Winnie the Pooh, a fictional teddy bear created by A. A. Milne, became an unexpected cultural phenomenon who inspired numerous book, film, and television adaptations from 1926 to the present. Pooh shattered language and cultural barriers around the world, with notable entries to the lexicon being a Latin book translation and a Soviet film trilogy.
Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin were both based in reality - Milne's son, actually named Christopher Robin, owned a teddy bear that inspired the stories. The younger Milne also owned stuffed animals called Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga, and Roo; his father used these names as well for the tiger, donkey, kangaroo, and joey in the story. The characters of Owl and Rabbit were added for the story while Disney added Gopher to its adaptations in the 1960s. Milne's bear was named after a black bear named Winnie at the London Zoo and a swan named Pooh. In the stories, Milne explains that the bear is often simply called "Pooh" because he often had to blow flies off of his nose instead of swatting them with his paws.
Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin were both based in reality - Milne's son, actually named Christopher Robin, owned a teddy bear that inspired the stories. The younger Milne also owned stuffed animals called Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga, and Roo; his father used these names as well for the tiger, donkey, kangaroo, and joey in the story. The characters of Owl and Rabbit were added for the story while Disney added Gopher to its adaptations in the 1960s. Milne's bear was named after a black bear named Winnie at the London Zoo and a swan named Pooh. In the stories, Milne explains that the bear is often simply called "Pooh" because he often had to blow flies off of his nose instead of swatting them with his paws.
The setting is Ashdown Forest, which is located in Sussex, England, 30 miles south of London. Milne owned a country home there where his family vacationed in the summer, and he subsequently picked the area as the setting for the Pooh stories. Iconic "Hundred Acre Wood" is in fact Five Hundred Acre Wood and Galleon's Leap is a fictionalization of the Gill's Lap hilltop. The illustrations are likewise directly inspired by the actual landscapes of Ashdown Forest.
Milne's first collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stories, titled Winnie-the-Pooh, was published in October 1926. In 1930, Stephen Slesinger purchased rights to Winnie-the-Pooh in the U.S. and Canada, and by the end of the next year, Pooh had exploded to a $50 million a year business. Pooh gained his famous red shirt in 1932, the first time the characters appeared in color, due to Slesinger's drawing the shirt and its being constantly reproduced afterward. (Pooh had worn a shirt even in the first book, but it had not been red until Slesinger colored it red.)
Milne's first collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stories, titled Winnie-the-Pooh, was published in October 1926. In 1930, Stephen Slesinger purchased rights to Winnie-the-Pooh in the U.S. and Canada, and by the end of the next year, Pooh had exploded to a $50 million a year business. Pooh gained his famous red shirt in 1932, the first time the characters appeared in color, due to Slesinger's drawing the shirt and its being constantly reproduced afterward. (Pooh had worn a shirt even in the first book, but it had not been red until Slesinger colored it red.)
Slesinger's and Milne's widows both licensed rights to Disney in 1961, and the company has produced animated features, direct-to-video films, and television series starring the Pooh characters since 1966.
Overall, Pooh has had many adaptations: two theatrical, several audio readings, recordings, and dramatizations, five theatrical feature films, five television series, four holiday specials, and five direct-to-video films.
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