live in the moor they now call home. Setting the adventure into motion is a greedy land developer named MacFroogle, who decides to build a mini-golf empire on top of Nessie’s home.

MacFroogle ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

Directed by the Emmy® Award-winning team of Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (“Prep & Landing,” and the 2007 Goofy short “How to Hook Up Your Home Theater”), “The Ballad of Nessie” is animated in classic Disney hand-drawn style. Written by Wermers-Skelton, Deters and Regina Conroy, the film is produced by Dorothy McKim and Tamara Boutcher, and features a musical score by Oscar®-winning composer Michael Giacchino (“Ratatouille,” “Up”). Animation on “Nessie” was supervised by five of Disney’s top talents: Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, Dale Baer and Ruben A. Aquino. Scottish comedian Billy Connolly narrates the film.

“The Ballad of Nessie” hits the big screen with Walt Disney Animation Studio’s latest feature film “Winnie the Pooh,” which opens in theaters in select international markets in Spring 2011; the U.S. release date is July 15, 2011.

 

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More images from "The Ballad of Nessie"

Nessie ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

MacFroogle (center) ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

Nessie ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Nessie with pigs ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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Character sketch and color model for "The Ballad of Nessie"

Character Design Sketch - MacFroogle ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

Color Model ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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Winnie the Pooh Father's Day materials released by Walt Disney Studios (1 of 3).

Continue to next post for a Father's Day cupcake recipe.

 

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Winnie the Pooh Father's Day materials released by Walt Disney Studios (2 of 3).

Continue to the next post for a special coupon book.

 

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Winnie the Pooh Father's Day materials released by Walt Disney Studios (3 of 3).

 

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Disney released these images of our rumbly tumbly friend from the Hundred Acre Wood is showing his (red, white and blue) colors in celebration of Independence Day next week.

Winnie the Pooh ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

Winnie the Pooh ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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In preparation for Friday's release of Winnie the Pooh, four more images were released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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Walt Disney Studios released a new clip for Winnie the Pooh called "Pooh's Note."

©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

Follow the link to watch the clip.
http://youtu.be/UgcwFWoY83k

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Walt Disney Studios released another clip from Winnie the Pooh called "Owl's Cold."

©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

Follow the link below to watch the clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkCMqhPULdc&feature=youtu.be

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

ALL THE BELOVED CHARACTERS
FROM THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD ARE BACK!​

© Disney. All Rights Reserved.​

DELIGHTFUL ALL-NEW MOVIE COMES HOME TO BLU-RAY™,
DVD AND MOVIE DOWNLOAD OCTOBER 25th

Includes an Exclusive Short, Sing-Along Option and Hours More
of Exciting Bonus Features!​

From Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment:

Burbank, Calif. (September 9, 2011) - Walt Disney Studios proudly invites families and audiences of all ages to return to the Hundred Acre Wood with some of the world's most beloved characters, as “Winnie the Pooh,” the delightful all-new animated feature film comes home to Blu-ray Combo Pack for the very first time, as well as DVD and Movie Download on October 25, 2011. Reuniting audiences with Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore (who has lost his tail), “Winnie the Pooh” is a honey of an in-home release containing hours of immersive bonus features, including exclusive animated shorts “The Ballad of Nessie” and “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon;” a sing-along viewing option; an informative behind-the-scenes featurette for the whole family and deleted scenes with director commentary – all available on Blu-ray Combo Pack.

Inspired by the beloved stories from A.A. Milne's books and crafted in Disney's classic style, “Winnie the Pooh,” is the most critically-acclaimed animated film of 2011*. It is narrated by the voice of John Cleese and features the vocal talents of legendary voice actor Jim Cummings (over 350 voices including Gnomeo & Juliet) and a host of other distinctive actors including Craig Ferguson (TV's 'The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'), Tom Kenny (TV's 'SpongeBob SquarePants'), Bud Luckey (Toy Story 3) and musical performances by Zooey Deschanel (indie folk band “She & Him”).

The all-new “Winnie the Pooh” brings back to life the timeless charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes and characters. Sure to become a family favorite for every household, it is directed by Stephen Anderson (Meet The Robinsons) and Don Hall (The Princess and The Frog) and Executive Produced by John Lasseter.

Film Synopsis
Disney returns to the Hundred Acre Wood with “Winnie the Pooh.” Featuring the timeless charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical “bear of very little brain” and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo – and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail. “Ever have one of those days where you just can't win, Eeyore?” asks Pooh. Owl sends the whole gang on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply set out to find some honey. Disney's all-new “Winnie the Pooh” movie is inspired by three stories from A.A. Milne's books in Disney's classic, hand-drawn art.

Blu-ray ™Bonus Features:

• Exclusive bonus short “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon” – In this charming short, Pooh comes up with a daring plan to get a hold of some honey by fooling a group of bees.
  [*]“The Ballad of Nessie” - The animated short film included in the theatrical release is the heartwarming tale of how Nessie found her new home in the Loch Ness.
  [*]“Winnie the Pooh and His Story Too” – A fun and informative behind-the-scenes look at the film, designed for the whole family. Hosted by John Cleese (narrator of the film), and with occasional help from Pooh himself, this featurette explores Winnie the Pooh‟s history from his beginnings as a character in a book, to his continued life in the movies. The filmmakers reveal how they worked to keep the look of the characters and settings in this movie consistent with their first appearances on-screen in 1966. Pooh, being a bear of very little mind, finds much of this confusing, but the Narrator and the filmmakers make it all clear to Pooh – and you!
• Deleted Scenes introduced by directors, Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 5 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “”Rabbit‟s Friends and Relations,” “Original Eeyore Intro,” “Original Tigger Intro” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail”
• Sing-Along with the Movie – Follow the red balloon and changing word colors to seven song lyrics featured in the film. Disney Song Selection – “Winnie the Pooh Theme Song,” “The Tummy Song, “A Very Important Thing To Do,” “The Backson Song,” “It‟s Gonna Be Great,” “Everything is Honey” and “The Winner Song Finale”

DVD Bonus Features:

• “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon”
• “The Ballad of Nessie”
• Deleted scenes introduced by directors, Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 3 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “”Rabbit‟s Friends and Relations” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail”

Movie Download Bonus Features:

• “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon”
• “The Ballad of Nessie”
• Deleted Scenes introduced directors. Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 3 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “Rabbit‟s Friends and Relations” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail”