Reading this series of adaptations of the old The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh television series reminds me how often the episodes were really, really bad.

In this one, Tigger takes on the role of a masked hero, the Masked Offender, but his rescue missions end up causing pain and destruction for his friends, so they decide to set a trap for the masked menace (no, J. Jonah Jameson does not make a guest appearance). Slapstick ensues and lessons are learned all around. Blah.

The uncredited adapters did make some changes from the cartoon for no good reason. Originally, Christopher Robin reads Tigger and the rest a bedtime story about the "Masked Avenger" to inspire Tigger's transformation. Here though, Christopher Robin is kicked to the curb, and Tigger is instead enthralled with a comic book story he reads on his own, where, for no good reason, the European Scarlet Pimpernel homage of the cartoon becomes a Lone Ranger-style cowboy thwarting a Pancho Villa/Mexican rebel stereotype. The rest of the book plays out pretty much like the show.

FOR REFERENCE:

Picture book adaptation of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh animated segment "The Masked Offender," from Season 1, Episode 14; first aired November 12, 1988; directed by Karl Geurs; story by Mark Zaslove; teleplay by Carter Crocker.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... ) ( )