Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
teddy bear
A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bear, ...
created by English author
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 ...
and English illustrator
E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character w ...
'' (1926), and this was followed by ''
The House at Pooh Corner
''The House at Pooh Corner'' (1928) is the second volume of stories about Winnie-the-Pooh, written by A. A. Milne and illustrated by E. H. Shepard. It is notable for the introduction of the character Tigger.
Plot
The title comes from a stor ...
'' (1928). Milne also included a poem about the bear in the children's verse book ''
When We Were Very Young
''When We Were Very Young'' is a best-selling book of poetry by A. A. Milne. It was first published in 1924, and it was illustrated by E. H. Shepard. Several of the verses were set to music by Harold Fraser-Simson. The book begins with an int ...
'' (1924) and many more in ''
Now We Are Six
''Now We Are Six'' is a book of thirty-five children's verses by A. A. Milne, with illustrations by E. H. Shepard. It was first published in 1927 including poems such as "King John's Christmas", "Binker" and "Pinkle Purr". Eleven of the poem ...
'' (1927). All four volumes were illustrated by E. H. Shepard.
The Pooh stories have been translated into many languages, including
Alexander Lenard
Alexander Lenard ( hu, Lénárd Sándor; la, Alexander Lenardus; Budapest, 9 March 1910 – Dona Emma, Brazil, 13 April 1972) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian physician, writer, translator, painter, musician, poet and occasional language instru ...
's
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
translation, , which was first published in 1958, and, in 1960, became the only Latin book ever to have been featured on
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list.
In 1961,
Walt Disney Productions
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
licensed certain film and other rights of Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories from the estate of A. A. Milne and the licensing agent
Stephen Slesinger, Inc., and adapted the Pooh stories, using the
unhyphenated name "Winnie the Pooh", into
a series of features that would eventually become one of its most successful franchises.
In popular film adaptations, Pooh has been voiced by actors
Sterling Holloway
Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 4, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor and voice actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He did voice acting for The Walt Disney Company, playing Mr. Stork in ''Dumbo'', Ad ...
,
Hal Smith, and
Jim Cummings
James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Since beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as th ...
in English, and
Yevgeny Leonov
Yevgeny Pavlovich Leonov (russian: link=no, Евгений Павлович Леонов; 2 September 1926 – 29 January 1994) was a Soviet and Russian actor who played main parts in several of the most famous Soviet films, such as '' Gentlemen ...
in Russian.
History
Origin
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 ...
named the character Winnie-the-Pooh after a teddy bear owned by his son,
Christopher Robin Milne
Christopher Robin Milne (21 August 1920 – 20 April 1996) was an English author and bookseller and the only child of author A. A. Milne. As a child, he was the basis of the character Christopher Robin in his father's Winnie-the-Pooh stories a ...
, on whom the character
Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, based on his son Christopher Robin Milne. The character appears in the author's popular books of poetry and ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' stories, and has subsequently appeared in various Disney a ...
was based. Shepard in turn based his illustrations of Pooh on his own son's teddy bear named Growler, instead of Christopher Robin's bear. The rest of Christopher Milne's toys –
Piglet,
Eeyore
Eeyore ( ) is a fictional character in the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by A. A. Milne. He is generally characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, anhedonic, old grey stuffed donkey who is a friend of the title character, Winnie-th ...
, Kanga, Roo, and
Tigger
Tigger is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic stuffed tiger. He was originally introduced in the 1928 story collection '' The House at Pooh Corner'', the sequel to the 1926 book ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' by A. A. Milne. Like other Pooh char ...
– were incorporated into Milne's stories. Two more characters,
Owl
Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
and
Rabbit
Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...
, were created by Milne's imagination, while
Gopher
Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They are ...
was added to the Disney version. Christopher Robin's toy bear is on display at the
Main Branch of the New York Public Library in New York City.
Christopher Robin Milne had named his toy bear after
Winnie, a Canadian
black bear
Black bear or Blackbear may refer to:
Animals
* American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species
* Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species
Music
* Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
he often saw at
London Zoo
London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...
