''Seasons of Giving'' (also known as ''Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving'') is a 1999 American

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

that included ''

A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving ''A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving'' is a 1998 made-for-TV special featuring the voice talents of Jim Cummings, Paul Winchell, and John Fiedler. The special shows Pooh and his friends learning the true meaning of Thanksgiving. It was nominated fo ...

'', and the two episodes from ''

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ''The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by authors A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, ''The New Adventures'' was the ...

'' (''Groundpiglet Day'' and ''Find Her, Keep Her'') (these episodes take place during the first two seasons). It features a new song by the

Sherman Brothers The Sherman Brothers were an American songwriting duo that specialized in musical films, made up of brothers Robert Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) and Richard Sherman (June 12, 1928 – May 25, 2024). Together they received ...

Plot

Groundpiglet Day

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 Groundhog Day (, , , ; Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a tradition observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if ...

. 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 Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They ar ...

not a

groundhog The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as the woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. A lowland creature of North America, it is found through much of the Easte ...

, 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

, 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 Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

A Winnie the Pooh 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.

Find Her, Keep Her

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 A slingshot or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two tubes or strips made from either a natural rubber or synthetic elastic material. These are attached to the upper two ends ...

. 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.

Voice cast

Jim Cummings James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in over 400 titles. Cummings has frequently worked with the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., serving as the offic ...

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...

and Tigger (singing and new segments) **

Paul Winchell Paul Winchell (''Birth name, né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, humanitarian, and inventor whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Pa ...

as Tigger (archive footage) * Steve Schatzberg as Piglet (singing and new segments) **

John Fiedler John Donald Fiedler (February 3, 1925 – June 25, 2005) was an American actor. Recognizable for his high, flutey voice, Fiedler's career lasted more than 55 years in stage, film, television and radio. Fiedler was typecast beginning ear ...

as Piglet (archive footage) *

Ken Sansom Frank Kenneth Sansom (April 2, 1927 – October 8, 2012) was an American actor. Among his best known roles, Sansom voiced Rabbit (Winnie-the-Pooh)#Disney adaptations, Rabbit in animated television series, television specials, and films for Disney ...

Rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

Brady Bluhm Brady Bluhm is an American former child actor (born 1982 or 1983). He provided the voice of Christopher Robin in a number of '' Winnie the Pooh'' projects from 1997 to 2005, as well as the bit role of Billy in 4C in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchi ...

Christopher Robin Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, based on his son Christopher Robin Milne. The character appears in the author's popular books of poetry and ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' stories, and has subsequently appeared in various Disney ...

** Tim Hoskins as

(archive footage) ** Frankie J. Galasso as Christopher Robin's singing voice *

Gregg Berger Gregory Alan Berger (born December 10, 1950) is an American voice actor. He is known for his roles as Jecht from ''Final Fantasy X'' and the ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'' games, Grimlock from ''The Transformers (TV series), The Transformers'', Myste ...

Eeyore Eeyore ( ) is a fictional character in the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by A. A. Milne. He is an old, grey stuffed donkey and friend of the title character, Winnie-the-Pooh. Eeyore is generally characterised as pessimistic, depressed, and an ...

(new segments) **

Peter Cullen Peter Claver Cullen (born July 28, 1941) is a Canadian voice actor. He voiced Optimus Prime in the original 1980s ''The Transformers (TV series), Transformers'' animated series, later returning to the role in ''Transformers'' media in 2007, sta ...

(archive footage) * Amber Hood as Kessie (new segments) **Laura Mooney as Kessie (archive footage) * Nikita Hopkins as Roo *

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...

as Kanga *

Andre Stojka Andre Stojka is an American voice actor. He is best known for his role as the voice of Owl in the Winnie-the-Pooh franchises starting with ''Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin'' inheriting the role from Hal Smith after h ...

Owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

** Hal Smith as

(archive footage) * Michael Gough as Gopher * Laurie Main as Mr. Narrator

Songs

Release

''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 and includes two bonus episodes from

''Magic Earmuffs'' and ''The Wishing Bear.''

References

External links

* * {{Sherman Brothers 1999 animated films 1999 films 1999 children's films 1999 direct-to-video films 1990s American animated films 1990s Christmas films 1990s musical comedy-drama films 1990s fantasy comedy films 1990s musical fantasy films 1990s children's fantasy films American children's animated fantasy films American films with live action and animation American children's animated musical films Animated anthology films Animated Christmas films American Christmas films American fantasy comedy films American musical comedy-drama films American musical fantasy films Children's comedy-drama films Winnie-the-Pooh films Direct-to-video fantasy films Disney direct-to-video animated films Winnie the Pooh (franchise) Disney Television Animation films 1999 comedy-drama films 1990s children's animated films Films directed by Jun Falkenstein 1990s English-language films Cultural depictions of Christopher Robin Milne English-language musical comedy-drama films English-language musical fantasy films English-language fantasy comedy films English-language Christmas films 1999 musical films