As someone who considers the earliest Winnie the Pooh featurettes and the 1977 anthology that collected them among the finest things ever created by Walt Disney Animation Studios, you might think I'd be bothered by "My Friends Tigger & Pooh". I'm not, but ranking even lower than perturbment on my list of reactions to this new television series is surprise.

It's been a number of years since the Walt Disney Company considered the universe inspired by A.A. Milne's 1920s books as something worth the attention of those above the age of, say, 7. On the heels of the well-received Playhouse Disney series "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse", Disney would naturally seek to duplicate the success. It makes perfect sense than that they'd turn to another perennially popular franchise that had already been reduced to serving the tot demographic and had proven effective in a number of diverse TV incarnations.

"My Friends" was actually in development as early as 2005, months before "Clubhouse" took to the air, but as usual, Disney's market research ensured a carefully-planned public embracing of the two series. "My Friends" is cut from the same mold as "Clubhouse", rendering time-tested personalities in flashy new three-dimensional computer animation and encouraging some ...