| Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving | |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by |
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| Written by | Barbara Slade |
| Produced by | Harry Arends Barbara Ferro Karl Geurs Ken Tsumura |
| Starring |
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| Narrated by | Laurie Main |
| Music by | Original score: Carl Johnson Scores from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Steve Nelson Thomas Richard Sharp |
Production |
Walt Disney Home Video |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Home Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 70 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States[1] |
| Language | English |
Seasons of Giving (also known as Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving) is a 1999 American direct-to-video Christmas animated musical film which included A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving, and two episodes from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Groundpiglet Day and Find Her, Keep Her). It features new songs by The Sherman Brothers.
Tigger wants to ski, but Winnie the Pooh and Piglet point out that there's no snow. So, they go ask Rabbit what day of the year it is, but after opening his front door and letting the wind blow in, Rabbit's calendar pages (November to February) get torn off and get swept under Rabbit's bed, but he has no idea, and announces that it's February 2, Groundhog Day. In an effort to find out if there are two more weeks of winter or if spring comes tomorrow, they ask Gopher if there is a shadow. Gopher glares and points out he's a gopher not a groundhog, so they have Piglet pretend to be a groundhog. His hat falls over his eyes, preventing him from seeing. Thinking that winter is over, they all prepare for spring by airing out their houses, planting gardens and spring cleaning. Later that day, it snows. Feeling that he's been duped, Rabbit is quite mad with Piglet for lying to him, telling him that it's all his fault. Piglet tries to defend himself, but Rabbit refuses to listen. Rabbit storms back home to see wind blowing into his house and the calendar pages being blown outside. After putting the lost pages back on the calendar, he realizes that it's not actually Groundhog Day, it's only November 13. Feeling contrite over what he has done, Rabbit goes to apologize to Piglet, only to find a note from Piglet saying that he's gone to look for a real groundhog. Rabbit frantically goes looking for Piglet. Meanwhile, Piglet looks for a groundhog, but gets covered in snow. He digs himself out and heads home, but leaves his cap behind in the snow pile. Rabbit finds the snow pile and, thinking that Piglet is frozen solid, rushes him back home, where Pooh and Tigger are waiting. They try to help "Piglet", but end up melting the snow pile, forcing them to collect the melted snow in a bowl just as Piglet arrives. After Rabbit apologizes to Piglet for his mistake, he realizes that Piglet is right behind him and that the "frozen Piglet" was just a normal snow pile. Rabbit then tells everyone that it's November 13. So, they decide to get ready for Thanksgiving.
When Thanksgiving finally arrives, Winnie the Pooh and his friends bring food for the big dinner: honey, acorns, lemonade, biscuits, thistles and ice cream. However, Rabbit informs them that the items they brought are not traditional to Thanksgiving. He insists that a special traditional time of year should include special traditional items: turkey, cranberry sauce, special dishes and pumpkin pie. Rabbit assigns Owl to wash the dishes, Gopher to make the pumpkin pie, Tigger and Eeyore to pick the cranberries, and most importantly, Pooh and Piglet to get the turkey (which Piglet believes to be a monstrous bird). Tigger and Eeyore gather the cranberries, but fail to notice that there is a hole in the sack they used to gather the cranberries. Meanwhile, Gopher blows up some pumpkins to make the pumpkin pie, creating a big mess in Rabbit's house. When Tigger and Eeyore head back to gather more cranberries, they end falling in the turkey trap Pooh and Piglet had set up. Thinking they have captured a real turkey, Pooh and Piglet bring the sack containing Tigger and Eeyore back to Rabbit. Tigger and Eeyore manage to break out of the sack, shocking everyone. In his excitement, Tigger flings the pumpkin pie in the air. Chaos breaks out as Rabbit manages to catch the pie, only to get his face planted into the pie by Tigger after knocking him off the fallen table. Owl loses control of the pile of plates he washed and thanksgiving decorations are destroyed. Demoralized, Rabbit calls off the feast and sadly heads back home. Everyone else disappointedly follows soon. While sadly and contemplatively eating his honey, Pooh realizes that if they all shared the food they originally brought, everyone can have a great Thanksgiving. Inspired and reinvigorated by this insight, Pooh rallies everyone and they surprise Rabbit with the Thanksgiving dinner they have set up. Dazed and confused at first, Rabbit is warmed by the gesture. They are all joined by Christopher Robin, who proposes a toast (with lemonade) to the best Thanksgiving celebration ever. Everyone sings about what Thanksgiving is really about: friends and thankfulness.
