You’ve wandered into the topsy-turvy world of Tulgey Wood, the blog of writer and historian Jim Fanning. Tulgey Wood celebrates artistry and creativity (and sometimes just plain madness): movies, animation, TV, books, comics—and of course Disney, lots and lots of true-blue, through-and-through Disney, including D23 and Disney twenty-three Magazine, and Sketches Magazine and the Walt Disney Collectors Society. Tulgey Wood is so fun, fascinating and full of frolicsome photos and facts, it’s scary. So wander through the wonder of it all, and enjoy.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

A Pooh "Speshal" For Christmas

Tulgey Wood's Christmas celebration gets off to a merry start with this rarely-seen ad from 1970. Once upon a time, Sears was the sole purveyor of just about everything related to Winnie the Pooh—and it was their desire to promote their Pooh line of merchandise and (especially) clothes that led Pooh to become a television star. as you can see from the newspaper ad reproduced here, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day made its television debut on Monday November 30, 1970. "Pooh-ites" everywhere rejoiced as this Oscar-winning featurette brought Pooh's "frolics, songs, and fun, fun, fun, fun" (that last bit of the list undoubtedly a nod to Tigger's line from the Sherman Brothers' "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers") came to TV, just in time for Sears (the sole sponsor of this Disney special) to display all their wares for the Christmas season. Disney animation on TV in 1970 was rare indeed (especially when broadcast outside the regular Disney Sunday night showcase), as was the elaborate newspaper announcement. (Click on the image for a larger view. This unique advertisement, with its charmingly somewhat-off-model drawing of Pooh was, I would guess, not prepared by Disney but by Sears, which was the Pooh powerhouse behind this holiday treat.

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