Burbank (United States) (AFP) – Winnie the Pooh, the self-described bear of “very little brain” who has charmed generations with his homespun and heartfelt wisdom, is turning 100. The beloved children’s character ambled into the world in 1926 in a book written by English author A.A. Milne, and illustrated by E.H. Shepard. Now Disney, which acquired the rights to Pooh and his pals from Hundred Acre Wood in the 1960s, is holding a year-long celebration of the slow-witted bear, whose image is found all over the planet, from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe.
“Winnie the Pooh is all of us,” said Kevin Kern, senior manager of research at the Walt Disney Archives in Burbank, California, where all kinds of Pooh paraphernalia are neatly catalogued. “He shows all the emotions that we show. He sees the things that we see. He struggles like we do; whether he’s trying to get up a tree to get honey or understand his friends. He’s so steeped in wisdom that he himself does not always think he’s giving, and that’s so timeless.”
Milne’s first book — published in Britain and the United States in October 1926 — was inspired by the author’s son, Christopher Robin, and his collection of stuffed animals: Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, and Kanga and her baby Roo. Two years later, the effervescent Tigger joined the gang for the second book, “The House at Pooh Corner.” When Disney’s first animated short appeared in 1966, Pooh’s signature look — a too-short red t-shirt and nothing down below — was set.
Over the decades, there have been books in dozens of languages, plush toys, backpacks, lunchboxes, watches, and feature films, most recently the live-action “Christopher Robin” in 2018, starring Ewan McGregor as an adult Christopher Robin who reunites with Pooh. But the lovable bear’s adventures did not stop there: he even ran for US president, with Disneyland holding a ticker tape parade in 1972 as a lighthearted alternative to the battle between Richard Nixon and George McGovern.
In the 21st century, Winnie made another — albeit unintentional — foray into politics when Chinese critics of Xi Jinping noted what they said was a resemblance between the country’s leader and the portly bear. Communist Party censors worked to scrub the internet of any reference to the character. And in 2023, after US copyright protections lapsed, Winnie found himself advising children how to avoid a school shooter when a Texas school district pressed him into action for a leaflet to warn them to “Run, Hide, Fight.”
That same year, he became a knife-wielding villain in a low-budget slasher film called “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey,” which recouped its budget many times over with a theatrical run that surprised industry watchers. Mark Henn, an animator who worked on the altogether more family-friendly 2011 Disney film “Winnie the Pooh,” said he had been thrilled to be able to draw a character he had grown up watching. “He definitely is a bringer of joy,” he told AFP. “He’s very calm. Even when he does get upset, there’s a calmness to his demeanor, which I think most people really gravitate to.”
© 2024 AFP
