Winnie-the-Pooh

• 1. Origins And Inspiration

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  A. A. Milne bought a stuffed toy bear for his son Christopher Robin at Harrods department store in 1921. The boy named the bear Edward, then Winnie after a Canadian black bear he saw at London Zoo. Pooh came from a friend's pet swan they encountered while on holiday. The real bear cub was purchased from a hunter for C$20 by Canadian Lieutenant Harry Colebourn in White River, Ontario. Colebourn brought Winnie to England during the First World War and she became the Fort Garry Horse regimental mascot. After the war, Winnie was officially donated to the zoo where she gained unofficial recognition as a much-loved attraction. Milne named his character Winnie-the-Pooh after these two sources of inspiration.

• 2. Literary Creation And Publication

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  Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by name in a children's story commissioned by London's Evening News for Christmas Eve 1925. The first collection of stories about the character is the book Winnie-the-Pooh published in October 1926 by Methuen in England. E. P. Dutton published it in the United States and McClelland & Stewart in Canada. All four volumes were illustrated by E. H. Shepard who based his drawings on his own son's teddy bear named Growler. The book was an immediate critical and commercial success described by John Rowe Townsend as the spectacular British success of the 1920s. Milne also included poems about the bear in When We Were Very Young published in November 1924 and Now We Are Six published in 1927.

• 3. The Hundred Acre Wood Setting

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  In the opening chapter Pooh finds his way home by following the call of the honeypots from his house. The fictional Hundred Acre Wood exists within Ashdown Forest in East Sussex situated 30 miles south-east of London. Christopher Robin Milne wrote that Pooh's forest and Ashdown Forest are identical. Galleon's Leap was inspired by the prominent hilltop of Gill's Lap while a clump of trees just north became Christopher Robin's The Enchanted Place. The landscapes depicted in E. H. Shepard's illustrations match actual views with high open heathlands of heather gorse bracken and silver birch punctuated by hilltop clumps of pine trees. The game of Poohsticks began when Christopher Robin and his father played it on the wooden footbridge across the Millbrook near Cotchford Farm.

• 4. Character Personality And Traits

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  Pooh is naive and slow-witted but also friendly thoughtful and steadfast despite being called a bear of very little brain. He occasionally has clever ideas usually driven by common sense like riding in Christopher Robin's umbrella to rescue Piglet from a flood. Pooh is very fond of food particularly honey which he spells hunny but also condensed milk and other items. When visiting friends his desire to be offered a snack conflicts with the impoliteness of asking too directly. His kind-heartedness means he goes out of his way to be friendly to Eeyore even receiving mostly disdain in return. After Christopher Robin his closest friend is Piglet and he most often chooses to spend time with one or both of them.

• 5. Disney Adaptation And Licensing

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  On the 6th of January 1930 Stephen Slesinger purchased US and Canadian merchandising rights for a $1,000 advance plus 66% of income. By November 1931 Pooh was a $50 million-a-year business. In 1961 The Walt Disney Company licensed certain films and other rights from Milne's estate and licensing agent Stephen Slesinger Inc. Since 1966 Disney released numerous animated productions starting with Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. A new series of theatrical feature-length films launched in the 2000s including The Tigger Movie in 2000 and Winnie the Pooh in 2011. Disney has also produced television series including Welcome to Pooh Corner running from 1983 to 1986 on the Disney Channel.

• 6. Legal Battles And Public Domain

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  A. A. Milne's U.S. copyright on the character expired on the 1st of January 2022 as it had been 95 years since publication of the first story. Independent filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield capitalized on this by producing a horror film titled Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. In 1991 Stephen Slesinger Inc. filed a lawsuit against Disney alleging breach of their 1983 agreement regarding revenue reporting. Though Disney was sanctioned for destroying forty boxes of evidentiary documents the suit was later terminated when an investigator rummaged through Disney's garbage to retrieve discarded evidence. On the 26th of September 2007 a three-judge panel upheld the lawsuit dismissal while another federal ruling determined the Slesinger family had granted all trademarks and copyrights to Disney though royalties must be paid for future use.

• 7. Global Cultural Impact And Censorship

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  Forbes magazine ranked Pooh the most valuable fictional character in 2002 with merchandising products generating more than $5.9 billion that year. In China images of Pooh were censored from social media websites in mid-2017 when Internet memes comparing Chinese Paramount Leader Xi Jinping to Disney's version became popular. The 2018 film Christopher Robin was denied a Chinese release although authorities provided no official explanation. Pooh's name has been censored from video games such as World of Warcraft and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Despite the ban two Pooh-themed rides still operate in Disneyland Shanghai and it remains legal to purchase merchandise and books about Winnie the Pooh in China.