, and Pooh, a friend's pet swan they had encountered while on holiday. His father had bought him the toy bear in 1921 from
Harrods
Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...
department store. The bear cub was purchased from a hunter for
C$20 by Canadian Lieutenant
Harry Colebourn in
White River, Ontario
White River is a township located in Northern Ontario, Canada, along Highway 17 of the Trans-Canada Highway. It was originally a rail town on the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885.
Its main employers are Albert Bazzoni Ltd., A&W Restaurant, Tri ...
, while en route to England during the First World War. Colebourn, a veterinary officer with the For Garry Horse calvary regiment, named the bear Winnie after his adopted hometown in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
,
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
. Winnie was surreptitiously brought to England with her owner, and gained unofficial recognition as
The Fort Garry Horse
The Fort Garry Horse is a Canadian Army Reserve armoured regiment based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is part of 3rd Canadian Division's 38 Canadian Brigade Group. It traces its history to a cavalry regiment first formed in 1912 that first took ...
regimental mascot. Colebourn left Winnie at the London Zoo while he and his unit were in France; after the war she was officially donated to the zoo, as she had become a much-loved attraction there. Pooh the swan appears as a character in its own right in ''
When We Were Very Young
''When We Were Very Young'' is a best-selling book of poetry by A. A. Milne. It was first published in 1924, and it was illustrated by E. H. Shepard. Several of the verses were set to music by Harold Fraser-Simson. The book begins with an int ...
''.
In the first chapter of ''
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character w ...
'', Milne offers this explanation of why Winnie-the-Pooh is often called simply "Pooh":
American writer
William Safire
William Lewis Safire (; Safir; December 17, 1929 – September 27, 2009Safire, William (1986). ''Take My Word for It: More on Language.'' Times Books. . p. 185.) was an American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He w ...
surmised that the Milnes' invention of the name "Winnie the Pooh" may have also been influenced by the haughty character
Pooh-Bah
Grand Poobah is a satirical term derived from the name of the haughty character Pooh-Bah in Gilbert and Sullivan's ''The Mikado'' (1885). In this comic opera, Pooh-Bah holds numerous exalted offices, including "First Lord of the Treasury, Lord ...
in
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...
's ''
The Mikado
''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...
'' (1885).
Ashdown Forest: the setting for the stories
The Winnie-the-Pooh stories are set in
Ashdown Forest
Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is situated some south of London in the county of East Sussex, England. Rising to an elevation
of ...
,
East Sussex
East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...
, England. The forest is an area of tranquil open heathland on the highest sandy ridges of the
High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
The High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is in south-east England. Covering an area of , it takes up parts of Kent,
Surrey, East Sussex, and West Sussex. It is the fourth largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in England ...
situated 30 miles (50 km) south-east of London. In 1925 Milne, a Londoner, bought a country home a mile to the north of the forest at
Cotchford Farm
Cotchford Farm is a farmhouse building to the southwest of the village of Hartfield, East Sussex, in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in southern England. The building stands on Cotchford Lane, TN7 4DN, a private lane off the B ...
, near
Hartfield
Hartfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The parish also includes the settlements of Colemans Hatch, Hammerwood and Holtye, all lying on the northern edge of Ashdown Forest.
Geography
The main ...
. According to Christopher Robin Milne, while his father continued to live in London "...the four of us – he, his wife, his son and his son's nanny – would pile into a large blue, chauffeur-driven Fiat and travel down every Saturday morning and back again every Monday afternoon. And we would spend a whole glorious month there in the spring and two months in the summer." From the front lawn the family had a view across a meadow to a line of
alder
Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
s that fringed the
River Medway
The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...
, beyond which the ground rose through more trees until finally "above them, in the faraway distance, crowning the view, was a bare hilltop. In the centre of this hilltop was a clump of pines." Most of his father's visits to the forest at that time were, he noted, family expeditions on foot "to make yet another attempt to count the pine trees on Gill's Lap or to search for the marsh gentian". Christopher added that, inspired by Ashdown Forest, his father had made it "the setting for two of his books, finishing the second little over three years after his arrival".
