It begins on a cold snowy day, with Rabbit asking his friends, who are huddled around him, for various warming-up items. He becomes frustrated upon realising he left the hot water bottle at home and talks about needing to "save a life", but it turns out to only be a carrot. He then hears a voice calling out, "Help! Help!", which is revealed to be a baby bird, blowing along in the wind in a nest.
The bird ends up holding onto a branch and Rabbit runs in to get a ladder, but ends up blowing in the wind with his friends on top of his door instead. He catches the bird in Pooh's honey pot and they crash-land in Rabbit's house, with the door conveniently pushed back in place by the impact.
Rabbit is very grumpy about his house being messed up (despite Pooh lauding him for catching the bird) and the bird, whose name is Kessie, apologises in third-person. As Kessie climbs up the bookshelf, Rabbit's friends offer to take care of her, but Rabbit, believing them to be too incompetent, decides to do it himself.
We then cut to Kessie crying just like a human baby, while Rabbit is complaining in song and heating up a bottle of milk. He swaddles her, which cheers her up, but then she calls him "daddy" and when he tries to correct her, she mispronounces his name as "Rabby". Then, Kessie's milk bottle explodes.
Pooh and Piglet come over and want to join Rabbit for breakfast, but Rabbit angrily leaves, telling his friends to give Kessie a bath. They do so, but she pours a whole box of soap powder in, leading to a literal explosion of suds and her floating upwards in a bubble. Rabbit, who was gardening, sees it happen and worriedly chases her. He then has Kessie reluctantly promise not to go that high up again.
Later, Rabbit and Kessie (whose diction has improved) are gardening, and he stubs his toe on a plant pot, which she explains contains her first carrot. Tigger arrives and wants to play with Kessie. Initially, Rabbit says no but when Tigger uproots Rabbit's carrots, he lets him give her a ride on his back. Unfortunately, Tigger and Kessie end up in a tree which falls over and dangles off a cliff.
Rabbit, hearing Kessie calling for help, comes over and has Tigger throw Kessie to him. Rabbit then tries to pull her up but she falls, so he tries to come after her, only for Tigger to stop him. Thankfully, Owl saves her instead and she is delivered back to a crying Rabbit.
They get off the tree and Owl reveals that he wants to teach Kessie to fly, so she can fly south for the winter. Rabbit does not approve and he and Kessie go home in a huff. He tries to read her a story, but she goes to the window and watches older birds flying instead.
The scene then cuts to Kessie climbing a tree and unsuccessfully trying to fly. Pooh shows up and she tells him to keep her flying attempts secret. Then, he, Piglet, and Tigger try to teach her to fly using a catapult only for Rabbit to show up and angrily tell them not to teach Kessie to fly. Pooh points out that he only said Owl shouldn't do it, but Rabbit amends this to include them.
Rabbit accidentally catapults himself, but luckily Kessie learns to fly and flies him to safety. Everyone is happy, except Rabbit himself, who is sad because there is now nothing preventing Kessie from flying south. He is still sad that night and refuses to read to Kessie because he feels unneeded.
When winter comes, Owl, Tigger, and Pooh prepare Kessie for her migration but she doesn't want to leave without saying goodbye to Rabbit, who is searching in his garden. Rabbit finally finds what he's searching for (Kessie's first carrot) and runs to them. He tells Kessie not to go away, but by then, she is already going away. However, she comes back... but only to say goodbye. The episode ends with Pooh and Piglet already missing Kessie and Pooh wondering if Rabbit's overprotectiveness was "called love," as they watch Rabbit nearby, waiting on the cliffside for Kessie to return.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes.
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Kessie and Rabbit wear scarves, and only scarves, in the winter.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: When Rabbit walks away upon asking the armor piercing question, Kessie is saddened and hugs Pooh's leg; in response, he gently pats her on the head to comfort her.
- An Aesop:
- If you love someone, set them free.
- Everyone has to learn something new to grow up in life.
- Agony of the Feet: Rabbit stubs his toe on a planter box, which turns out to contain the first carrot Kessie ever grew.
- Armor-Piercing Question: After Kessie saves Rabbit from falling by flying:Kessie: Oh, yes, aren't you proud of me? Now I can fly south!
Tigger: Hey! That's right! You soloed! Oh, boy, kiddo! There's nothing holding you down now!
Rabbit: (forlornly) Don't you think I know? - Artistic License – Biology: Kessie is somehow able to kiss Tigger despite having no lips.
