It's a package film
In a documentary about this film, Richard M. Sherman said that they'd had an entire story written for it and two thirds of it were in storyboards.
But one day, they had a meeting with Walt, who expressed his deep thinking about how Pooh Bear was more popular in England than the US.
Walt's words were, "What we're gonna do is platform this property. We're not just going to put out a feature. Because American audiences are not familiar with Winnie the Pooh at all".
So first they made a short film called Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, the one where Pooh gets stuck in Rabbit's doorway.
Three years later, they made another short film, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, the one with the windstorm and the introduction of Tigger and the flood.
And then there was Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, where Pooh and pals try to stop Tigger from bouncing.
Walt only lived to see the first one get released, but true to his word, the three of them were combined into a full movie in 1977 with a brand new ending (see #6).
YOU ARE READING
Top 20 Winnie the Pooh facts
FanfictionTwenty facts about the many adventures of that silly old bear.