Many locations in the stories can be associated with real places in and around the forest. As Christopher Milne wrote in his autobiography: "Pooh’s forest and Ashdown Forest are identical." For example, the fictional "
Hundred Acre Wood
The Hundred Acre Wood (also spelled as 100 Aker Wood, Hundred-Acre Wood, and 100 Acre Wood; also known as simply "The Wood") is a part of the fictional land inhabited by Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Winnie-the-Pooh series of children's s ...
" was in reality Five Hundred Acre Wood; Galleon's Leap was inspired by the prominent hilltop of Gill's Lap, while a clump of trees just north of Gill's Lap became Christopher Robin's ''The Enchanted Place'', because no-one had ever been able to count whether there were 63 or 64 trees in the circle.
The landscapes depicted in
E. H. Shepard's illustrations for the Winnie-the-Pooh books were directly inspired by the distinctive landscape of Ashdown Forest, with its high, open heathlands of heather, gorse, bracken and silver birch, punctuated by hilltop clumps of pine trees. Many of Shepard's illustrations can be matched to actual views, allowing for a degree of artistic licence. Shepard's sketches of pine trees and other forest scenes are held at the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
in London.
The game of
Poohsticks
Poohsticks is a game first mentioned in '' The House at Pooh Corner'', a Winnie-the-Pooh book by A. A. Milne. It is a simple game which may be played on any bridge over running water; each player drops a stick on the upstream side of a bridge ...
was originally played by Christopher Milne on the wooden footbridge,
[ across the Millbrook, Posingford Wood, close to Cotchford Farm. It is now a tourist attraction, and it has become traditional to play the game there using sticks gathered in the nearby woodland.]["Plans to improve access to Pooh Bridge unveiled"]
BBC News. Retrieved 11 November 2012 When the footbridge had to be replaced in 1999, the architect used as a main source drawings by Shepard in the books, which differ a little from the original structure.
First publication
Christopher Robin's teddy bear made his character début, under the name Edward, in A. A. Milne's poem, "Teddy Bear", in the edition of 13 February 1924 of ''Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pun ...
'' (E. H. Shepard had also included a similar bear in a cartoon published in ''Punch'' the previous week), and the same poem was published in Milne's book of children's verse ''When We Were Very Young
''When We Were Very Young'' is a best-selling book of poetry by A. A. Milne. It was first published in 1924, and it was illustrated by E. H. Shepard. Several of the verses were set to music by Harold Fraser-Simson. The book begins with an int ...
'' (6 November 1924). Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by name on 24 December 1925, in a Christmas story commissioned and published by the London newspaper ''Evening News Evening News may refer to:
Television news
*''CBS Evening News'', an American news broadcast
*''ITV Evening News'', a UK news broadcast
*'' JNN Evening News'', a Japanese news broadcast
*''Evening News'', an alternate name for '' News Hour'' in so ...
''. It was illustrated by J. H. Dowd.
The first collection of Pooh stories appeared in the book ''Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character w ...
''. The ''Evening News'' Christmas story reappeared as the first chapter of the book. At the beginning, it explained that Pooh was in fact Christopher Robin's Edward Bear, who had been renamed by the boy. He was renamed after an American black bear at London Zoo called Winnie who got her name from the fact that her owner had come from Winnipeg, Canada
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
. The book was published in October 1926 by the publisher of Milne's earlier children's work, Methuen, in England, E. P. Dutton
E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group.
Creator
Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...
in the United States, and McClelland & Stewart
McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann.
History
It was founded ...
in Canada.
