Eeyore
Encyclopedia
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic bear created by A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh , and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner...
books
Book series
A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publisher....
by A. A. Milne
A. A. Milne
Alan Alexander Milne was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.-Biography:A. A...
. He is generally characterized as a pessimistic
Pessimism
Pessimism, from the Latin word pessimus , is a state of mind in which one perceives life negatively. Value judgments may vary dramatically between individuals, even when judgments of fact are undisputed. The most common example of this phenomenon is the "Is the glass half empty or half full?"...
, gloomy
Melancholia
Melancholia , also lugubriousness, from the Latin lugere, to mourn; moroseness, from the Latin morosus, self-willed, fastidious habit; wistfulness, from old English wist: intent, or saturnine, , in contemporary usage, is a mood disorder of non-specific depression,...
, depressed
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
, anhedonic
Anhedonia
In psychology and psychiatry, anhedonia is defined as the inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable, e.g. hobbies, exercise, social interaction or sexual activity....
, old grey stuffed
Stuffed animal
A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw, beans, plastic pellets, cotton, synthetic fibres, or other similar materials. Stuffed toys are also known as plush toys A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw,...
donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
who is a friend of the title character, Winnie-the-Pooh.
His name is an onomatopoeic representation of the braying sound made by a normal donkey, usually represented as "hee haw" in American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
: the spelling with an "r" is explained by the fact that Milne and most of his intended audience spoke a non-rhotic
Rhotic and non-rhotic accents
English pronunciation can be divided into two main accent groups: a rhotic speaker pronounces a rhotic consonant in words like hard; a non-rhotic speaker does not...
variety of English in which the "r" in "Eeyore" is not pronounced as /r/.
Original works
Eeyore appears in chapters 4, 6, 8, and 10 of Winnie-the-Pooh, and is mentioned in a few others. He also appears in all the chapters of The House at Pooh Corner except chapter 7.Physically, Eeyore is described as an "old grey donkey." In Ernest H. Shepard's illustrations, he appears to be about chin-high to Pooh and about hip-high to Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, appearing in his popular books of poetry and stories about Winnie-the-Pooh. He has subsequently appeared in Disney cartoons....
. He has a long, detachable tail
Pin the Tail on the Donkey
Pin the Tail on the Donkey is a game played by groups of children. It is common at birthday parties and other gatherings. A picture of a donkey with a missing tail is tacked to a wall within easy reach of children....
with a pink bow on the end, of which he is very fond, but that he is also prone to losing (Owl
Owl (Winnie the Pooh)
Owl is a fictional character in A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books and in Disney's Winnie the Pooh cartoons. Owl's character is based on the archetype of the "wise old owl", although in the books, the quality of Owl's "wisdom" is sometimes questionable....
once mistakes it for a bell-pull). Christopher Robin is able to reattach the tail with a drawing pin.
Eeyore is apparently able to write, or at least recognize letters such as the letter A that he teaches to Piglet
Piglet (Winnie the Pooh)
Piglet is a fictional character from A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books. Piglet is Winnie-the-Pooh's closest friend amongst all the toys/animals featured in the stories...
in the fifth chapter of The House at Pooh Corner
The House at Pooh Corner
The House at Pooh Corner is the second volume of stories about Winnie-the-Pooh, written by A. A. Milne and illustrated by E. H. Shepard. It is notable for the introduction of the character Tigger, who went on to become a prominent figure in the Disney Winnie the Pooh franchise.- Plot :The title...
. He spells his own name "eoR" when signing the "rissolution" that the animals give to Christopher Robin as a farewell present in the final chapter of The House at Pooh Corner. Eeyore also wrote the awkwardly-rhymed poem called "POEM", which appeared on the "rissolution", making him the only character in the Winnie-the-Pooh books other than Pooh himself who attempts to write poetry. Eeyore is also surprisingly good at the game Poohsticks
Poohsticks
Poohsticks is a game first mentioned in The House at Pooh Corner, a Winnie-the-Pooh book by A. A. Milne. It is a simple game which may be played on any bridge over running water; each player drops a stick on the upstream side of a bridge and the one whose stick first appears on the downstream side...
, winning more times than anyone else when it is played in the sixth chapter of The House at Pooh Corner.
Eeyore lives in the southeast corner of the Hundred Acre Wood
Hundred Acre Wood
The Hundred Acre Wood is the fictional land inhabited by Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Winnie-the-Pooh series of children's stories by author A. A. Milne...
, in an area labeled "Eeyore's Gloomy Place: Rather Boggy and Sad" on the map in the book. He has a stick house therein, which collapses rather regularly, called The House at Pooh Corner. Pooh and Piglet built it for him after accidentally mistaking the original house that Eeyore built for a pile of sticks.
