I really like Thanksgiving because I consider it the proper family holiday. It's the time of year when we are all starting to slow down and "hunker down" for the winter. We're getting into the Yule Tide spirit and thinking about our past. We reconnect and catch up. It's time off from school or work (if you're lucky), and we spend those days with our close family or extended larger families.
It could be simply watching TV together or sharing a meal around the table and chatting, but I enjoy taking a moment and reflecting on what God has given us.
Thanksgiving is a holiday that doesn't get much credit. Sure, it's one of the "big three," but it's sandwiched between Christmas and Halloween, and lately, our culture seems to treat it as the distraction around (or the excuse for) Black Friday and Cyber Monday (or the thrice-annual Prime Day).
It should be about spending time with loved ones and being thankful and grateful for what we have.
As I mentioned before, time spent with family can be anything or anywhere. It doesn't have to be this big fancy meal with all the trimmings, pomp, and circumstance. It could be playing a board game, talking on the phone, or watching television.
Speaking of loved ones and television, I remember Mom borrowing Winnie the Pooh videos from the library when I was very little. How's that for a segue?
I don't remember much about those videos, other than I was absolutely terrified by the one in which a rain storm hits The Hundred Acre Woods at night, and Pooh is washed out of his home by flood waters. Despite being bright orange, Tigger was also quite scary to three—or four-year-old me. I didn't like that he wouldn't stop moving and was always jumping on things.
There was one in which the friends of the Hundred Acre Wood dropped sticks in the river off a bridge and watched them float by. I always liked that one, and when Gramps would take us down to the park, I tried to do that myself. I've since learned it's become an actual friendly competition in England called "Poohsticks."
Unfortunately, that was about the extent of my knowledge of Winnie the Pooh until my daughter came along.
My wife always enjoyed Winnie the Pooh when she was young. She was a fan of the 90s cartoon "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh." I must admit, I didn't watch that one more than once or twice, and I likely wasn't the targeted viewer for it either. "New Adventures" ran from 1988 to 1991, initially as a Disney Channel series before moving to ABC's Saturday morning lineup.
In any case, my wife has successfully turned our daughter into a Winnie the Pooh fan. I wouldn't say she's a "fan" in that she wants every toy, clothing, or piece of merch Disney pumps out, nor does she go out of her way to watch it, but she does occasionally ask to watch the show. She also happily sings along to the theme song and enjoys reading the books almost every night at bedtime.
One of her must-do rides in all of Disney World is, of course, "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh." To be honest, it may not be my favorite, but watching her light up with excitement and ride through the Hundred Acre Wood with a smile ear to ear is worth the entire trip to me each and every time.
When I was looking for a Thanksgiving-themed cartoon other than Snoopy or Garfield, the dark recesses of my mind recalled seeing something about a Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving special somewhere.
"A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving" was a 1998 made-for-TV special featuring voice actors Paul Winchell, John Fiedler, and the legendary Jim Cummings. The special shows Pooh and his friends find out the true meaning of Thanksgiving.
Airing on ABC in 1998, this animated holiday special brought Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and friends to the dinner table for a gathering of friendship and thankfulness. Any mention of food is bound to get Pooh's attention, but when Rabbit tries to push for a "true" holiday celebration with turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, things take a turn when the friends all go overboard.
Originally airing on Thanksgiving Day 1998, at 8PM Eastern on ABC, this half-hour-long special was reaired every Thanksgiving until 2003. The first showing had a 3.8 household Nielsen rating, but each year's dropoff was significant enough that the cartoon hasn't aired on ABC since. 2003 was also about the time when ABC acquired the rights to the Peanuts holiday films, so there's that.
This cartoon has never been released on home video or DVD, with the exception of some specially released tapes given to members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Occasionally, one has turned up on eBay, but expect to pay big bucks for it. Winnie the Pooh's Thanksgiving was included in the VHS cassette "Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving," along with select seasonal episodes of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The original Thanksgiving special was edited with some redubbed lines and a shortened end scene to fit the VHS time limit.
