A Classic and a Clunker hit Netflix

The much-loved compilation film, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, has arrived on Netflix for digital streaming. Fans will be pleased to find it's the good version, not the awful cable TV edition from years back that substituted Tigger Too with the cheaply-made Day for Eeyore.

This happy arrival completely makes up for the other new addition: Hunchback of Notre Dame II, one of the awful video sequels that boggles the mind and shames the studio name with its very existence. The best thing I can say about HoND2 is that its production gave employment to animators. Hooray for that, at least.

A Hive That's Wired For Sound

You won't have much luck swiping honey from this hive, but it sure can play some catchy background music. Hanging out near Disneyland's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, it's about as much fun as an outdoor speaker can get.

I enjoy the Pooh dark ride, but the little details of the woodsy outdoor loading area are the best part of the attraction. The ride, due to its way-back-yonder location in the park, is often a walk-on with little to no wait (the Country Bears, the location's previous tenants, faced similar challenges in drawing crowds to that spot). Sometimes I almost wish there were more folks in line so that I could enjoy the scenery a bit longer. Almost.

Pooh Corner: One Wonderfully Strange Candy Shop

If your New Year's resolutions include cutting back on chocolate and sugar, Pooh's not going to be much help in that department, especially inside the doors of the Pooh Corner candy shop. Located diabolica -- I mean, conveniently adjacent to the exit to Pooh's dark ride in Critter Country, it carries the surreal theme of the ride's Heffalumps and Woozles nightmare over into a much sunnier interpretation. Here, the bear and some mischievous heffa-bees turn treat shopping into one big, giddy avalanche of Hunny Pot Krispy Treats, Marshmallow Tigger Tails, season-themed fudge and more cookies and candy choices than you can shake a thistle at.

This spot used to be the Mile Long Bar. I miss seeing Max, Buff and Melvin on the wall, but I do love this shop's crazy decor.

Pooh's Pots Perfectly Posed

It's a bright afternoon in Critter Country, a land where frontier legends, southern folklore and British literature share the same bit of real estate. It's also a place where little creek-dwelling critters probably step out through their tiny front doors to pick up the morning paper, glance across the creek, and curse about a certain bear who never cleans up after himself.

The creek in 2012

Speaking of the creek, if we compare the above photo with a shot I took in 1975...

The creek in 1975 during the Bear Country era

...we can see two very different approaches to theming. When the land was called Bear Country, guests entered a naturalistic, rustic setting. Fantasy existed there, but folks had to seek it out by crossing a covered bridge to enter the Country Bears' domain.

Both approaches have their advantages. Although I loved the Pre-Pooh days when the area felt like an outpost village with a backstory, I have to admit that A.A. Milne's little bear certainly makes a lot of families very, very happy.

I do miss the Country Bears a lot, but at least I can still grab a peaceful riverside table at the Hungry Bear Restaurant (where the food's better than ever). And, before I leave the area, I can still visit that little steadfast creek that's flowed past so many changes...

Crocodile Mercantile & Critter Country's First Critter

1989 was a frustrating and wonderful year for Disneyland fans. Splash Mountain missed its spring opening date due to technical issues, but finally admitted its first guests in July.

Fans visiting in the first half of the year could only watch with envy as workers took test rides around the mountain. It looked so cool!

Walking past the entry, hearing the distant chorus of "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" drifting from the hidden-from-sight finale, I could at least tour the rest of Critter Country, the re-themed land formerly known as Bear Country. Stepping into the newly-named shop, Crocodile Mercantile, I got a look at Critter Country's first new inhabitant, the store's namesake.

The Pooh Effect: Why Disneyland Needs a New Audioanimatronic Show

Critter Country's dark ride, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, features one of Disneyland's best attraction entries. To long-time fans, the structure's also a bit heartbreaking, for this lovely covered bridge once led to the Country Bear Jamboree.

Walt Disney World lost its Mr. Toad ride to Pooh. Disneyland lost the Country Bears.

For many Disneyland fans, the decision to gut two technologically miraculous audioanimatronic theaters (Disneyland had two identical Country Bear theaters for double capacity) to build a C-ticket dark ride seemed -- to put it nicely -- short-sighted. And, no, hiding Max, Buff and Melvin in the ride as an Easter egg for fans didn't help things...well, okay, maybe it helped a little.

That's all DL history now, and nothing's going to bring the Country Bears back to Disneyland. Pooh's a cute dark ride with a (usually) very short line and a lovely inherited covered bridge.

Looking forward, however, I hope the powers-that-be at Disneyland address a certain issue: since the Bear's departure, the park completely lacks the magic of a large-scale audioanimatronic stage show. The Bears, Carousel of Progress and the later America Sings used to be a huge part of the Disneyland experience -- a special layer of wonderment that now only exists on a smaller scale in the excellent Enchanted Tiki Room and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

Disneyland Resort could use a big new audioanimatronic show; it's the type of attraction that only Disney can pull off at that level of excellence, and younger west coast fans have never seen one.

And now I'm suddenly looking across the Esplanade toward Cars Land, and picturing how awesome it would be to have a musical automobile review with the Radiator Springs crew performing hits from the 50's and 60's....I'd be first in line.