Appearance
The original drawing of Pooh was based not on Christopher Robin's bear, but on Growler, the teddy bear belonging to Shepard's son Graham, according to James Campbell, husband of Shepard's great-granddaughter. When Campbell took over Shepard's estate in 2010, he discovered many drawings and unpublished writings, including early drawings of Pooh, that had not been seen in decades. Campbell said, "Both he and AA Milne realised that Christopher Robin’s bear was too gruff-looking, not very cuddly, so they decided they would have to have a different bear for the illustrations."[ Campbell said Shepard sent Milne a drawing of his son's bear and that Milne "said it was perfect". Campbell also said Shepard's drawings of Christopher Robin were based partly on his own son.]
Character
In the Milne books, Pooh is naive and slow-witted, but he is also friendly, thoughtful, and steadfast. Although he and his friends agree that he is "a bear of very little brain", Pooh is occasionally acknowledged to have a clever idea, usually driven by common sense. These include riding in Christopher Robin's umbrella to rescue Piglet from a flood, discovering "the North Pole" by picking it up to help fish Roo out of the river, inventing the game of Poohsticks
Poohsticks is a game first mentioned in '' The House at Pooh Corner'', a Winnie-the-Pooh book by A. A. Milne. It is a simple game which may be played on any bridge over running water; each player drops a stick on the upstream side of a bridge ...
, and getting Eeyore out of the river by dropping a large rock on one side of him to wash him towards the bank.
Pooh is also a talented poet and the stories are frequently punctuated by his poems and "hums". Although he is humble about his slow-wittedness, he is comfortable with his creative gifts. When Owl's house blows down in a windstorm, trapping Pooh, Piglet and Owl inside, Pooh encourages Piglet (the only one small enough to do so) to escape and rescue them all by promising that "a respectful Pooh song" will be written about Piglet's feat. Later, Pooh muses about the creative process as he composes the song.
Pooh is very fond of food, particularly honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
(which he spells "hunny"), but also condensed milk and other items. When he visits friends, his desire to be offered a snack is in conflict with the impoliteness of asking too directly. Though intent on giving Eeyore a pot of honey for his birthday, Pooh could not resist eating it on his way to deliver the present and so instead gives Eeyore "a useful pot to put things in". When he and Piglet are lost in the forest during Rabbit's attempt to "unbounce" Tigger, Pooh finds his way home by following the "call" of the honeypots from his house. Pooh makes it a habit to have "a little something" around 11:00 in the morning. As the clock in his house "stopped at five minutes to eleven some weeks ago", any time can be Pooh's snack time.
Pooh is very social. After Christopher Robin, his closest friend is Piglet, and he most often chooses to spend his time with one or both of them. But he also habitually visits the other animals, often looking for a snack or an audience for his poetry as much as for companionship. His kind-heartedness means he goes out of his way to be friendly to Eeyore, visiting him and bringing him a birthday present and building him a house, despite receiving mostly disdain from Eeyore in return. Devan Coggan of ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' saw a similarity between Pooh and Paddington Bear
Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children's book ''A Bear Called Paddington'' and has been featured in more than twenty books written by British author Michael Bond, a ...
, two "extremely polite British bears without pants", adding that "both bears share a philosophy of kindness and integrity".
Posthumous sequels
An authorised sequel ''Return to the Hundred Acre Wood
''Return to the Hundred Acre Wood'' is a '' Winnie-the-Pooh'' novel published on 5 October 2009. Written by David Benedictus and illustrated by Mark Burgess, it was the first such book since 1928 and introduced the character Lottie the Otter. ...
'' was published on 5 October 2009. The author, David Benedictus
David Henry Benedictus (born 16 September 1938) is an English writer and theatre director, best known for his novels. His work includes the Winnie-the-Pooh novel ''Return to the Hundred Acre Wood'' (2009). It was the first such book in 81 years. ...
, has developed, but not changed, Milne's characterisations. The illustrations, by Mark Burgess, are in the style of Shepard.
Another authorised sequel, '' Winnie-the-Pooh: The Best Bear in All the World'', was published by Egmont in 2016. The sequel consists of four short stories by four leading children's authors, Kate Saunders, Brian Sibley, Paul Bright, and Jeanne Willis. Illustrations are by Mark Burgess. ''The Best Bear in All The World'' sees the introduction of a new character, Penguin, which was inspired by a long-lost photograph of Milne and his son Christopher with a toy penguin.
