"A Very, Very Large Animal" is the first segment of the nineteenth episode of the first season of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh that originally aired on ABC on January 21, 1989.
Summary[]
When the crows bother Piglet, Piglet wishes to be bigger. So his friends make him bigger, but later Piglet finds out that he should be happy with the size he is.
Plot[]
One day, Christopher Robin, Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, and Tigger are observing at an ant through a magnifying glass who's making faces at them. Piglet is surprised that there are animals that small where Christopher mentions that size matters depending on how you look at it. Little do they know that the ant was only distracting them and the rest of the ants were attempting to steal their picnic. Piglet sees this and attempts to intervene but he and the ants' plans were hindered when the crows try to steal the picnic as well. The crows cause the ants to scatter and throw Piglet into a chocolate cake with Christopher Robin helping him wipe off. However, Piglet is still distraught that his small size allowed him to get pushed around by the crows so easily and wishes he were bigger.
Wanting to help Piglet, Pooh, Tigger, and Rabbit devise a plan. Late at night they sneak into his house, put earmuffs on his head and build stilts to put on his feet to make him look taller. They also put googles on him that makes everything he sees look further away so that he thinks he's bigger. The next morning, Piglet sees that he appears to be bigger but soon after, Pooh, Tigger, and Rabbit's attempts to keep up ruse become harder especially when they use logs to make it look like he's actually crossing a ravine. Eventually the ruse breaks when Piglet attempts to stop some crows eating Rabbit's vegetables. The crows attack him but collapse from exhaustion after they end up attacking each other giving Piglet the chance to escape.
By sunset, Piglet has decided to move away so his size wouldn't be a burden to others. Pooh not wanting to lose Piglet is dismay while Tigger and Rabbit decide to make a new Piglet for him. The two place a Piglet shirt on Eeyore and even try to shrink him with water to reduce him to size which doesn't work. Finally, Pooh decides to host a 'Welcome Home Piglet' Party so that Piglet can attend. Meanwhile as Piglet continues walking while bemoaning about his size, he unknowingly helps some ants along the way who are struggling with certain tasks (such as trying to grab food or escaping from a spider) which the ants are extremely grateful for. By nightfall, the ants have made a cupcake for Piglet as a thank you gift for helping them. Seeing this, Piglet realizes that size really does matter and finally appreciates who he is.
Back at Piglet's house, Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, and Eeyore are about to give up on the party when Piglet arrives and they cheer for him. Before they start with the cake, Rabbit asks why did he change his mind about his size even though he's still small. Piglet replies that he may seem small but to others, like ants he's very big and has helped them out with many problems and with a big heart you can appreciate who you are. He also invited the ants to the party as well and group celebrates the party.
Characters[]
- Winnie the Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings)
- Piglet (voiced by John Fiedler)
- Tigger (voiced by Paul Winchell)
- Rabbit (voiced by Ken Sansom)
- Eeyore (voiced by Peter Cullen)
- Christopher Robin (voiced by Tim Hoskins)
- Crows (voiced by Frank Welker)
- Ants (voiced by Frank Welker)
Home video[]
- Learning: Helping Others (VHS)
- Growing Up with Winnie the Pooh: Volume 5: Love & Friendship (DVD)
UK[]
- The Magical World of Winnie the Pooh Volume 6: Love and Friendship (DVD)
Trivia[]
- Moral: You may be small on the outside, but the many things you can do let you feel big on the inside.
- An episode of The Little Mermaid titled "T'ank You For Dat, Ariel" shares a similar plot where both characters (Piglet and Sebastian) are tired of being small and want to be big.
- This is one of the five Season 1 episodes to not be animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha. The others are "The Wishing Bear", "Fish Out of Water", "The "New" Eeyore", and "Tigger, Private Ear"