''A Bear Named Winnie'' is a 2004

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

John Kent Harrison John Kent Harrison is a Canadian film and television director and writer. Early Life Harrison was born in London, Ontario in 1947 and attended the private school Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario. After graduating in 1964, he attended Colu ...

. It stars Michael Fassbender and David Suchet. It concerns one of the real-life inspirations behind

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

's ''

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''Win ...

''.

Plot

At the outbreak of World War 1, troops march through the Manitoban city of Winnipeg. Among them is Lieutenant Harry Colebourn (Fassbender), a veteran with a gift for animals. He soon meets a bear, Winnie, who provides comfort for the soldiers and by order of General Hallholland (David Suchet), becomes the regimental mascot.

Cast

Copyright

To avoid legal problems concerning the copyrights of both Disney and the Milne estate, ''Winnie the Pooh'' and anything related to the property is never referenced nor discussed throughout the film.

Critical response

John Ferguson of ''

The Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' awarded it two stars and said, "This touching fact-based drama almost manages to carry off its combination of First World War setting and sentimental tale, but is unsure of its target audience."

References

Bibliography

External links

*
A Bear Named Winnie
' at

the Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...