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"Silly old bear."

Deep in the Hundred-Acre Wood
Where Christopher Robin plays
You'll find the enchanted neighborhood
Of Christopher's childhood days
A donkey named Eeyore is his friend
And Kanga and little Roonote 
There's Rabbit, and Piglet, and there's Owl
But most of all, Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, Winnie-the-Pooh
Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff
He's Winnie-the-Pooh, Winnie-the-Pooh
Willy nilly silly old bear
— Disney's original Winnie the Pooh theme song.

Winnie the Pooh is a media franchise based on the children's book Winnie the Pooh written in 1926 by author A. A. Milne and illustrated by E.H. Shepard.

A good example of Adaptation Displacement as a result of the cartoons based on it by Walt Disney, who produced three short featurettes in The '60s (with music by the legendary Sherman Brothers) that were bundled together in one theatrical release and started one of Disney's most lucrative merchandise-driven franchises. In fact, Disney estimates that merchandise based on the Pooh characters brings in as much revenue as merchandise featuring the characters Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto combined. The characters got a regular TV series on Disney Channel, Welcome to Pooh Corner (1983-86) (also featuring music by the Shermans), which aired in reruns well into The '90s, and the '90s also saw a revival of several new movies based on the franchise. Disney did not own the characters outright, so they had to still credit A.A. Milne's estate every time they used an image or clip, or produced a film based on Winnie-the-Pooh.

Russian cartoons were independently released and contained a totally different art style.

Kenny Loggins gave the characters a Shout-Out in their hit song "House at Pooh Corner," originally recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and later covered twice by Loggins (the second time retitled the song "Return to Pooh Corner" and added some new lyrics and guest vocals by Amy Grant). Loggins would later perform two songs featured in Pooh films, "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" (The Tigger Movie) and "Underneath the Same Sky" (Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too, musical video version). Benjamin Hoff appropriated the characters for his Fiction Science (really, Fiction Theology) books The Tao of Pooh (1982) and The Te of Piglet (1992); Roger E. Allen did the same for his Fiction Business Administration books Winnie the Pooh on Management (1994), Winnie the Pooh on Problem Solving (1995), and Winnie the Pooh on Success (1997).

In 2009, an authorised sequel by other hands was published: Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus. A second sequel The Best Bear In All The World was published in 2016, this time a compilation of short stories by many leading authors. The same year another book Winnie the Pooh Meets the Queen by Jane Riordan was also published. Once There Was a Bear, also by Riordan, was published in 2022, and is a Prequel describing how Pooh first meets Christopher Robin and his other friends.

On January 1st, 2022, the first Winnie the Pooh book entered the US public domain, meaning that anyone in the US can now use Pooh and friends (including characters introduced in The House at Pooh Corner, such as Tigger, which were added in 2024).note 


Disney's Winnie the Pooh

Films

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/winnie_the_pooh_2011_film_logo.png
The current logo of the Disney franchise, which was the logo of the 2011 film.

Disney Animated Canon

  • The three original animated featurettes Disney made with the characters: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Too (1974). These were subsequently incorporated into the feature-length compilation The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977). A fourth featurette, Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983), was also released, though it was done outside of Disney Animation.
  • Winnie the Pooh (2011) — Continuation of the Winnie the Pooh franchise, which goes back to A.A. Milne's books to animate stories that weren't done in the original.

Other theatrical films

All but one were produced by Disney's DTV/television animation squad, but were theatrically released (as opposed to most DTVs) because of the franchise's popularity. However, they aren't part of the Disney Animated Canon.
  • The Tigger Movie (2000): An original story starring Tigger as the main character as he contemplates the ramifications of being the only Tigger.
  • Piglet's Big Movie (2003): Follows Piglet on his journey to get more respect from the others. While it's mostly an original story like Tigger, it adapts three stories from the original books as flashbacks.
  • Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005): The feared Heffalumps turn out to be Real After All, sending the Hundred Acre Wood residents into a panic. However, Roo discovers during the adventure that the Heffalumps may not be as bad as they seem.
  • Christopher Robin (2018): A Live-Action Adaptation film revolving around an adult Christopher Robin returning to the Hundred Acre Wood, and his long-lost toy friends deciding to turn his melancholy life around.

Direct to Video

There are also several direct-to-video movies that share canon with the movies above, though there are too many to list here; The Other Wiki has a more exhaustive list.