In 2016, ''Winnie-the-Pooh Meets the Queen
''Winnie-the-Pooh Meets the Queen'' (e-book edition published as ''Winnie-the-Pooh and the Royal Birthday'') is a 2016 children's book written to celebrate the 90th birthdays of both the fictional character Winnie-the-Pooh and Queen Elizabeth ...
'' was published to mark the 90th anniversary of Milne's creation and the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
. It sees Pooh meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
.
Stephen Slesinger
On 6 January 1930, Stephen Slesinger
Stephen Slesinger (December 25, 1901 – December 17, 1953) was an American radio, television and film producer, creator of comic strip characters and the father of the licensing industry. From 1923 to 1953, he created, produced, published, develo ...
purchased US and Canadian merchandising, television, recording, and other trade rights to the Winnie-the-Pooh works from Milne for a $1,000 advance and 66% of Slesinger's income, creating the modern licensing industry. By November 1931, Pooh was a $50 million-a-year business. Slesinger marketed Pooh and his friends for more than 30 years, creating the first Pooh doll, record, board game, puzzle, US radio broadcast (on NBC), animation, and motion picture.
Red shirt Pooh
The first time Pooh and his friends appeared in colour was 1932, when he was drawn by Slesinger in his now-familiar red shirt and featured on an RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
picture record. Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products wer ...
introduced ''A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh Game'' in 1933, again with Pooh in his red shirt. In the 1940s, Agnes Brush created the first plush dolls with Pooh in a shirt.
Disney exclusivity (1966–2021)
After Slesinger's death in 1953, his wife, Shirley Slesinger Lasswell
Shirley Slesinger Lasswell (May 27, 1923 – July 19, 2007) was an American marketer. She was the wife of comics artist Stephen Slesinger and, after his death, Fred Lasswell. She is furthermore best known for losing a lawsuit with The Walt Disn ...
, continued developing the character herself. In 1961, she licensed rights to Walt Disney Productions
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
in exchange for royalties in the first of two agreements between Stephen Slesinger, Inc., and Disney. The same year, A. A. Milne's widow, Daphne Milne, also licensed certain rights, including motion picture rights, to Disney.
Since 1966, Disney has released numerous animated productions starring its version of Winnie the Pooh and related characters, starting with the theatrical featurette
In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film.
Medium-length film ...
''Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
''Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree'' is a 1966 animated featurette based on the first two chapters of ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' by A. A. Milne. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions, and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution on February ...
''. This was followed by ''Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
''Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day'' is a 1968 American animation, animated featurette based on the third, fifth, ninth, and tenth chapters of ''Winnie-the-Pooh (book), Winnie-the-Pooh'' and the second, eighth, and ninth chapters from ''The Ho ...
'' (1968), and ''Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too
''Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too'' is a 1974 animated featurette based on the third chapter of ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' and the fourth and seventh chapters of ''The House at Pooh Corner'' by A. A. Milne. The featurette was directed by John Lounsbery, p ...
'' (1974). These three featurettes were combined into a feature-length movie, ''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is a 1977 American animated musical anthology comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. It is the 22nd Disney animated feature film and was first rel ...
'', in 1977. A fourth featurette, ''Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore
''Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore'' is a 1983 American animated featurette based on the sixth chapter of both books ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' and '' The House at Pooh Corner'' by A.A. Milne. Produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by B ...
'', was released in 1983.
A new series of Winnie the Pooh theatrical feature-length films launched in the 2000s, with ''The Tigger Movie
''The Tigger Movie'' is a 2000 animated musical comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation with animation production by Walt Disney Animation (Japan), Inc., written and directed by Jun Falkenstein from a story by Eddie Guzeli ...
'' (2000), ''Piglet's Big Movie
''Piglet's Big Movie'' is a 2003 American animated musical comedy-drama film released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 21, 2003. The film features the characters from the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books written by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, and i ...