A month later, on Christmas Eve, everyone (except Gopher and Christopher Robin) are at Rabbit's house celebrating Christmas. When Rabbit receives a letter from a bluebird named Kessie, he tells the story of how he met Kessie. In a flashback, Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Rabbit are trying to save a carrot from the winter storm, but are forced to abandon it upon seeing Kessie blowing away in the wind. They save her, but also make a mess in Rabbit's house. Rabbit decides to take care of her. Later, after an accident with preparing a bottle of milk for Kessie, he leaves Pooh and Piglet to watch over Kessie while he goes to work in the garden. They try giving Kessie a bath, but another accident occurs that causes the house to explode soap bubbles, with Kessie caught inside one. Rabbit manages to save her and makes her promise not to go in the air again despite how much she enjoys it. Later that summer, Rabbit reluctantly lets Kessie play with Tigger, but they end up on a fallen tree dangling over a cliff. Rabbit and Owl manage to save them before the tree falls down the cliff. Owl intends to teaches Kessie to fly, but an overprotective Rabbit refuses to let her, thinking that it is dangerous, and with that, they go home. In the fall, Kessie looks out the window to see wild ducks flying south for the winter. For days, she tries to fly without Rabbit knowing, but is caught by Pooh. Deciding to help, Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet have an idea on how to get Kessie south for the winter, a giant slingshot. When Kessie is about to take off, Rabbit arrives and stops her. He yells at Pooh for teaching Kessie to fly against his wishes and expresses disappointment to Kessie for breaking her promise, but Kessie explains that flying is what she's meant to do. Next, he tells Tigger to stay out of the conversation when he interrupts and let go of the slingshot. Tigger protests, so Rabbit forcefully does it for him, but (realizing too late that he is still inside the slingshot) is launched forwards and falls off the same cliff Kessie had fallen off of that summer. Kessie quickly swoops down and grabs Rabbit, and brings him back to the top. Now that Kessie can fly, she plans on going south the next day; this upsets Rabbit. The next morning, Owl, Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger say goodbye to Kessie as she prepares to fly south. Meanwhile, Rabbit finds a potted carrot that Kessie had planted in the summer. Deciding to respect Kessie's wishes, he rushes to say goodbye to Kessie, but is too late. However, he is happy when Kessie comes back to say goodbye. Pooh and Piglet later talk about seeing Kessie against before seeing Rabbit nearby, waiting for Kessie to come back. Back in the present, Rabbit tells Roo that he has not seen Kessie since then. Everyone hurries outside to decorate a tree. Christopher Robin arrives to help decorate. After the tree is done, Rabbit realizes he forgot the most important part: a star to go on top of the tree. Rabbit is really sad but then sees a falling star. Everyone gathers to make a wish, only to realize that it's not a falling star. It is Kessie holding a star, which she puts on the tree. Rabbit and Kessie hug, and Kessie wishes Rabbit a Merry Christmas.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Winnie the Pooh" | The Sherman Brothers | M-pact | |
| 2. | "Seasons of Giving" | The Sherman Brothers | Chorus | |
| 3. | "Hooray, Hooray" | Michael Silversher & Patty Silversher | Jim Cummings | |
| 4. | "The Turkey Song" | Michael Silversher & Patty Silversher | Jim Cummings & Steve Schatzberg | |
| 5. | "Berrily We Roll Along" | Michael Silversher & Patty Silversher | Jim Cummings | |
| 6. | "Our Thanksgiving Day" | Michael Silversher & Patty Silversher | Jim Cummings, Steve Schatzberg, Ken Sansom & Andre Stojka |
Seasons of Giving was originally released on VHS on November 9, 1999. It was released on DVD on November 4, 2003.
It was reissued again as a 10th anniversary gift set edition on DVD on September 29, 2009 the same day as Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa DVD. This release included a collectible stocking gift pack.