Television

  • Welcome to Pooh Corner — a live-action/puppet show that ran from 1983 to 1986 and in reruns for years after on various networks. It was ultimately the Trope Namer for...
    • Too Smart For Strangers — an educational direct-to-video production based on the above show that was made in order to teach about stranger danger.
  • The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh — an animated TV series made during Disney's renaissance age and ran from 1988 to 1991.
  • The Book of Pooh — a live-action series in the style of Welcome to Pooh Corner (though with full-on puppets instead of full-bodied costumes with animatronic heads) run on the Disney Channel from 2001 to 2002.
  • My Friends Tigger & Pooh — an All-CGI Cartoon run by Playhouse Disney from 2007-2010. As of 2016, the series has been made available on Disney Junior's online/mobile service.
  • "Into the Hundred Acre Wood" — in addition, the Pooh cast also crossed over into an episode of Doc McStuffins.
  • Playdate with Winnie the Pooh — a short-form musical series featuring younger versions of Pooh and his friends run by Disney Junior since 2023.
  • Once Upon a Studio: Pooh, Christopher Robin, Kanga, Eeyore, Rabbit, Piglet and Gopher all appear, with Pooh and Eeyore being the only ones who talk (Pooh has an archive clip of Sterling Holloway during his first appearance and is reprised by Jim Cummings for When You Wish Upon a Star and Eeyore's one line is supplied by Jim Meskimen).

Video Games

  • Winnie the Pooh: Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood (2000, GBC) — a series of board games, not unlike Mario Party, just without the minigames and powerups. It had "Stories" that followed Many Adventures and could be unlocked with Good or Bad endings.
  • Tigger's Honey Hunt (2000, N64, PS1, PC) — Movie Game for The Tigger Movie in which Tigger is the only playable character. A pretty solid platformer, can give even experienced players a challenge if they wish to get 100% even if it is short.
  • Kingdom Hearts (2002-, PS2, GBA, PSP, PS3, PS4, XONE) — The 100 Acre Wood acts as a Minigame Zone in the three main numbered installments and Chain of Memories, and a level in a Monopolyesque minigame in Birth by Sleep.
  • Piglet's Big Game (2003, PC/Mac, GBA, GCN, PS2) — Movie Game for Piglet's Big Movie. Like the game before it, can be hard after the first few levels. Piglet must venture into his friends' dreams and help conquer his, and their, fears. Pooh and Tigger are also playable in some areas; Pooh must flee from Heffalumps and Woozles as his tummy reveals him to them, and Tigger must Solid Snake his way around enemies. Complete with Mickey Mousing. In the PC/Mac version, Piglet goes around collecting ingredients for a soup.
  • Winnie the Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure (2005, GCN, PS2, GBA) — sort of a spiritual sequel to Big Game using the same engine (sans GBA version) and gameplay style. Except you play as Pooh instead of Piglet. Occasionally, you play as Eeyore and collect all of whatever needs required gathering; Piglet, who plays as he did in Big Game, and Tigger, who also plays like he did in Big Game. Unfortunately, this one is much easier and shorter. Sometimes, Pooh will be chased as well, and you must pop a balloon to scare away his pursuers. Heffalumps and Woozles, of course. Strangely, this game was made to promote Pooh's Heffalump Movie and portrays Heffalumps as evil much like normal.
  • Disney Friends (2007, DS) — Pooh appears as an interactive friend, with Eeyore, Piglet and Tigger making appearances in adventures.
  • Winnie the Pooh's Home Run Derby (2008, Browser) — Achieved Memetic status in 2013 due to being Nintendo Hard.
  • Disney Magical World (2014, 3DS) — The Hundred Acre Wood is one of the worlds that players can visit; unlike the others it has no Dungeon Crawling and instead focuses on interacting with Pooh and his friends.
  • Disney Heroes: Battle Mode (2018, IOS, Android) — Several characters (Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore) are included in the game.
  • Disney Sorcerer's Arena (2020, IOS, Android) — Pooh (with Piglet assisting), Tigger and Eeyore are playable characters.
  • Disney Mirrorverse (2022, IOS, Android) — Tigger is a playable character.

Book series

  • Oh, Bother! Books (1991)
  • Out and About With Pooh (1996)
  • Just Be Nice Books (1996)
  • Lessons from the Hundred-Acre Wood (2000)
  • I Can Read With Pooh (2005)

Comics

  • There was a comic magazine with Winnie-the-Pooh stories (with the name of Disney attached) published by Gold Key Comics from 1977 to 1984; its Finnish equivalent started in 1981 and is still ongoing as of 2014 — who knows where their later material came from. (They started reusing old stuff at some point, but only after many more years of new material.) The stories were similar to the Disney cartoon episodes but more restrained, with less zany and fantastic themes - although in many of the strips the cast acts completely out of character, with Pooh acting like a Jerkass Troll. Unsurprisingly, the characters have made other comic appearances as well.
  • There was also a comic strip that may or may not have had something to do with the above.note 


Non-Disney

Literature

Animation

  • Vinni Pukh — A series of Russian shorts based on the books.

