Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Vinni-Pukh i den zabot" or "Winnie the Pooh and a Busy Day" or "Winnie the Pooh and a Day of Concerns" is the third and final installment from Fyodor Khitruk's Soviet Pooh films. After Piglet was introduced in the first and Rabbit in the second, it's time for the donkey to enter the picture. In contrast to the two previous films, the focus shifts a lot more from Pooh Bear to the new protagonist, who also gets the very first shot of the film, and it does not exactly help in this scenario here. The little donkey, who always sees the glass half-empty, makes a nice addition, but as whole I thought this film was slightly weaker than the two other ones. It runs for 20 minutes and the previous installments had 10-11 minutes each, which seemed the perfect running time.Nonetheless, it's a decent effort again with good childlike animation, an okay story as innocent as the last first two, Soviet Pooh's unique singing, a funny moment here and there and a happy ending. Roughly 10 years later, the US remake came out and I wish anybody who watched the American Pooh films would take a look at the Soviet original trilogy too. It's not even remotely as known as it should be.

tavm Another Russian Pooh story. This time the donkey, known from the Pooh stories as Eyeore, is sad because he has no tail. Pooh goes in search of one and finds it attached to a bell that hangs from the treehouse of one Owl. She (yes, in this version it's a she) is offered a bowl of honey from Pooh but she refuses to give the tail in return. Meanwhile, Piglet searches for a flower. I'll stop there and tell you that this short is twice as long as the previous ones at 18 minutes. The music, as usual, is charming and there's humor and sadness that should charm anyone, regardless of age or nationality, interested in all animation. Check it out on YouTube.