He has a poor opinion of most of the other animals in the Forest, describing them as having "No brain at all, some of them", "only grey fluff that's blown into their heads by mistake" (from chapter 1 of The House at Pooh Corner).
Eeyore's favorite food is thistles. On Eeyore's birthday, he is given an empty honey jar from Pooh; a popped green balloon from Piglet, and a note from Owl.
Disney cartoon version
Eeyore also appears in the Winnie-the-PoohWinnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic bear created by A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh , and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner...
cartoons popularized by The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
. He was originally voiced by Ralph Wright
Ralph Wright
Ralph Waldo Wright was a Disney animator and story/storyboard writer who is best known for providing the gloomy, sullen voice of Eeyore from the popular Winnie-the-Pooh franchise...
, who was then replaced by Ron Gans
Ron Gans
Ronald Kenneth Gans , sometimes credited as Ron Kennedy, was an American voice-over artist and character actor, known for portraying Sebastian the alley cat on The Disney Channel's Dumbo's Circus and the voice of Eeyore on Welcome to Pooh Corner. He also voiced the Stunticon Drag Strip in The...
(for Welcome to Pooh Corner
Welcome to Pooh Corner
Welcome to Pooh Corner is a live-action/puppet television series that aired on Disney Channel, featuring the characters from the Winnie the Pooh universe portrayed by actors in human-sized puppet suits, except Roo, who was originally a traditional puppet...
), and later Peter Cullen
Peter Cullen
Peter Claver Cullen is a Canadian voice actor, known as the voice of Eeyore in the Winnie-the-Pooh franchise, Optimus Prime and Ironhide in the original Transformers series, and the narrator in both of the original American Voltron series...
. His current voice actor is Bud Luckey
Bud Luckey
William "Bud" Luckey is an American cartoonist, animator, singer, musician, composer and voice actor. He is best known for his work at Pixar as a character designer for Toy Story, Boundin, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Cars, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille...
.
He was ridden by Rabbit in his search for train "borrowers" in The Tigger Without A Name and The Pooh With A Name. Nearly all of Eeyore's houses in the cartoons have been bounced down. Eeyore is not good at rebuilding the houses; woozles bounce on them. Yet he soldiers on and rebuilds them time after time. Despite his depressive nature, Eeyore is capable of great compassion, which is shown when he grows a plant that Rabbit, a master gardener, was unable to grow, just by showing the plant a little love.
Eeyore has also been featured in a number of movies: Piglet's Big Movie
Piglet's Big Movie
Piglet's Big Movie is a 2003 American animated film produced by DisneyToon Studios, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 21, 2003. It is based upon the characters in the Winnie-the-Pooh books written by A. A. Milne...
, The Tigger Movie
The Tigger Movie
The Tigger Movie is a 2000 animated comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Jun Falkenstein. Part of the Winnie-the-Pooh series, this film features Pooh's friend Tigger in his search for his family tree and other Tiggers like himself...
and Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Pooh's Heffalump Movie is a 2005 Winnie-the-Pooh film, released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film runs at 68 mins., This was the shortest feature-length Pooh film to be released in theaters until The 2011 Film at 63 mins.- Plot :...
. He appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is the segment of The Walt Disney Company that conceives, builds, and manages the company's theme parks and holiday resorts, as well as a variety of additional family-oriented leisure enterprises...
for meet and greet
Greeting
Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship or social status between individuals or groups of people coming in contact with each other...
s. His catchphrases are "Thanks for noticin' me" and "Ohhh-kayyy".
In merchandise by The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
, Eeyore sometimes has an uncharacteristic smile. Also, he is somewhat less caustic and sarcastic in the Disney version than in Alan Milne's original stories. His tail was not always fixed to him by a nail, although Disney has chosen this as part of his permanent image. Eeyore lost his tail in the Hundred Acre Wood. Owl found it and used it as a bell-pull beside his door, before Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic bear created by A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh , and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner...
found it for Eeyore. Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, appearing in his popular books of poetry and stories about Winnie-the-Pooh. He has subsequently appeared in Disney cartoons....
then pinned it back on. According to Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree is a 1966 animated featurette released by The Walt Disney Company. Based on the first two chapters of the book Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, it is the is the only Winnie the Pooh production released under the production of Walt Disney before his death later that...
, this was possible because Eeyore is full of sawdust
Sawdust
Sawdust is a by-product of cutting lumber with a saw, composed of fine particles of wood. It can present a hazard in manufacturing industries, especially in terms of its flammability....
. Also, when Eeyore appears in animation he is colored his natural grey, though he is coloured blue with a pink muzzle in merchandising.