About

Winnie the Pooh is a book series created by the British author A. A. Milne that was eventually licensed by Disney in 1961.^[1] Since 1961, Pooh has been the subject of numerous films, television shows, books, theme park rides, merchandise and more.

History

Books

In 1924, author A.A. Milne published a book of poetry entitled When We Were Very Young (shown below, left). The book's 38th poem featured a Teddy Bear, originally named "Edward Bear," who later be the basis for Winnie-the-Pooh.^[1]

On October 14th, 1926, Milne published Winnie-the-Pooh (cover below, center), the first collection of stories about a stuffed teddy bear named Winnie-the-Pooh and his owner Christopher Robin. The characters were based on a teddy bear owned by the author's son Christopher Robin Milne.

Two years later, Milne published a sequel, The House at Pooh Corner (cover below, right).

In 1930, American radio, television and film producer Stephen Slesinger purchased the merchandising, television and radio rights to the character for $1,000 and 66% of Slesinger's income.

Disney License

In 1961, following Slesinger's death, Disney licensed the rights from Slesinger's widow as well as the Milne estate, allowing them to pursue film, television and merchandise opportunities with the characters of the books and other properties.

Since 1966, Disney has released several animated productions of the franchise, including tv shows, theatrical and direct-to-video films.

Christopher Robin

In April 2015, Disney announced a new live action Winnie the Pooh movie. The film, later titled Christopher Robin, would feature an adult Christopher Robin returning to Pooh's home of 100-acre wood and reconnecting with the characters.

On July 30th, 2018, the film premiered in the United States. The film received generally positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, ^[4] the film received a 69% fresh rating (based on a 123 reviews. In their consensus, the site wrote, "Christopher Robin may not equal A.A. Milne's stories -- or their animated Disney adaptations -- but it should prove sweet enough for audiences seeking a little childhood magic."

Reception

Lawsuits

Stephen Slesinger, Inc had filed a lawsuit against Disney in 1991 which claimed that Disney breached their 1983 agreement again by failing to accurately report revenue from sales of the franchise, though this suit had been terminated by another judge when it was discovered that Slesinger's investigator went through Disney's garbage to find the evidence.

2007 Court Case

Disney lost against a court case in 2007 that ruled their misguided claims to dispute licensing agreements with Stephen Slesinger, Inc before a federal ruling in 2009 by a judge determined that the Slesinger family had granted all trademark and copyright rights to Disney, even though Disney had to pay for future use of the characters.

Ban In China

On July 17th, 2017, Chinese censors blocked memes featuring Winnie the Pooh after several viral images began circulating online that suggested a resemblance between the bear and Chinese president Xi Jinping (example below).

On August 3rd, 2018, the Disney film Christopher Robin, a live-action adaptation of the Winnie the Pooh characters was banned in China. According to the Hollywood Reporter,^[5] "A source pins the blame on the country’s crusade against images of the Winnie the Pooh character, which has become a symbol of the resistance with foes of the ruling Communist Party, namely Chinese leader Xi Jinping."

Related Memes

Winnie the Pooh's Home Run Derby

Winnie the Pooh's Home Run Derby is a flash game produced by Disney in which the player takes control of the character Winnie the Pooh from the cartoon series^[11] of the same name. In the game, Winnie plays the batter while other notable characters from the series play the pitcher in rotation. In early 2012, the game became notable on the Japanese web for its unexpectedly high difficulty level; however, it didn't gain momentum on the English-speaking web until early 2013 following its appearances on 4chan and Reddit.

"Sweet Jesus, Pooh!"

Sweet Jesus, Pooh! is an exploitable comic series featuring the character Tigger from Winnie the Pooh panicking over the character Pooh accidentally eating his father's ashes. Variations of the comic typically depict Pooh ingesting a variety of substances.

#PoohSays

#PoohSays is a series of video remixes based on a moment from the teaser trailer for 2018 Disney film Christopher Robin. The remixes replace the character of Winnie the Pooh's voice with various audio recordings for humorous effect.

#PoohSays pic.twitter.com/hWDcCaAfBV

— Collider Video (@ColliderVideo) March 6, 2018

Search Interest

External References