Film

  • Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017) — A biopic of A.A Milne which revolves around the creation of the original books. Features Domnhall Gleeson as A.A Milne and Margot Robbie as his wife, Daphne Milne.
  • Twisted Childhood Universe (2023-) — A Slasher Movie horror series created by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, which follows Public Domain characters reimagined as horror villains. No, we are not kidding.
    • Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023): A horror film centered on Pooh and Piglet going on a rampage after Christopher Robin abandons them.
    • Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 (2024): A sequel focusing on Pooh, Piglet, and friends taking their carnage to Christopher Robin's hometown of Ashdown.
    • Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble (2025)
  • Untitled animated prequel (2024) — A prequel animated film to the books directed by Mike de Seve and co-written by him and John Reynolds (The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show). It is planned to be a prequel to the books and to act as an "origin story" for Pooh and his friends when they were kids. It is also planned to be followed up with a TV show.


Tropes Related to...

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood:

  • Adults Are Useless: Played with when the designated "adult" animals of the group take it upon themselves to make a Hundred Acre Wood Academy for the other more child-like members. It quickly turns into The Blind Leading the Blind, with each lesson ending in headache. Even Kanga, an otherwise competent parent, proves hopeless and is the first to bail from the whole idea, with the other teachers quickly following.
  • Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Eeyore, who seldom has a kind word to say to Tigger, is still the first to take care of him when he gets sick, even regretting some of his harsh words.
  • Canon Foreigner: There is one new character, Lottie the Otter, who — like Kanga, Roo and Tigger before her — moves into the forest and causes a bit of a stir before ending up as an accepted and established part of the gang. While much more worldly and experienced than the rest of the cast, she cheerfully averts the Women Are Wiser and Flawless Token tropes by being just as stupid and scatterbrained as the boys.
  • Cerebus Syndrome: Okay, it's Winnie-the-Pooh. so it's still pretty lighthearted, but compared to the original books there is a subtle undercurrent that wasn't there in the original books, mostly concerning Christopher Robin growing older.
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?: After the animals manage to get water out of a well to solve a drought (in large part due to Piglet going down it and unclogging it), Pooh decides to make a poem about the event...which lacks Piglet completely. Piglet feels some disappointment about the poem, but can't pinpoint what. Subverted later on when Piglet wins the cricket match and this time gets a poem from Pooh devoted to his victory.
  • Get Out!: Rabbit bothers Owl when taking a Census of everyone in the wood. Owl, who is busy examining the contents of a Christmas cracker, grows impatient after too many questions, and flutters his wings crossly at Rabbit until he leaves.
  • Growing Up Sucks: It's very subtle, but Christopher Robin doesn't seem to be quite as at home among the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood as he once was.
  • Heroic BSoD: Rabbit, of all people, suffers one when everything goes completely wrong for him, and in an ironic temporary role swap ends up eating nearly all of Pooh's honey when Pooh tries to comfort him.
  • I'm Standing Right Here: When hosting a school, the teachers start to complain about the students being undisciplined. Rabbit moans that he thought at least Roo would be raised better, earning a Death Glare from Kanga.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The author's foreword features David Benedictus talking to Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Christopher Robin about the new book, and includes some Self-Deprecation when Eeyore gloomily predicts that Benedictus will get everything wrong.
  • Let's See YOU Do Better!: When Owl hosts a spelling bee, and makes the first word "fiddlesticks", a skeptical Rabbit asks Owl if he can even spell it.
    Owl: Of course I can!
    Rabbit: Then do it.
    Owl: Shan't. The next word is Rhododendron.
  • Not So Above It All:
    • Of all characters, it is Eeyore that ends up the only one who enjoys the academy idea and even wears his headmaster outfit for fun some time after.
    • Kanga, often a no-nonsense mother, also engages in silly behaviour a lot more in this book. She's the first to quit the academy, tries to cheat in the group's cricket match, and competes with Tigger in a bouncing match during the farewell party.
  • Ret-Canon: While this is very clearly a sequel to the books and has nothing to do with the Disney version, Rabbit does at one point mention the sensibility of growing vegetables; something he is never mentioned as doing in Milne's books but is a big staple of his character in the Disney adaptations.
  • Sucky School: When the animals decide to start a school, they are segregated into students (Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Roo) and teachers (Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, Lottie, Christopher Robin) with Eeyore as the headmaster. Needless to say all the lessons end in disaster and frustration, and all the teachers make excuses for being unavailable next week (though Eeyore somewhat enjoys his headmaster attire).
  • Taking Advantage of Generosity: Rabbit invites his friends and relations over to take the Census, though they only agree upon the offer of food. When Rabbit runs out of shortbread, they begin to throw a tantrum, leaving Rabbit a Nervous Wreck. Ironically it is Pooh that helps Rabbit out, letting him hide away from them for the night before ordering them to fix the damage they done to Rabbit's house.
  • Vague Age: Lampshaded and played with; Rabbit tries to hold a Census and tries takes down personal notes about the other characters — none of them give a straight answer when asked about their age, and Rabbit eventually realizes that he has no idea how old he is either.
  • World of Pun: Even by Pooh standards, they flourish in this book.

