You can say a lot of things about Disney (yes, many, many things), but one thing that is very true is that they don't let good franchises go to waste. Just look at how savvy Disney is about keeping key characters in the public eye, be that in theatrical releases, direct-to-video releases, television shows, amusement park attractions, or merchandise. They know that if something is gone too long, the very fickle American public will begin to forget. Disney has worked with the Winnie the Pooh character since 1966, and they always manage to have him involved in some sort of project. Over the past decade, the familiar A.A. Milne characters have appeared in several feature films, which the last one, Pooh's Heffalump Movie, coming in 2005. Well, Pooh came back to the silver screen this summer with the simply titled Winnie the Pooh, which has now come to Blu-ray Disc.

Winnie the Pooh opens with Winnie the Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings) awakening for the day and, of course, realizing that he's hungry. He goes in search of some honey (or "hunny" as it's often seen written in this world) and he visits Eeyore the donkey (voiced by Bud Luckey). Pooh notices that Eeyore's tail is missing. This is brought to the attention of the other residents in the 100 Acre Wood -- Owl (voiced by Craig Ferguson), Rabbit (voiced by Tom Kenny), Piglet (voiced by Travis Oates), Kanga (voiced by Kristen Anderson-Lopez), Roo (voiced by Wyatt Dean Hall), and, of course, Tigger (voiced by Cummings). They decide to have a contest where everyone will search for a suitable new tail for Eeyore, with the winner getting a jar of hunny. They become distracted from the search when Owl misinterprets a note from their friend Christopher Robin (Jack Boulter), and everyone thinks that a monster is roaming the woods.

The first thing which one notices about Winnie the Pooh is that it's only 63 minutes long. Sure, it's aimed at children and kids attention spans are shorter than ever these days, but this movie played theaters, and that's about 20 minutes less than what is commonly accepted to be feature-film length. I really don't remember hearing anything about this at the time, or anyone questioning Disney about it, so I guess no-one minded.

The good news is that Winnie the Pooh manages to pack a lot of story and charm into that hour. The movie is essentially split into two parts, with the search for Eeyore's tail being the focus of the first half and the fear of the "Backson" (the name of the monster that they think is in the forest). This shift feels fairly organic, but nonetheless episodic. However, it also gives the movie momentum so that it never feels stagnant. The storylines are simple enough for youngsters to follow, but they never feel dummied down. As one would expect, the movie has a happy ending, but the story also does a nice job of wrapping everything up.

Again, this movie is clearly aimed at children, but there is a lot going on here which adults will enjoy. The movie opens with the camera moving into a Winnie the Pooh book which opens and that's where the story begins. At certain times throughout the movie, the "camera" pulls out, allowing us to see the text from the pages. This may seem a bit cliched, but it gets interesting when the characters interact with the letters, which leads to some clever moments. Winnie the Pooh has a reputation for being a bit thick-headed, but everyone in the movie acts a bit stupid at times, which leads to some Looney Tunes-like humor. There's a particular moment where everyone is trapped in a pit which feels like something out of Dumb & Dumber. This odd humor keeps the movie from being a total bore for adults, and it won't seem odd to kids raised on things like Spongebob Squarepants.

It's not unusual for characters in the past to be ignored by today's audience or fall flat when trying to make a comeback, but Winnie the Pooh manages to feel both nostalgic and modern at the same time. The movie may be short, but it's fun and never insulting to anyone's intelligence.

Winnie the Pooh shows the importance of reading comprehension on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the Disc carries an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 32 Mbps. The image is incredibly sharp and clear, showing no grain and no defects from the source materials. The hand-drawn animation may not be the most detailed ever, but it looks very good on this transfer, showing no jagged lines or stuttering. The colors look very good, most notably reds, and the image is never overly dark or bright. The picture is nicely detailed and shows good depth as well. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.8 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are nicely done, as we get ample examples of sounds coming from off-screen. These effects are detailed and show good separation. The surround sound effects aren't as overt, but we do get some good ones, most notably when the characters are tramping through the woods. The subwoofer effects are quite mild.

The Winnie the Pooh Blu-ray Disc contains only a few extras. "Winnie the Pooh and His Story Too" (9 minutes) examines the history of the Pooh character, starting with creator A.A. Milne and going through Walt Disney's pursuit of the license. The piece also looks at how Pooh has changed over the years, and how this new film was shaped. The Disc contains five DELETED SCENES which run about 15 minutes and contain introductions by Directors Stephen Anderson and Don Hall. Some of these are animated, and some are merely storyboards. Some are completely new scenes, while others are longer versions of scenes in the movie. We get two "Bonus Shorts" -- "The Ballad of Nessie" (6 minutes) and "Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: 'Pooh's Balloon'" (3 minutes). "Song Selection" allows the viewer to jump right to one of the seven songs in the film, complete with sing-along lyrics.