As a fan of Winnie the Pooh, 'The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' was always one of my favourite shows as a child. Not all childhood favourites have held up, but 'The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' is one of the strongest examples of those that have.
While the original three 60s-70s short films ('Honey Tree', 'Blustery Day' and 'Tigger Too') and the 1977 'The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' are just a little better, 'The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' is one of the Winnie the Pooh franchise's high points. Two of my favourite episodes in a rare show where there were no bad episodes are "There's No Camp Like Home" and "Balloonatics".
The animation is very bright, well drawn and colourful. Love the nocturnal visual style of "There's No Camp Like Home" and even more striking is "Balloonatics" especially in Pooh's nightmare. The music is playfully jaunty and beautifully orchestrated, enhancing scarier moments with hauntingly urgent scoring, sadder moments with poignant and particularly lush and emotional scoring and the more playful moments with a jaunty touch. The theme tune is very rousing and one of the catchiest theme songs of any animated show of the late 80s. One will find themselves humming Pooh's song in "Balloonatics" long afterwards.
Writing has a perfect mix of whimsy, drollness, wit, charm and childhood innocence, with Tigger, Papa Heffalump and Pooh having the best lines. Both the story lines are beautifully paced and never feel like there's too much going on or too thin, with "Balloonatics" having more memorable scenes like Pooh's song, the whole misunderstanding with the balloon deflating but mistaken for broken and Pooh's nightmare which is the very meaning of...well, nightmarish.
As always the characters shine, Pooh is adorable and Tigger is hilarious. Plus the Heffalumps are very memorable supporting characters (particularly Papa), the bond between the friends will make one squeal with delight and one can't help adore everybody's loyalty to Christopher Robin. The voice acting is excellent, particularly from Jim Cummings and Paul Winchell (unequalled as Tigger, Cummings is fine as the character later on but Winchell made the character iconic).
Overall, love the show in general and "There's No Camp Like Home" and "Balloonatics" are just two of many, many favourites. 10/10 Bethany Cox