The Best Bear in All the World

  • Canon Foreigner: Brian Sibley's "Winter" introduces Penguin, apparently inspired by discovering the real Christopher Robin did in fact own a toy penguin which never made it into the stories.
  • Continuity Snarl: Return to the Hundred Acre Wood has been classified as the third book in the Winnie-the-Pooh library. As such, David Benedictus, the author, closely follows Milne's established canon: Piglet lives with Pooh and Owl lives in Piglet's house. Every author of the four chapters ignores this and has Piglet and Owl live in their own houses. Not only that, but Benedictus' own Canon Foreigner, Lottie Otter, is nowhere to be seen and her existence isn’t acknowledged.

Disney Canon:

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh (2011 film)

  • Actionized Adaptation: The novels are pretty laid-back, having odd moments of slapstick peril (eg. Pooh blundering to save Piglet in a flood) but otherwise being very genial. The feature-length films often have more dire climaxes where the cast are put in near death situations.
  • Adaptation Dye-Job:
    • Piglet wears a green suit in the book illustrations, which is changed to magenta in Disney's version.
    • Rabbit has brown fur in the book's illustrations, but the Disney Rabbit has either yellow or green fur Depending on the Artist.
    • Eeyore is depicted as grey in both the original books and Disney's movies & shows, but the majority of Disney's Pooh merchandise and promotional artwork depicts Eeyore with blue fur and a flesh-colored muzzle, probably to make him more visually appealing to children.
    • In the books, Tigger's fur is yellow and he has a realistic tiger nose. In Disney's films, he received orange fur and a round, pink nose. The Disney parks keep Tigger's orange fur, but instead give their Tigger costumes black noses.
  • Adaptational Nice Guy: Eeyore, of all things: the Disney donkey looks better than Shepard's version, and is only sad and gloomy, whereas the original could occasionally be a condescending (literal) Jerkass.
  • Adaptation Distillation: Though admittedly much more loyal to the original works than usual Disney adaptations a few odd plot elements and characters from the original book adaptions are absent (e.g., Many Adventures). One could argue this is balanced by a huge amount of original stories and character complexities made from newer works. It is debatable whether the original books or Disney interpretations are more expanded and complex.
  • Adaptational Sympathy: Rabbit is a downplayed case. In the original books, Rabbit was generally portrayed as a prying Jerkass who would at whim decide he didn't like newcomers like Kanga, Roo and Tigger and try to force them to leave or traumatise them into not acting so out of place. This is kept in the Disney adaptations, however in those Rabbit is treated as far more of a neurotic Butt-Monkey, who either has a genuine qualm with their behaviour (such as Tigger) or is paranoid they are something far more belligerent (such as Kanga and Roo). In all cases, he admits he was wrong and becomes friends with them.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Pooh, despite his rather clueless and docile demeanor, cares a lot about Piglet. Tigger also acts this way to Roo (though this came into play a lot more in later features).
  • Black Bead Eyes: Most of the characters.
  • The Blind Leading the Blind: Used very often due to the sheer cluelessness of the entire cast, usually with Rabbit or Owl.
  • Book Dumb: The highest form of intelligence in the Hundred Acre Wood. Eeyore and Kanga have the most plausible in regards to wisdom and basic common sense, but in terms of general knowledge seem near equally childlike and convinced of Rabbit and Owl's superiority as Pooh.
  • Breakout Character
    • Tigger wasn't really a major character in the books, appearing only in the second book, The House at Pooh Corner. In the Disney adaptations, he got bigger and bigger roles until he ended up as the franchise's main star apart from Pooh himself.
  • Canon Discontinuity: A few story elements are out of place with the original books, the modern films also contradict Many Adventures in places. For example, in the latter Tigger meets Pooh in A Blustery Day, with Kanga and Roo already being established characters in both the beginning of the film and The Honey Tree before it. However in Piglet's Big Movie Tigger is present and already acquainted with Pooh in a flashback of Kanga and Roo moving to the Hundred Acre Wood. Gopher is nowhere to be seen in the 2011 film.
  • Canon Immigrant: Plenty. Disney loves throwing this trope into the Pooh franchise every now and then. In order of introduction:
    • Gopher, made for Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. He's *whistle* not in the book.
    Gopher: And I'm a dingdang glad of it!
    • Kessie the bluebird. First appeared in The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Also introduced in the series were the villains Stan Woozle and Heff Heffalump. Wikipedia also mentions Owl's cousin Dexter, Junior Heffalump (and his parents), Skippy the Sheepdog, as well as Christopher Robin's mom appearing as a torso-down shot character.
    • Lumpy and Mama Heffalump from Pooh's Heffalump Movie.