'' (2003), ''Pooh's Heffalump Movie
''Pooh's Heffalump Movie'' (also known as ''The Heffalump Movie'' in the working title) is a 2005 American animated musical adventure comedy-drama film produced by the Japanese office of Disneytoon Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ...
'' (2005), and ''Winnie the Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character w ...
'' (2011).
Disney has also produced television series based on the franchise, including ''Welcome to Pooh Corner
''Welcome to Pooh Corner'' is a live-action/puppet television series that aired on Disney Channel, featuring the characters from the Winnie the Pooh universe portrayed by actors in human-sized puppet suits, except Roo, who was originally a traditio ...
'' (Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
, 1983–1986), ''The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
''The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on the '' Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by authors A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, ''The New Adventures'' was the ...
'' (ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
, 1988–1991), ''The Book of Pooh
''The Book of Pooh'' is an American children's television series that aired on the Playhouse Disney block on Disney Channel. It is the third television series to feature the characters from the Disney franchise based on A. A. Milne's works; th ...
'' (Playhouse Disney
Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Televis ...
, 2001–2003), and ''My Friends Tigger & Pooh
''My Friends Tigger & Pooh'' is an American computer-animated children's television series on Disney Channel as part of the Playhouse Disney block. It was inspired by A. A. Milne's ''Winnie-the-Pooh''. The series was developed by Walt Disney T ...
'' (Playhouse Disney, 2007–2010).
A.A. Milne's U.S. copyright in the Winnie-the-Pooh character expired at the end of 2021, as it had been 95 years since publication of the first story. The character has thus entered the public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
in the United States and Disney no longer holds exclusive rights there. Independent filmmaker Rhys Frake-Wakefield capitalized on this shortly thereafter by producing a horror film titled '' Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey''. The UK copyright will expire on 1 January 2027, the 70th year since Milne's death.
Merchandising revenue dispute
Pooh videos, soft toys, and other merchandise generate substantial annual revenues for Disney. The size of Pooh stuffed toys ranges from Beanie
Beanie may refer to:
Headgear
* Beanie (seamed cap), in parts of North America, a cap made from cloth often joined by a button at the crown and seamed together around the sides
* Beanie, a knit cap, in Britain, Australia, South Africa and parts of ...
and miniature to human-sized. In addition to the stylised Disney Pooh, Disney markets Classic Pooh merchandise which more closely resembles E. H. Shepard's illustrations.
In 1991, Stephen Slesinger, Inc., filed a lawsuit against Disney which alleged that Disney had breached their 1983 agreement by again failing to accurately report revenue from Winnie the Pooh sales. Under this agreement, Disney was to retain approximately 98% of gross worldwide revenues while the remaining 2% was to be paid to Slesinger. In addition, the suit alleged that Disney had failed to pay required royalties on all commercial exploitation of the product name. Though the Disney corporation was sanctioned by a judge for destroying forty boxes of evidentiary documents, the suit was later terminated by another judge when it was discovered that Slesinger's investigator had rummaged through Disney's garbage to retrieve the discarded evidence. Slesinger appealed the termination and, on 26 September 2007, a three-judge panel upheld the lawsuit dismissal.
After the Copyright Term Extension Act
The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act – also known as the Copyright Term Extension Act, Sonny Bono Act, or (derisively) the Mickey Mouse Protection Act – extended copyright terms in the United States in 1998. It is one of several a ...
of 1998, Clare Milne, Christopher Robin Milne's daughter, attempted to terminate any future US copyrights for Stephen Slesinger, Inc. After a series of legal hearings, Judge Florence-Marie Cooper
Florence-Marie Cooper (February 9, 1940 – January 15, 2010) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Early life and education
Cooper was born in Vancouver, British Columbia ...
of the US District Court in California found in favour of Stephen Slesinger, Inc., as did the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* District ...
. On 26 June 2006, the US Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
refused to hear the case, sustaining the ruling and ensuring the defeat of the suit.
