Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore Sterling Holloway elected not to continue the role of Pooh and Sebastian Cabot, the original narrator, died shortly after the release of the feature film "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh". The deaths of Junius Matthews in 1978 and Barbara Luddy in 1979 also necessitated changes in Rabbit's and Kanga's portrayers; Will Ryan began a three-year stint as Rabbit's voice in this featurette while Julie McWhirter portrayed Kanga only once. Additionally, Laurie Main, Hal Smith, Will Ryan, and Kim Christianson later appear in the live-action series "Welcome to Pooh Corner" as the Narrator, Winnie the Pooh, Owl, Rabbit, and
Rabbit (Winnie-the-Pooh) briefly voiced him in "Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons". Will Ryan took over the role for "Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore" and performed both Rabbit and Tigger in "Welcome to Pooh Corner". Ken Sansom replaced Ryan beginning with "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" and is to date Rabbit's longest-running portrayer, having continued the voice up to and including "My Friends Tigger and Pooh". Tom Kenny most recently provided the voice for the 2011 film, "Winnie the Pooh". Peter Capaldi voiced Rabbit in "Christopher Robin", the live-action extension of the Winnie the Pooh franchise. Rabbit