    • Heffalumps and Woozles in general. While they are mentioned in the book, they're never shown. In fact, they're implied to be imaginary creatures and don't exist at all (even within the imaginary world of Pooh).
    • Darby and Buster in My Friends Tigger and Pooh. Also, Turtle, Mrs. Porcupine, and a bunch of other characters, some one-shot.
  • Cartoony Tail: Tigger has a springy tail that he can bounce on. Also, Eeyore has a tail that is like a normal donkey's except it is pinned into his body.
  • Cloudcuckoolander
    • Eeyore's depressive state takes near oddball lengths at times. Nearly every member of the Hundred Acre Wood (even more cynical characters such as Rabbit and Eeyore) have a crippling naivete and childlike complex on occasion making the whole wood somewhat a Cloudcuckooland (then again what do you expect from a place consisting of a kid's sentient stuffed animals?).
    • Owl may qualify for his rantings about his family's history.
    • Rabbit is somewhat sane and has a functional work ethic, but comes up with his share of hare-brained schemes. Though some are in response to his garden being ravaged yet again.
  • Control Freak: Rabbit, while merely interested in order and sanity in the wood, has very domineering and forceful methods of planning it out. In Springtime with Roo, a terrifying dream sequence depicted his attitude becoming so unbearable that everyone abandons the Hundred Acre Wood.
    Rabbit: Are you out of your mind? You can't possibly do things out of order!!!
  • The Cynic: Rabbit is much more cynical and open about the others' idiocy (especially Pooh and Tigger's) compared to the other residents of the wood. Eeyore also seems more aware of the haplessness going on, even if he is more recessive and "matter-of-fact" about it than his original novel counterpart.
  • Demoted to Extra: In The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh series and holiday specials throughout the 80s and 90s, Kanga and Roo made only sporadic appearances, with Owl and Gopher more liable to play supporting characters. The Disneytoon Studios Pooh films and featurettes of the 2000s reversed this, with Owl and Gopher sparsely appearing and Kanga and Roo promoted to main characters. The 2011 movie found a balance for the most of them, though Gopher is still absent.
  • Depending on the Writer
  • Disneyfication: Actually inverted for the most part. While the Disney works naturally add a bit more cartoony antics and soften some of the characters a little, some original stories are more willing to Deconstruct the innocent nature of the novel's universe and even delve into rather poignant subject matter. Pooh's Grand Adventure and Christopher Robin in particular dig further into the full effects of Christopher Robin maturing and growing distant from his imaginary friends, something that was only touched upon at the end of the books.
  • Exposed to the Elements: Depending on the work, Pooh and his friends range from being able to stand winter weather wearing just their scarves (as seen in Many Adventures and A Very Merry Pooh Year) to wearing nothing at all (seen with Tigger and Rabbit in Many Adventures), though some episodes of New Adventures has them frequently depicted with wearing proper winter wear, albeit with their feet and legs exposed.
  • Flawless Token: Kanga seems to be the one character lacking a personality-defining flaw. That said, she rarely appears long enough for such development.
  • Iconic Sequel Character: Piglet didn't appear until the Blustery Day. Allegedly, the reason for this was that he was not intended to be adapted at all, though fan requests eventually convinced Disney to think otherwise. Much like in the books, Tigger makes his delayed debut in the same film.
  • If You Can Read This: You can usually find some interesting bonus content by reading the Pooh storybook pages seen in both the films and The Book of Pooh. They're seen in the Kingdom Hearts games too.
  • Indecisive Medium: The first Disney movie is a cartoon about the book. It starts with a Storybook Opening and stays that way, with letters of the story getting blown onto the screen, and the characters having Medium Awareness about being in a book.
  • Interactive Narrator: "Mr Narr-at-tor" very often intervenes with the goings on of the story or assists the characters in some dispute or peril.
  • Kid-Appeal Character: Roo, arguably the reason for his upgraded role.
  • The Kiddie Ride: Theme park ride at Disneyland aside, no less than five different coin-operated ride designs exist. And that does not include the mind-numbing number of knockoff rides either.
  • Kid Sidekick: Roo often acts as this, usually for Tigger.
  • Leitmotif: As if the Winnie-the-Pooh Theme and The Most Wonderful Thing About Tiggers weren't big enough ear worms, instrumental versions frequently play to establish their respective character, with numerous variations in mood (eg. expect a Softer and Slower Cover for both) to suit the tone of the scene at hand.
  • Lethally Stupid:
    • Pooh's clumsiness and Tigger's hyperactivity often cause trouble.
    • In two films, Christopher Robin goes to school and leaves a message to tell his friends he’ll come back soon. Both times, Owl misreads the note and makes the others believe the boy has been kidnapped by a monster, sending them to a completely useless and dangerous quest.
