First look at stills from Disney’s big-screen return of Winnie the Pooh

I didn’t even know Disney was bringing everyone’s favorite ‘hunny’-lovin’ bear WINNIE THE POOH back to theaters, but indeed they are… and it’s looking nice and old school.

Admittedly, I’m a bit partial to Pooh since I grew up with the character’s 70s iterations as well as “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” that aired on television in the late 80s. I think it remains one of Disney’s sweetest franchises, so it’s nice to see it not only returning but also retaining the look and feel of the classics (thanks in part to the return of original animator Burny Mattinson who’s serving as senior story artist on this film).

WINNIE THE POOH – from co-directors Stephen J. Anderson (MEET THE ROBINSONS) and Don Hall (story credit on THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG) – opens in theaters July 15, 2011.

Synopsis: Walt Disney Animation Studios returns to the Hundred Acre Wood with “Winnie the Pooh,” the first big-screen Pooh adventure from Disney animation in more than 35 years. With the charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical “bear of very little brain” and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga, Roo—and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail. “Well a tail is either there or it isn’t there,” said Pooh. “And yours isn’t… there.” Owl sends the whole gang on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply set out to find some hunny.