Hip Hip Pooh-ray!

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day was released on December 20, 1968. Though the featurette was released two years after the death of Walt Disney, it had been developed under Walt’s supervision, along with the first Pooh production, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966). With the addition of Tigger and Piglet (these characters had not appeared in Honey Tree), the second featurette was even more popular than the first, and was awarded an Oscar for Best Short Subject (Cartoon). In accepting the Oscar on behalf of Walt Disney on April 14, 1969, from Tony Curtis and the Pink Panther, director Woolie Reitherman called Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day “another memorable moment we’ve all shared with Walt.” (Interestingly, another animation nominee that same year was John and Faith Hubley’s similarly titled Windy Day.) To celebrate the release of Pooh’s Oscar-winning featurette, here’s a charming Sticker Fun book from Whitman. Issued alongside coloring books, tray puzzles, storybooks and other memorabilia as part of the merchandising bonanza accompanying the film’s original release, this sticker book and the other publications by Whitman was drawn by the same talented artists who drew the Golden Book line, as Whitman and Golden were both imprints of Western Publishing Company, which also produced the Disney comic books.