  • Lovable Coward: Piglet (and Lumpy in later features) more or less thrive on this trope.
  • Neat Freak: Piglet. Rabbit possibly even more so, though he's willing to get down and dirty when it comes to his gardening.
  • The Nicknamer: Tigger. He creates nicknames on a dime, including "Fluff Face" and "Ol' Cotton Bottom" for Rabbit and "Beak Lips" for Owl.
  • Nigh-Invulnerability: For any sort of fall that would be fatal, possibly because they're stuffed with fluff. Rule of Funny, since many high velocity threats are treated as dangerous climaxes as well, especially in later features.
  • No Fourth Wall: The characters regularly talk to the narrator.
    • This, lampshading Gopher's Canon Immigrant status
      Owl: Peering down Gopher's hole Dash it all, he's gone.
      Pooh: After all he's not in the book you know.
      Owl: Oh.
    • In "And Tigger Too!", Tigger jumps out of the book, and eventually gets narrated down by Bagheera/Sebastian Cabot, himself.
    • And again in "And a Day for Eeyore", the Narrator steps in and settles a dispute between Tigger and Eeyore.
    • Yet again in "The Tigger Movie", Tigger interrupts the movie when he hears it stars Pooh, rather than someone else, and reveals his own Tail to tell.
    • Again, in "Springtime With Roo", with Roo interrupting the introduction this time. In addition throughout the movie, the Narrator and Rabbit talk amongst themselves, while Rabbit and Tigger explore the book's pages, again, by the narrator's suggestion.
    • The 2011 reboot is filled with this, characters interacting with letters, such as Pooh climbing out of the illustration and into the next paragraph, and the narrator, John Cleese, having conversations with them.
    Piglet: Oh d,d,d,d,d,d,deeeaaarrrrr!
  • No Hugging, No Kissing: Played with in an episode of New Adventures where Tigger and Kanga are intended to play lovers in a Valentine's Day play. Tigger would much rather bounce Kanga than kiss her.
    Tigger: Couldn't I just shake her pouch a little?
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis! (with some Punctuated Pounding):
    Rabbit: DON'T! FEED! THE! BEAR!
  • Real After All: Heffalumps and Woozles, in comparison to the original novels, where they are implied to be little more than the creations of Pooh and the other's imagination, appear as occasional recurring characters in the later Disney features (eg. Lumpy, Stan and Heff)
  • Retcon: The original movies followed the books to an extent: Owl's house gets blown down by the wind, and Eeyore decides that Piglet's house should be Owl's new home. Piglet then ends up being Pooh's housemate. All the subsequent Disney works ignore this and Owl's house is presented as if it never blew down.
    • In Many Adventures, Kanga and Roo appeared prior to Tigger's introduction in The Honey Tree. Piglet's Big Movie and Springtime For Roo however chart Kanga and Roo moving and getting accustomed to the Hundred Acre Wood with Tigger already there.
  • Reverse Psychology: Kanga sometimes uses this as a parenting tactic with Roo. For example, in the book Oh, Bother! Someone's Messy!, after getting tired of always having to tell Roo to clean his room, she tells him he can just leave it however he wants. Roo thinks it's fun at first, but soon begins to think otherwise when he can't find anything in his messy room, then pays a visit to Piglet's place, which is always kept perfectly tidy. After this, and some help from the gang to clean his room, Roo even promises Kanga that he'll be more diligent about helping her to clean the entire house.
  • Serious Business: Honey to Pooh, and to extent the rest of the Hundred Acre Wood (par Tigger on occasion).
  • Shown Their Work: Even later more original works have occasional references to Milne's books, New Adventures occasionally refers to a few unused plot points for episode stories, Piglet's Big Movie adapts three previously unadapted stories, My Friends Tigger and Pooh even features a cameo from Small the insect.
  • Speech Impediment: Several characters. Tigger lisps, Piglet stutters, and Gopher whistles through his teeth when he speaks.
  • That Makes Me Feel Angry: Sometimes used, given that it is a kids show. The best example, though, is probably the book release Use Your Words, which is all about Roo learning to express how he feels out loud, rather than keeping his feelings bottled up inside.
    Kanga: If you have something to tell me or want to share how you're feeling, please use your words, Roo.
    Roo: I'm mad because I had to come back inside!
    Kanga: All right. But you still need to wear your scarf.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Rabbit's relationship with Pooh, and Tigger even more so for that matter.
  • Where the Hell Is Springfield?: It's never stated precisely where or even when the Hundred Acre Wood actually is.
  • White-and-Grey Morality: For the most part the entire cast is rather harmless and friendly, the nearest to an actual antagonist usually being Rabbit. The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh breaks the mould slightly by adding more genuine villains, even if they're of the bumbling kind.