On 19 February 2007, Disney lost a court case in Los Angeles which ruled their "misguided claims" to dispute the licensing agreements with Slesinger, Inc., were unjustified, but a federal ruling of 28 September 2009, again from Judge Florence-Marie Cooper, determined that the Slesinger family had granted all trademarks and copyrights to Disney, although Disney must pay royalties for all future use of the characters. Both parties have expressed satisfaction with the outcome.
Other adaptations
Theatre
* 1931. ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' at the Guild Theater, Sue Hastings Marionettes
* 1957. ''Winnie-the-Pooh'', a play in three acts, dramatized by Kristin Sergel, Dramatic Publishing Company
* 1964. ''Winnie-the-Pooh'', a musical comedy in two acts, lyrics by A. A. Milne and Kristin Sergel, music by Allan Jay Friedman, book by Kristin Sergel, Dramatic Publishing Company
* 1977. ''A Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas Tail'', in which Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends help Eeyore have a very Merry Christmas (or a very happy birthday), with the book, music, and lyrics by James W. Rogers, Dramatic Publishing Company
* 1986. ''Bother! The Brain of Pooh
''Bother! The Brain of Pooh'' is a one-man show created and performed by the English actor Peter Dennis with selections from the works about Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne. It premiered on October 14, 1976 at the ADC Theatre, Cambridge University, ...
'', Peter Dennis
Peter John Dennis (25 October 1933 – 18 April 2009) was a Screen Actors Guild Award and Drama-Logue Award winning English film, television, theatre and voice actor. His extensive career spanned both sides of the Atlantic with projects ...
* 1992. ''Winnie-the-Pooh'', small cast musical version, dramatized by le Clanché du Rand, music by Allan Jay Friedman, lyrics by A. A. Milne and Kristin Sergel, additional lyrics by le Clanché du Rand, Dramatic Publishing Company
* 2021. '' Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation''
Audio
Selected Pooh stories read by Maurice Evans released on vinyl LP:
* 1956. ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' (consisting of three tracks: "Introducing Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin"; "Pooh Goes Visiting and Gets into a Tight Place"; and "Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting and Nearly Catch a Woozle")
* ''More Winnie-the-Pooh'' (consisting of three tracks: "Eeyore Loses a Tail"; "Piglet Meets a Heffalump"; "Eeyore Has a Birthday")
In 1951, RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
released four stories of ''Winnie-the-Pooh'', narrated by Jimmy Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...
and featuring the voices of Cecil Roy
Cecil H. Roy (October 2, 1900 – January 26, 1995) was an American radio actress who was well known in radio broadcasting of the 1930s and 1940s as The Girl of a Thousand Voices.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biograph ...
as Pooh, Madeleine Pierce as Piglet, Betty Jane Tyler as Kanga, Merrill Joels as Eeyore, Arnold Stang
Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009)
''The New York Times'', 22 December 2 ...
as Rabbit, Frank Milano as Owl, and Sandy Fussell as Christopher Robin.
In 1960, HMV
Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom.
The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
recorded a dramatised version with songs (music by Harold Fraser-Simson) of two episodes from ''The House at Pooh Corner'' (Chapters 2 and 8), starring Ian Carmichael
Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including ' ...
as Pooh, Denise Bryer
Denise Bryer (5 January 1928 – 16 October 2021) was an English actress, known for her voice roles on television and radio.
Career
Best remembered in her UK homeland for her work on the Gerry Anderson series, ''Terrahawks'', where she voiced ...
as Christopher Robin (who also narrated), Hugh Lloyd
Hugh Lewis Lloyd (22 April 1923 – 14 July 2008) was an English actor who made his name in film and television comedy from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was best known for appearances in ''Hancock's Half Hour'', ''Hugh and I'' and other sit ...
as Tigger, Penny Morrell
Penny Morrell (4 February 1938 – 3 January 2020) was a British actress. She was married to the actor George Cole until his death in 2015.
