Fun Facts About Winnie the Pooh
My first memories of Winnie the Pooh are from the various Disney movies and the Read-Along books with cassette tapes. It actually wasn’t until I took a Children’s Literature course in college that I was introduced to A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh. How many of you out there even knew that Winnie the Pooh was a short book before Disney ever started the popular franchise? I’m betting not too many! The funny thing is that even though I’ve now read the A.A. Milne book, I don’t remember it.
Disney and its stories have been such a huge part of my life from the time I was little. I slept on The Little Mermaid bedsheets, I played with the licensed dolls (and I still have them!), I read novelized versions of Disney movies, I religiously watched Disney Sunday Night Movies with my parents (anyone remember Splash Too?), and I wore Disney clothes. Actually, I still wear Disney clothes…
But enough of that; I want to talk some more about Winnie the Pooh. I found some interesting factoids about Winnie the Pooh while getting excited about meeting Jim Cummings, who is doing the voice of Pooh Bear and Tigger in the soon-to-be released Disney film.
Just now was actually the first time that I watched a trailer for this film–and no joke–I started tearing up. I am amazed at how similar Jim Cummings (Darkwing Duck, people!!!!) sounds to Sterling Holloway, who did the original voice for Pooh Bear. I wish I knew where my Pooh Bear, Tigger, and Eeyore are so I could give them a cuddle!
Did you know:
1. Voice actor Sterling Holloway (Winnie the Pooh) also did the voices for Roquefort the mouse in The AristoCats, Kaa the snake in The Jungle Book, and the Cheshire Cat in Alice and Wonderland.
2. Christopher Robin is the name of A.A. Milne’s son.
3. Many of the characters in the Winnie the Pooh stories are based on actual stuffed animals owned by Christopher Robin Milne, and are now on display in New York at the Main Branch of the New York Public. Library.
4. Gopher, Owl, and Rabbit were added into Disney’s version of Winnie the Pooh, and are not featured in the original stories by A.A. Milne.
5. You can actually visit the Hundred Acre Woods! Milne based it on the Ashdown Forest in Sussex, England, where the Milne family used to visit.
6. Christopher Robin’s Winnie the Pooh toy was named after an actual bear named Winnie that lived in the London Zoo.
7. Winnie the Pooh has been translated into over 40 different languages. He is by far the most popular teddy bear there is!
8. In 2001, Winnie celebrated his 75th birthday.
9. Walt Disney adapted Winnie the Pooh because his own daughters loved A.A. Milne’s stories so much. We have them to thank for Pooh’s adventures in the Hundred Acre Woods!
10. The 2011 Winnie the Pooh film is hand-drawn animation, just like the original short films!
* Disney & DreamWorks is providing me with an all-expenses paid trip. Opinions expressed are my own.*
I used to end the school year with a Winnie the Pooh unit with my third graders. They just loved it. I do not think anyone actually outgrows Pooh and company.
My favorite A.A. Milne quote – “Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best,” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called. ~A.A. Milne
The Winnie the Pooh movie Jim Cummings is in is a Disney movie, not a Dreamworks one, FYI.
If anyone wants to know more about Jim Cummings, join us at http://www.cultofcummings.com
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