- Artistic License – Botany: Rabbit tries to warm up a carrot with a scarf and earmuffs, but because a carrot is a plant and therefore has no organs to produce body heat, that would be useless.
- Babysitting Episode: Rabbit seems like he will be looking after Kessie until her parents come back, but they don't, and then she learns to fly, so he's sort of more her surrogate dad (although not quite since he refuses to be called "daddy").
- Babies Make Everything Better: Kessie brought out the absolute best in the usually grumpy, garden-obsessed, and occasionally Jerkass Rabbit.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Rabbit tells Tigger to let go of the large rubber band he's holding. Without Tigger to hold it, it promptly launches Rabbit over a cliff.
- Bittersweet Ending: Kessie flies away and Rabbit thinks he's been left behind without being able to say goodbye. Then, just when it seems that she's gone for good, we hear Kessie's giggling and she flies into Rabbit's arms to say her goodbye to him too. In the end, Pooh and Piglet sit up on a cliff at sunset, remembering their friend.Piglet: It's the most peculiar thing. All this time I thought Rabbit didn't like her.
Pooh: You know, Piglet, sometimes people care too much. I think it's called love.
Piglet: Ohh. Do you think we should tell Rabbit?
Pooh: Don't worry. I believe he already knows.
(The camera pans down to see Rabbit sitting nearby, gazing off into the sunset waiting for Kessie to come home. He still has the carrot she left him.) - Book Ends: The episode begins in the winter as Rabbit saves Kessie, and ends at the next winter as Kessie leaves him.
- Canon Immigrant: Kessie is so well-remembered that she became a main character in The Book of Pooh.
- Companion Cube: At the beginning, Rabbit treats the carrot like a person, talking to it and talking about saving its life.
- Crying Critters: Kessie cries like a baby human at the beginning.
- Damned by Faint Praise: Pooh assures Kessie that her initial attempt at flying is "Very good... for going down. What you need is a way for going up."
- Determinator: Despite Rabbit's protests, Kessie will stop at nothing to learn to fly.
- Disney Death: Rabbit is unable to save Kessie from falling off a cliff; since he hasn't allowed her to learn to fly, this looks like the end. (Fortunately, Owl catches her on the way down and gives her some flying instructions.)
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Rabbit reads Kessie a story about a little princess bird locked in a dungeon, "with only her good friend Rabbie to protect her", reflecting Kessie's growing boredom with staying home and longing to see the world outside.
- Deus ex Machina: Owl shows up right out of nowhere when Kessie falls, and successfully manages to teach her how to fly which allows her to fly right back up to Rabbit.
- Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: When Baby Kessie apologises, she has the classic "R = W" speech impediment. She loses it when she gets older, though.
- Floating in a Bubble: Kessie floats upwards in a soap bubble while getting her bath, leading to Rabbit's first scare.
- Got Me Doing It:Kessie: Rabby, pleeeease?
Tigger: Yeah, Rabby, pleeeease? - Gut Punch: Several of Rabbit's lines stand out:"Oh, Tigger... I never even told her... I loved her!""There's nothing holding you down now!" "Don't you think I know?""You don't need me to read you a bedtime story. You don't need me... for anything.""I changed my mind! You can fly! Just... don't go away, Kessie."
- Happily Adopted: Kessie loves Rabbit and adores him. Her leaving is not a sign that he's a bad parent, but that she's growing up. Sequels show that she visits on a regular basis.
- Heroic BSoD: Rabbit suffers one of these after he realizes Kessie learnt to fly and she's about to leave him. That snowy night he sits sadly with a deep gloomy look on his face nearby the fireplace holding Kessie's stuffed bunny. When Kessie tries to cheer him up by asking him to read her one last bedtime story, Rabbit, quietly goes in his bedroom saying in a monotone tone that "You don't need me to read you a bedtime story. You don't need me for anything." This prompts Kessie to go to her rocking chair and burst into tears as Rabbit sulks in his room.
- Heroic Bystander: Rabbit saves Kessie from a storm by making good use of a honeypot and some quick angling. The carrots become a second priority. Pooh says as much, that Rabbit is a hero.
- Hibernation/Migration Situation: The drama of this episode comes from Rabbit not wanting Kessie to fly south.
- Interspecies Adoption: Downplayed. Rabbit becomes sort of an adoptive parent to a baby bird, though he doesn't like it when she calls him daddy.