Death
Penny Morrell died at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Berkshire, England on 3 January 2020, aged 81 ...
as Piglet, and Terry Norris
Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine).
People
Male
* Terry Albritton (1955–2005), Ame ...
as Eeyore. This was released on a 45 rpm EP.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Carol Channing recorded ''Winnie the Pooh'', ''The House at Pooh Corner'' and ''The Winnie the Pooh Songbook'', with music by Don Heckman. These were released on vinyl LP and audio cassette by Caedmon Records.
Unabridged recordings read by Peter Dennis
Peter John Dennis (25 October 1933 – 18 April 2009) was a Screen Actors Guild Award and Drama-Logue Award winning English film, television, theatre and voice actor. His extensive career spanned both sides of the Atlantic with projects ...
of the four Pooh books:
* ''When We Were Very Young''
* ''Winnie-the-Pooh''
* ''Now We Are Six''
* ''The House at Pooh Corner''
In 1979, a double audio cassette set of ''Winnie the Pooh'' was produced featuring British actor Lionel Jeffries
Lionel Charles Jeffries (10 June 1926 – 19 February 2010) was an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He appeared primarily in films and received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Golden Globe Awa ...
reading all of the characters in the stories. This was followed in 1981 by an audio cassette set of stories from ''The House at Pooh Corner'' also read by Lionel Jeffries.
In the 1990s, the stories were dramatised for audio by David Benedictus
David Henry Benedictus (born 16 September 1938) is an English writer and theatre director, best known for his novels. His work includes the Winnie-the-Pooh novel ''Return to the Hundred Acre Wood'' (2009). It was the first such book in 81 years. ...
, with music composed, directed and played by John Gould. They were performed by a cast that included Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
as Winnie-the-Pooh, Jane Horrocks
Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in th ...
as Piglet, Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to:
Politicians
* Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician
*Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicestershire
*Geoffrey Pa ...
as Eeyore, Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
as Kanga, Finty Williams
Tara Cressida Frances "Finty" Williams (born 24 September 1972) is an English actress.
Life
Williams was born on 24 September 1972 in London, the only child of Judi Dench and Michael Williams. Williams trained at the Central School of Speech an ...
as Roo, Robert Daws
Robert Daws (born 4 May 1959) is an English actor, and crime fiction author. He is best known for his television roles, including Tuppy Glossop in ''Jeeves and Wooster'' (1990-93), gruff cricketer Roger Dervish in the comedy ''Outside Edge'' ( ...
as Rabbit, Michael Williams as Owl, Steven Webb
Steven Michael Webb (born 8 November 1984 in Wirral, Merseyside, England) is an English actor in theatre, television and film. as Christopher Robin and Sandi Toksvig
Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written ...
as Tigger.
Radio
* The BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
included readings of ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' stories in its programmes for children very soon after their first publication. One of the earliest of such readings, by "Uncle Peter" (C. E. Hodges), was an item in the programme ''
and 5XX on 23 March 1926.
was the notable voice of Pooh on the BBC's ''Children's Hour''.
* Pooh made his US radio debut on 10 November 1932, when he was broadcast to 40,000 schools by
.
playing A. A. Milne.
* 2018: ''
plays Christopher Robin Milne, and filming took place at Ashdown Forest.
* 2023: ''
'', a horror adaptation depicting both Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet as homicidal maniacs who go on a killing spree after Christopher Robin abandons them.
as , ) stories were made into a celebrated trilogy.
* 1969. ''
'' () – based on chapter 1
* 1971. ''
'' () – based on chapter 2
* 1972. ''
's translation of the book. Pooh was voiced by
. Unlike in the Disney adaptations, the animators did not base their depictions of the characters on Shepard's illustrations, instead creating a different look. The Soviet adaptations made extensive use of Milne's original text and often brought out aspects of Milne's characters' personalities not used in the Disney adaptations.
: ''Winnie-the-Pooh''—a version for marionettes, designed, made, and operated by
. Pooh was voiced by future Muppet performer
...