The VHS Corner: My First VHS Tapes

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing okay. I'm cooped up inside the house due to the smoke from the wildfires happening all over Canada. I had planned on doing a comic book review today, but I didn't feel like it. Instead, I'm doing another VHS Corner post where I talk about the first VHS tapes I ever got when I was a kid. There are five in total and I have photographical evidence of when I got three of them, though I don't have the pictures at hand right now. So let's get into it. My first five VHS tapes.

The first VHS tape I ever owned when I was a kid was the 1986 Walt Disney Home Video release of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966). This was the first time this animated featurette was ever individually released on home video, though it had been previously released as part of the feature film, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), in 1981. I think Nana and Grandpa got this tape for me. The picture that I have is of me on the couch with Grandpa, and I'm holding the tape, in its box, in one hand and pointing at the TV with the other, indicating that I wanted Mom or Nana to put the tape on for me. I love this cover. I think I need to do an entire post on Disney's late '80s/early '90s home video packaging because they're so colourful. I watched this tape endlessly when I was a kid and it was one of my favourites. 

The next tape I got, which was the 1986 release of the second Winnie the Pooh featurette, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968). I'm pretty sure I got this tape at, or around, the same time as I got Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree because some of my earliest memories are of me watching both of these tapes. I actually had two copies of this tape. One I had at home, and the other Nana and Grandpa kept at their place for me. In fact, the copy that I had at Nana's and Grandpa's is currently sitting on my shelf, with the rest of my VHS collection. Along with the previous tape on this list, I watched this one endlessly. 

Now, this next one I'm not really sure about. The reason being is that I didn't have the 1986 release of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974) at home. It was at Nana's and Grandpa's along with the second copy of Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. In fact it wouldn't end up in my personal VHS collection until three years ago when I grabbed it, along with Blustery Day, just after Grandpa passed away, and just before the pandemic hit and we all went into lockdown. So it's possible that I got it at the same time as the other two, but I don't know for sure. 

Now, this next one I remember very VERY clearly. It was early 1989, and Nana and Grandpa got me the original 1987 release of Disney's Sing-Along Songs: The Bare Necessities. I've talked about this tape endlessly on this blog, so I won't say too much more about it here. However, the picture I have that has this tape in it, is of me, simply holding it while sitting in my highchair at home, without any tubes or wires attached to me, which was extremely rare back in those days.

The last tape on this list is, of course, The World of Teddy Ruxpin Vol. 2: Guests of the Grunges. I think I got this tape for Christmas in 1989 at the same time that I got my original Teddy Ruxpin talking toy, or maybe I got the tape three weeks earlier, for my third birthday. I know I definitely had it by the time my sister was born, because I have a picture of me, wearing a DuckTales sweatpants and sweatshirt matching outfit, holding my sister, and the tape is on the floor near me, beside my original copy of the first Teddy Ruxpin book, The Airship, which was open. So I'm pretty sure I got it in 1989, either for my third birthday or for Christmas. I've also talked about this tape alot on this blog, so I won't say too much more about it.

And that my friends are the first five VHS tapes I ever owned when I was a kid. These five tapes, along with many MANY others that I would get over the years, kept me entertained for many hours. And while I only have three of them still in my collection, two in my physically, and one digitally, I hope to have all five of them back in my physical media collection someday. 

That's going to be it for me for today. I'm not sure if I'm doing any other blog posts this week, but if I do, it'll be on Friday. So until then have a great rest of your day, and if I don't post anything on Friday, then I hope you all have a great weekend and I will talk to you all later. Take care.