Friday 3 June 2011

Winnie the Git

There's a great tradition of anti-heroes in literature; evil bastards you can't help liking. Richard III. Heathcliff. Flashman. And, of course...Winnie the Pooh. At least, so I assume from the poster for the new Winnie the Pooh movie:



....What? Now, I'm not one of those people who think Disney ruined Pooh - I love the Milne and Shepherd books, and I like the Disney films (the ones I grew up with, at least - I haven't seen the new ones.) There's room for both. (I also absolutely love the crazy Russian version my friend Simon Kane introduced me to. )

But surely, in all versions, the main thing about Pooh is he's nice. He's not the sort of bear who would, say, rig up a see-saw   in such a way as to catapult his little friend Piglet headfirst into a bee-hive. I mean, there's no other way to interpret this picture, is there? Pooh's tower of pots has brought him as high as the beehive, so if he just wanted to get at the honey, he could do. That's not what he wants. He wants Piglet to be engulfed in angry bees. And Piglet knows. There he stands, awaiting his fate, turning to us in anguish, and murmuring 'Oh Pooh.' Oh Pooh. How did it come to this? What happened to you, Pooh? We used to hunt monsters together, Pooh, remember that? And now you've become one. It's like Christopher Robin told us... you were the Woozle all along.'


(P.S. Coincidentally, both Winnie the Pooh and Simon Kane will feature in my Sketch night at The Albany tomorrow night. You can come if you like.)

14 comments:

Robin B said...

He obviously believes that Piglet has been calling him a fatty behind his back and wants revenge, possibly under the pretense of some seemingly-harmless request that suddenly turned into a bee-infested death trap before Piglet could escape.

Or maybe Pooh is just being a dick for no reason.

Lizzie said...

I love the censorship of Piglet as well. 'Oh Pooh'...yeah, right Piglet, I said worse than that when I saw a spider in the bath. Come on, buddy. You're among friends. There's no swear jar here. I won't tell if you won't. . .

Mike said...

Pooh's been on a downward spiral for some time. They even have to put up warning signs in Ashdown Forest: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chthonic/1353866597/

kodama said...

There was something suspicious about Winnie The Pooh all along. I always perceived him as an egoistic and an egocentric "silly old bear" - I really did! So I think that this poster shows his real attitude. I think that international recognition and fame made him even worse :P
I was raised on books and 1966-1983 Disney's adaptation ;) I love some other movies. "The Tigger Movie" is really hearbreking and I love it so much... But I had enough of Disney's interpretation of Winnie The Booh when I saw THOSE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0805905/ and http://www.layoutlocator.com/graphics/dldimg/5cc9e3bc9e9eb4d908cb774dc22e02eb_pnf6102407115144.gif.

cucaracha said...

Anyone notice that the Disney beehive is like a 'skep' the olde fahsioned hives,that were burned at the end of each season in the 'old days'? bee colonies would be in a hole in the tree/in a house or wall, not hanging like that! and yes, if Disney Pooh had an ounce of kindness, he wouldn't make piglet get stung [piglet doesn't even LIKE hunny], he would have reached the hive from his pile of hunny jars!

Stu said...

Bloody Dinsey.

They ruined Pooh.

Turned him into a violent miscreant.

They'll buy Harry Potter in 50 years and turn him into some waster homey.

Mark my words.

Wish I could come to Sketch Night.

Eurostar tickets a tad 'cher' for one a night stand.

Stu

Custard Socks said...

You're worrying too much. The simple fact is Pooh and Piglet have - for many years - enjoyed a very fulfilling, consensual, sado-masochistic relationship. Where you see bee stings and honey drowning, what we really have is the Hundred Acre Wood equivalent of needleplay and sploshing.

Piglet loves it. Naughty Piglet!

Anonymous said...

Another evil bear is Bungle from 'Rainbow'. I never trusted him.

2fishinatank said...

I always thought the Winnie the Pooh characters were like those from the magic roundabout - all based on drug induced or antisocial behavioral problems. Winnie is a struggling klepto, piglet is a manic skitso, tigger's on uppers, eeyore on downers and rest have their own, more serious problems which is why you rarely see them.

Anonymous said...

Remember when Pooh was nice? Or was he showing the signs even then?

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?"” Winnie the Pooh

Kaitebon said...

I just saw a commercial for the DVD, and Pooh actually jumped on the stick and Piglet went flying into the beehive.

For some reason I assumed Winnie wouldn't REALLY do that...

(also, I laughed out loud)

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