Image via Complex Original
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Written by Layla Bermeo.
Since the first Winnie-the-Pooh book was published on October 14, 1926, the “Bear of Very Little Brain” has captured a very big following. Pooh has starred in everything from A. A. Milne’s bestselling books to Tokyo Disneyland’s most popular ride, inspiring countless toys, t-shirts, and toasters along the way. High-brow spin-offs of the Pooh stories prove that there are smarts in simplicity — even in the stickiest situations, Pooh never loses sight of the most important things in life: food and friends.
With that, continue on for A Complex History of Winnie-the-Pooh.
1
The summer of 1920, Christopher Robin Milne celebrated his first birthday with a teddy bear fresh from Harrods department store in London. His “Edward Bear,” was soon re-named “Winnie,” after a zoo bear who had been a mascot for the the Winnipeg regiment of the Canadian army. As he grew up, Christopher Robin collected more stuffed animals, including Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger, inspiring his father, author A.A. Milne to craft stories about their adventures. Decades after the crew rose to international fame through Milne’s books, the original toys joined the collection of the New York Public Library, where you can still visit them today.
2
Before penning the stories of Pooh, A.A. Milne published bloody murder mysteries, wrote early screenplays, and lent his dry English humor to the famed Punch magazine. The honey-hungry bear made cameos in the London Evening News and a collection of children’s poems called When We Were Very Young, but it wasn’t until October 14, 1926 that he became the star of the series. Fellow Punch contributor E.H. Shepard illustrated Winnie-the-Pooh and the sequels, creating the bees, pine trees, and round-bellied bear that made the books instant bestsellers. Even the harshest critic, sharped-tongued poet Dorothy Parker, admitted that "to speak against Mr. Milne puts one immediately in the ranks of those who set fire to orphanages."
3
In the early 1930s, pioneering media producer Stephen Slesinger saw how the popularity of Pooh could be expanded into markets for radio and film. He acquired the trade rights from A.A. Milne and gave the English teddy an American look, starting with some new garb. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared in his red shirt on an RCA Victor record from 1932. Later recordings of Pooh stories and songs feature the voices of actors like Stephen Fry and Judi Dench and singers like Carol Channing.
4
Although regular television network programming did not really begin in the United States until 1948, Winnie-the-Pooh starred in an experimental Sunday morning cartoon in the mid-1940s. By 1961, producer Stephen Slesinger decided to leave it to the experts, and licenced some rights to Walt Disney Productions. Disney’s own daughters were fans of the Pooh books, which inspired him to release a series of picture books, records, and television cartoons. Pooh's first feature-length movie was released in 1977. Over 30 years later, crowds returned to the movie theatre to see Winnie-the-Pooh in summer 2011, which includes real-life cutie Zooey Deschanel on the soundtrack.
5
Blurring the line between rock and country music, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band hit the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with their 1970 song, House at Pooh Corner. Singer Kenny Loggins wrote the lyrics based on characters from A.A.Milne’s book, imagining what it would be like to hang out with Owl, Eeyore, Christopher Robin, and Pooh. In 1971, he performed the song with his own duo, Loggins and Messina, and he recorded another version of the song in 1994. Aussie Josh Pyke gave the tune an update in 2007 with his indie cover for radio station Triple J.
6
English is Pooh’s first language, but he speaks to fans across the world. The original Winnie-the-Pooh book has been translated into dozens of different languages, and in 1960, it became the first foreign-language book on the New York Times Best Seller List. From 1969 to 1972, the stories inspired the Russian Vinni Pukh, a trilogy of short films directed by influential animator Fyodor Khitruk. The Ulica Kubusia Puchatka street in Warsaw, Poland, is named after Winnie-the-Pooh, as is the Micimackó utca street in Budapest, Hungary.
7
While working as a tree pruner at the Portland Japanese Garden in Oregon, Benjamin Hoff spent his nights and weekends writing The Tao of Pooh. His 1982 book mixes Chinese proverbs with quotes from Owl and Eeyore to explain the philosophy of Taoism. Most importantly, Winnie-the-Pooh’s simple nature and happy-go-lucky charm symbolize the Taoist teachings of harmonious living. The Western Pooh becomes the Eastern P’U, the idea of being open to new experience. Although Hoff’s book is probably the best-known philosophical spin-off, the wisdom of Pooh was also covered in Frederick Crews’s The Pooh Perplex and John T. William’s Pooh and the Philosophers.
8
As a young princess, Queen Elizabeth II loved the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. The Queen must have known that she and Pooh were “born” the same year when she invited him to her 80th birthday party. Wearing his festive red shirt, Pooh greeted children at a picnic at Buckingham Palace in summer 2006. Folks who didn’t make the guest list were encouraged to celebrate on their own in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England, the inspiration for Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood.
9
In spring 2006, fans young and old, fictional and real, lined up to see Winnie-the-Pooh unveil his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Pooh is one of only fourteen animated characters to receive a place on the famous pavement, including Mickey Mouse and Snow White. The award celebrated Pooh’s 80th birthday and the release of a new DVD, promising the crowd that more movies and merchandise were yet to come.
10
First quietly played by Pooh and Christopher Robin, the game of Poohsticks has grown into a very real, international contest. Standing on a bridge, each player drops a stick on the upstream side and the one whose stick first appears on the downstream side is the winner. The original Poohsticks Bridge is in East Sussex county, near the Milne family’s country home, but the World Poohsticks Championships have been hosted on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England since 1984. Over 1,500 visitors have recently attended the World Poohsticks Championships, with both individual and a six-person team events honoring the beloved bear.