When you think of Winnie The Pooh, what do you think of? Pooh-sticks? Yes. Gentle, pastoral stories about making friends? Yes. An uncanny resemblance to ancient Chinese Taoism? Shut up, hippy.
Winnie The Pooh stories are all about Christopher Robin, a boy who has a special little bear chum called Winnie The Pooh who he plays with in the woods, right? Not according to Disney – it’s decided to give Winnie The Pooh a new eye-burning revamp and – worse – Christopher Robin has had a gender-swap op.
To mark the 80th anniversary of the first Winnie The Pooh (Stuff) story, Disney is planning something really special. No, not reminding everyone what pleasant little stories were contained in the original A.A Milne books. Instead, it’s going to completely trash the whole scene. According to The Times:
Among the frantic merchandising activities
laid on to mark the 80th anniversary of Hundred Acre Wood, Disney has
commissioned an animated series My Friends Tigger and Pooh. The Bear of Very Little Brain will be more active and the
characters first rendered by Ernest Shepherd will appear in 3-D
computer animation in brighter colours. But what is most likely to anger longtime Milne devotees is
the arrival of the “tomboyish girl” in the role usually played by
Christopher Robin.
Yes, that’s right. Christopher Robin – the very special friend of Winnie The Pooh and actual son of A.A Milne – is being gently but firmly led to the door by Disney security guards. But there’s a reason for all this rampant Winnie The Pooh revamping: the little children.
The new series of Winnie The Pooh will be aimed very firmly at pre-school children, and they respond better to bright colours and, um, cartoon girls. And stuff. Look, we don’t really have a clue. Here’s a Disney spokesman to explain:
“The young character will elicit physical,
cognitive and emotional responses from the viewing audience and will
also address them directly.”
So now you know. But what of the family of Christopher Robin? How do they feel about their dead patriarch being so cruelly axed from the Winnie The Pooh franchise? Christopher Robin’s widow told The Times:
“He hated the character Christopher Robin and
Winnie the Pooh and Disney. He detested the whole set- up
so much that I don’t think he would have minded the loss.”
Fair enough, then. Rumours that Piglet will also be transformed into a hard-drinking cop who plays by his own rules with a tiresome ex-wife are still unconfirmed.
Read more:
My, Christopher Robin, You’ve Changed – The Times
[story by Stuart Heritage]
matt says
This is crazy. The multi-national of very little brain has no respect fot the characters. They may own the license, but they belong to everyone. At Storynory.com we are starting a campaign to stop this – so come over and lend us your support.
AJ says
I have to ask you why you are changing pigletinto maybe a cop and christopher Robin into a girl?
May says
why are you changing everyone in the story winnie the pooh?Now poohs friends are being changed!Why are u doing this?
rashbre says
Disney has a friendly feedback comment area. Get to it via http://rashbre2.blogspot.com/2005/12/christopher-robin-joins-lost-boys.html
Rob says
Disney have been destroying the world of Pooh for years. As soon as they bought the rights and made the first Pooh cartoon they gave the once lovable bear a voice that sounds like the elderly unmarried uncle who you don’t let anywhere near the kids.
Jenae says
yeah thiz ya gurl Jenae postin a message u know that pooh iz tha numer one gangsta of them all on disney so holla at cha gurl
amy says
OMG!! i found a website that hates the new winnie the pooh!! i like site there and scream at the tv for that new f***ed up version of it!! i hatehatehatehate that girl shes a dumb!! aren’t they suposed to be like super sluthes or something? well its dumb and makes me sad. i miss CR. i’m so depresed by this new version!
evelina says
i love winnie the pooh! he is so funny and cute!