- Ironic Nursery Rhyme: Rabbit sings one of these while he frantically tries to take care of Baby Kessie.Rabbit: Rock a bye/ Stay still/'Cause you're driving me crazy...
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Eventually, Rabbit gives Kessie his blessing to leave; she's going to leave anyway, but at least this way they can part on good terms. Kessie gives him a hug in thanks before she flies for the south.
- Literal Cliffhanger: Kessie and Tigger find themselves hanging from a fallen tree over a steep ravine, complete with Plummet Perspective.
- Loophole Abuse: When Rabbit tells Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet off for trying to teach Kessie to fly, Pooh points out that he only forbade Owl from teaching her to fly.
- Mood Whiplash: The first half of the episode is fairly light and comic. The second half is surprisingly deep and dramatic.
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: When Kessie falls to her apparent Disney Death, Rabbit is devastated to realize he never told her he loved her.
- Never Say "Die": After Kessie's Disney Death.Tigger: Wait a minute, bunny boy! She's...she's gone.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Rabbit refusing to teach Kessie how to fly winds up taking a huge toll in her childhood, as she eventually experiences a near-fatal fall which she wouldn't have been able to survive if Owl hadn't arrived to help her.
- Not Allowed to Grow Up: Averted, as the entire point of the episode is that Kessie's growing up, and can't stay in the Hundred Acre Wood forever.
- No Antagonist: The story doesn't have a villain of any kind, not even an unintentional one. The entire conflict is driven by Rabbit coming to terms with the fact that Kessie is growing up and that he has to let her go sooner or later, and his actions are at worst misguided and are done with the best intentions.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Kessie realizes that Rabbit is truly upset about her flying when he refuses to read her a bedtime story after giving her one on a regular basis. She then cries herself to sleep, feeling bad about hurting him.
- Papa Wolf: Rabbit acts fast whenever Kessie is threatened.
- Parental Abandonment: It seems that Kessie was left all alone in her nest at the start of the episode.
- Parents as People: Rabbit does his best as a Parental Substitute. He's worried about Kessie falling into danger because she nearly died when he rescued her. So he coddles her, gives her baths, teaches her about gardening, and reads her stories. Kessie all but says he's a good father to her and is saddened that he doesn't want her to fly or leave their house. Rabbit knows he's hurting Kessie but is in serious denial that she will go back into the world that nearly killed her until she saves him from falling off a cliff. Eventually, Rabbit is able to let her go, and she promises to return after the winter.
- Say My Name: Rabbit shouts, "Kessie!" when she falls.
- Significant Name Shift: Rabbit adopts a baby bird named Kessie, who is sort of halfway between a pet and a daughter to him. She calls him "Rabbie", but when she returns as an adult in "A Bird in the Hand", she begins calling him by name instead. This isn't due to any animosity towards Rabbit, but rather because she's grown up and sees the nickname as childish.
- Slapstick:
- At the beginning, Rabbit, Tigger, Pooh, and Piglet end up comically blowing in the wind.
- When Kessie is bathed, she pours a box of soap powder in, causing an explosion of bubbles.
- Spoonerism: In a moment of angrish, Rabbit mispronounces "carrot patch" as "parrot catch."
- Tempting Fate: Rabbit says that baby Kessie will be no trouble at all, then we cut to her crying inconsolably as Rabbit tries unsuccessfully to diaper her and sing her to sleep.
- Third-Person Person: When Kessie is a baby, she speaks in third person; saying her name instead of "I" or "me".
- Unexpectedly Dark Episode: For such a normally lighthearted franchise as Winnie The Pooh, this episode is very emotionally complex, touches on some deep issues, has several genuine dramatic and sometimes depressing moments, and a Bittersweet Ending.
- Wacky Sound Effect: When Rabbit's door falls, it makes sounds like a plane running out of gas.
- Watching the Sunset: The very last shot of the episode is Rabbit looking out to the sunset waiting for Kessie to return soon, he even has the carrot she gave him.
- Wham Line:
- Tigger, after Kessie's fallen off a cliff: "She's...she's gone", followed by Rabbit's "I never even told her I loved her!".
- The above-mentioned Armor-Piercing Question that triggers the most depressing segment of the episode: "Don't you think I know?".
- "I've changed my mind! You can fly! Just...don't...go away, Kessie."
- You No Take Candle: As a baby, Kessie uses primitive phrases like "Kessie sorry" and "I up so high!".