Full-Length Features:

  • The Anti-Grinch: In Winnie The Pooh and Christmas Too, Pooh realizes that Christopher Robin's letter to Santa Claus never arrived, so he dresses up as Santa and gives presents to all his friends. Unfortunately, the hastily made presents fall apart, and the others decide to go after the fake Santa, not realizing it's Pooh.
  • Aren't You Forgetting Someone?: Roo in The Tigger Movie, constantly trying to get Tigger's attention and love, until about the final two minutes of the movie.
    Tigger: You didn't think I was gonna dis-remember you, did ya?
  • Ascended Extra: Roo is a minor character in most incarnations of the franchise, but in the DisneyToon movies, he tends to get bigger and more important roles.
  • Big "NO!": Rabbit lets out a truly epic one in Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo when he finds out that the Easter supplies were taken with his friends when they moved (this part was never seen or known), and he finds out that he is already too late (or possibly unaware that he's still in the future). mixed with Eat the Camera.
  • Cerebus Roller Coaster: The films noticeably vary in tone. Many Adventures is a mostly lighthearted Slice of Life that nonetheless has a Bittersweet Ending, Grand Adventure and The Tigger Movie are both darker and have more somber moments, Piglet's Big Movie and Pooh's Heffalump Movie find more middle ground between the two, and the 2011 movie may be the most comedic installment in the entire franchise.
  • Chewing the Scenery: A large amount of characters do this at least once (usually Tigger). In Springtime For Roo, Pooh makes perhaps the most prolonged hammiest sneeze known to man, even adding a whimsical little musical number in between it all.
    Pooh: Sniffity sniff, whistly wheeze,
    Here it comes, a great big sneeze...
  • Compilation Movie
    • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was assembled from the first three theatrical shorts. Seasons of Giving is a New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh episode + a Thanksgiving special + another NAoWtP episode. A Very Merry Pooh Year, likewise, is "Winnie the Pooh and Christmas, Too" (another NAoWtP episode) + a New Year's special called "Happy Pooh Year".
  • Darker and Edgier: While the original stories and featurettes were more amusing slapstick, some of the follow ups take on more serious narrative, with more emotional drama (and the occasional Heroic BSoD) and some genuine life threatening climaxes. Pooh's Grand Adventure and The Tigger Movie are key examples.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Multiple later features have focused on characters other than Pooh and place them as the lead characters (e.g., The Tigger Movie, Piglet's Big Movie, Springtime With Roo).
  • Disney Acid Sequence
    • The Tigger Movie has "'Round My Family Tree", which has as many, if not more, pop culture references as "If I Didn't Have You".
    • Parodied in Springtime With Roo, with the camera constantly panning between Tigger and Roo singing in Rabbit's house and Rabbit in his garden, oblivious to the oddities going on inside, such as the gang morphing into balloons or magically coloring his living room in rainbow patterns.
    • Winnie the Pooh (2011) has one in Pooh's hunger-induced hallucination of a world made of honey, complete with a Shout-Out to Busby Berkeley.
    • This goes back to one of the originals, with "Heffalumps and Woozles".
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: Inverted in both Pooh's Grand Adventure and The Tigger Movie after all the trials and efforts the character's go through to reach their loved ones, they discover what they want to be safe at home anyway.
  • Fantastic Racism: Overcoming this is the essential plot point of Pooh's Heffalump Movie, in which Pooh and the gang learn that the heffalumps of Heffalump Forest aren't monsters that are out to eat all of their honey & destroy the Hundred Acre Wood and don't have fiery eyes, tails with spikes, or "wingamathings" on their backs. Well, that and the joy that Roo (who never bought into most of that) finds in discovering a best friend in Lumpy.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: In most instalments using the storybook narrative, the pages visible actually have coherent relevant narrative to the actual film if you pause to read them.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In A Valentine For You, Pooh cannot bring himself to give Christopher Robin the Smitten to cure him of his "lovesickness", because the girl he likes makes him happy and he deserved to be happy indeed. Fortunately, it does not stop him from loving Pooh and the gang.
  • Minimalist Cast: With a few exceptions.
  • Orphan's Plot Trinket: Double subverted in The Tigger Movie. Tigger finds the locket amidst his belongings, naturally assumes it contains a picture which will lead him to his family, and opens it up to find... nothing. It's just another trinket. But the way he clings to it and associates it with his family makes it an example after all before giving it to his "little brother" Roo).
  • Out of Focus: Ironically Pooh himself, due to more character centric stories, appears as a mere side character in some features, often with Tigger or Roo taking center stage instead.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise:
    • In The Tigger Movie, the others pretending to be Tigger's tigger family.
    • In Piglet's Big Movie, in the story of when Kanga and Roo first moved in, Piglet is made to pretend to be Roo. Kanga isn't fooled by this, but she goes along with it anyway.
  • Through a Face Full of Fur: Several times, Piglet (who is presumably made of cloth) is described as "turning pink".
  • T-Word Euphemism: In Springtime with Roo, Rabbit doesn't want to hear the word "Easter." So at one point, Tigger tells Roo to not say "the E word."
  • Wham Line: In "Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie", Kanga speaks this line which causes Roo and Lumpy to realize the misunderstanding:
    Kanga: Kanga: I'm so sorry, Lumpy. I did make one [a jack o' lantern] for you, but it must have fallen off my wheelbarrow.

