Who first voiced Winnie the Pooh in Disney’s 1966 film Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree?

Sterling Holloway first voiced Winnie the Pooh in Disney’s 1966 film Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. Holloway supplied Pooh’s distinctive soft, gentle voice in the first Disney theatrical featurette devoted to the character.

The film adapts material from the opening chapters of Milne’s 1926 book. Pooh searches for honey, encounters bees, and becomes involved in comic attempts to satisfy his appetite. Although Piglet and Tigger do not appear in this featurette, several familiar characters do, including Christopher Robin, Rabbit, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl, and Disney’s original Gopher.

Holloway continued as Pooh in several Disney productions, including Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Jim Cummings later became strongly associated with the role and voiced Pooh in later productions, but he was not the original Disney voice.

The featurette was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman and narrated by Sebastian Cabot. Its songs were written by the Sherman Brothers, while Buddy Baker composed the score.