Production code: 116
Original airdate: February 6, 2001
Don Pooh Xote: Pooh and Piglet roleplay their own spin on the classic tale of Don Quixote as they search for "The Land Bee-yond".
Beastly Burden: Tigger tries to help Eeyore find something that Eeyores do best.
Don Pooh Xote contains examples of:
- An Aesop: All about the power of imagination and the fun you can have with it.
- Literal-Minded: Owl explains that the name “Dulcinea” means “sweetheart”, and Pooh rationalises that, since honey is sweet, he should quest for honey as Don Pooh Xote. Pooh’s logic isn’t as far-fetched as it seems; Dulcinea is a corruption of the Spanish dulce, meaning “sweetness”.
- Windmill Crusader: Downplayed. Pooh and Piglet are only playing as Don Quixote and Sancho, but their adventures do involve mistaking Rabbit's scarecrow for a monster at one point.
"Beastly Burden" has examples of:
- An Aesop: Arguably has two:
- Everyone has something special about them, even if it isn't obvious.
- Use your research tools properly, or else you might end up drawing the wrong conclusions.
- Badass Normal: Eeyore, being a donkey, has better hearing than the other animals, and so hears Tigger's cries for help when Pooh and Piglet can't. He's also quite strong physically, which turns out to be just the thing to save Tigger when he gets stuck down a hole.
- Closest Thing We Got: Tigger is unable to find 'Eeyore' in the dictionary, so he decides to make do with 'horse' instead. This proves problematic, as donkeys (and Eeyore especially) aren't necessarily good at the things horses are good at. And in the end, Pooh does find a section on donkeys, much to Tigger's embarrassment.
- Didn't Think This Through: Tigger ends up doing this twice:
- Firstly, when he can't find 'Eeyore' in the dictionary, he settles on 'horse' to try and find things Eeyore is the best at. Apparently, he forgot that Eeyore is a donkey.
- Secondly, he tries jumping in and out of a deep hole despite Eeyore worrying about the dangers of such earlier in the episode. In doing so, he sprains his tail and ends up trapped, requiring Eeyore to pull him out.
- Foreshadowing: The episode begins with Tigger jumping in and out of a deep hole in the ground for fun, with Eeyore asking if he isn't worried about getting stuck. Near the episode's end, Tigger does get stuck down a hole when he sprains his tail, and Eeyore has to rescue him.
- Furry Reminder: This episode reminds us that Eeyore is a donkey and 'Eeyore' is his name, not the kind of animal he is. Tigger forgets this when looking in the dictionary, trying to find 'Eeyore' instead of 'donkey'.
- I Just Want to Be Special: The episode focuses on Eeyore's desire to find something that 'Eeyores do best', with Tigger helping.
- Lyrical Dissonance: Played for Laughs. Eeyore's song, "Carry On", is lyrically a mournful piece where he accepts he hasn't got anything special about him and that all he can do is squeak through life... but it's set to an upbeat country tune with Pooh and Piglet providing backing vocals.