Vinni Pukh (Soviet shorts)

Gold Key Comic Book

  • Adaptational Intelligence: Pooh, while still characteristically naive, is a bit more wily and even a bit of a smartass sometimes.
  • Adaptational Jerkass: Not nearly as prevalent as in the newspaper comic, but the characters do argue and snap at each other a bit more than the Disney take or even the books are known for.
  • Aesop Amnesia: Sir Brian will sometimes see the error of his ways and cease antagonising the others. It is often lampshaded that it probably won't last the next story.
  • Ascended Extra: One of few Disney works where Kanga isn't Out of Focus and takes part in the misadventures as often as everyone else, as well as providing a lion's share of front cover gags. Naturally this often came at the expense of her Adaptational Intelligence in other Disney stories.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: In the story "Giant At Large", Piglet's new invention mistakenly leaves tracks that lead everyone to believe a giant is in the wood. When Pooh discovers the truth, he innocently advises Piglet to keep using his vehicle. Gilligan Cut to all the other animals chasing after Piglet as an angry mob:
    Piglet: I see what Pooh means!
  • Canon Foreigner: The comic added a ton of original characters, mostly notably Sir Brian (probably a Shout-Out to the poem Bad Sir Brian Botany from Milne's pre-Pooh book When We Were Very Young) and the Dragon.
  • Damsel in Distress: Parodied. At one point Pooh tries to distract Sir Brian from the Dragon by having Kanga pose as a damsel for him to rescue. Kanga is less than eager.

King Features Syndicate Comic Strip

  • Adaptational Jerkass: Pooh is far more of a jerk as opposed to the goodhearted fool that he is everywhere else.
  • Canon Immigrant: Besides Gopher, the newspaper strip also brought back Sir Brian and the Dragon from the comic book series.
  • Hypocritical Humor: One scene has Pooh talk about honey. Rabbit says that he should talk about things interesting to other people, then asks Pooh what he thinks of carrots.
  • Medium Awareness: One Sunday strip has Tigger attempt his Biggest Bounce Ever — only to bang his head against the panel border and then lament how he always forgets that these comic panels are too small for him to bounce properly.
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: The strip learns a bit towards the cynical side compared to most Pooh works. For example, one strip featured Pooh sitting in a meadow when rain starts falling. The rainfall gets heavier with each panel. The punchline? Pooh thinking to himself, "This is what I've been saving my money for?"
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Pooh, mostly. Every other character also occasionally gets a shot at being a Jerkass except for Christopher Robin and Kanga.

"So they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the forest a little boy and his bear will always be playing."

 
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Alternative Title(s): Winnie The Pooh

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Heffridge Trumpler... (Lumpy)

In "Pooh's Heffalump Movie," Lumpy's full name is Heffridge Trumpler Brompet Heffalump IV. However, he can't remember it (usually), so he has folks call him "Lumpy" instead.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (4 votes)

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Main / SomeCallMeTim

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