"Winnie the Pooh's Thanksgiving" opens on Thanksgiving Day in the Hundred Acre Wood, and Winnie the Pooh finds Christopher Robin drawing a turkey from the outline of his hand. Winnie says that it's only his favorite day of all, Thanksgiving Day, alluding to the fact the loveable bear likes to eat. Christopher asks Pooh what he's thankful for, and our plump little friend is stumped until he says, "Why, nothing short of everything! But most of all, I am thankful for the company of friends."
Mentioning friends, Pooh remembers that he must remind his friends that they need to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner!
Skipping away, Pooh starts to sing the first of several songs. This one, "Hooray, Hooray," is about his anticipation of the feast and his desire to give thanks. As he skips through the forest, we see his other friends, like Piglet, Owl, Tigger, Eeyore, and Gopher.
As the song ends, we find they've all brought a part of the meal to the table. Pooh has brought honey, Piglet brings acorns, Gopher brings lemonade, Owl brings biscuits, Eeyore has brought thistles, and Tigger brings "hot chocolatey" ice cream.
Winnie sighs contentedly. "Everything is as it should be." But then adds, "We're only lacking..."
Rabbit hurriedly arrives with an armful of papers, a notebook, and an artist's easel.
Pooh sighed as he finished his thought, "...Rabbit."
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Rabbit exclaims that "thistle, honey, and acorns" are not what Thanksgiving is about. Thanksgiving is about tradition, customs, and grand dinners with turkey and cranberry dressing.
Gopher starts to get excited at the thought of a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings. He sets up an easel and begins a presentation on "Rabbit's Helpful Guide to Celebration Organization." Rabbit then assigns duties and responsibilities to each member of the Hundred Acre Wood to create a "proper" Thanksgiving dinner.
First, Tigger and Eeyore are given the job of finding cranberries for the sauce, while Gopher is ordered to provide a pumpkin pie dessert. Owl must see that the dinnerware is polished, and Rabbit assigns himself to provide the decorations. Rabbit turns to Pooh and Piglet and adds, "As for you two, you have the most vital duty of all, The thing everyone so looks forward to seeing on the table! Turkey!"
Pooh asks what a turkey is, and a frustrated Rabbit provides a drawing for reference and hands them a burlap sack before walking off.
Out on the hunt, Piglet is terrified, with an imagination full of angry, scary-looking turkeys lurking everywhere. Piglet and Pooh break into the second song of the show, appropriately titled "The Turkey Song."
Meanwhile, Owl is washing the dishes in his kitchen, and Gopher is attempting to take a pile of pumpkins and turn them into pumpkin pie. Eeyore and Tigger are having troubles of their own. They are having difficulty transporting their sack full of berries, which keep falling out of Eeyore's bag.
Piglet and Pooh have set up a trap to catch a turkey but inadvertently catch Tigger and Eeyore.
Back at the dinner table, Rabbit is excitedly setting the table but begins to wonder where everyone has gone since it's getting late. Just then, Gopher runs out with a steaming hot fresh pumpkin pie, and Pooh and Piglet arrive holding their burlap sack full of what they think is a squirming turkey.
Gopher, Rabbit, and Owl argue over who should open the sack and prepare the turkey. When the sack bursts open, Eeyore and Tigger flail about, ruining the decorations and pumpkin pie.
Rabbit throws a fit, thinking Thanksgiving is ruined. Everyone else gives up on Thanksgiving and returns to their homes. Pooh, however, sits alone outside his home with his pot of honey, wishing they could still celebrate Thanksgiving somehow. He then realizes there is no reason they can't and sets off to gather his friends.
From house to house, Pooh convinces everyone to return to their Thanksgiving dinner. Rabbit, however, is a little tentative, thinking they can't have Thanksgiving without the proper decorations and food.
"We have everything we need right here, except... you," says Pooh.
Rabbit grins ear to ear as they all return to their meager but festive table. Christopher Robin proposes a toast and proclaims the dinner will be held in honor of Rabbit for his hard work and dedication to giving everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. The friends break into a song about friendship as the Thanksgiving special ends. The narrator reminds us what the focus of Thanksgiving should really be about:
"And so it was the most thankful day of thanksgiving, for of all the things you had or ever had, the grandest thing you shall ever have is one another, or so it was said by a bear named Winnie the Pooh."
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