Winnie the Pooh (Disney)
Encyclopedia
Winnie the Pooh is an American Walt Disney Company
franchise
, based on animated fictional characters who have been featured as part of the Disney character line-up. The Winnie the Pooh franchise is based on A. A. Milne
's books Winnie-the-Pooh
(1926), and The House at Pooh Corner
(1928).
Disney's Pooh was originally voiced by Sterling Holloway
in the three original Winnie the Pooh featurettes that were later used as segments to 1977's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
. Hal Smith
took over for the 1981 short Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons
, and would mantain the role until Jim Cummings
began voicing Pooh in The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh (1988-1991). Cummings continues to voice Pooh (as well as Tigger
) to this day.
licensed certain film and other rights to the characters, stories and trademarks from Stephen Slesinger, Inc.
, and The Estate of A. A. Milne
and made a series of cartoon films about him. The early cartoons were based on several of the original stories and the distinctive images made popular by Stephen Slesinger, Inc. during the 1930s through 1960s. Alongside the cartoon versions, which Disney adapted from Slesinger, Slesinger's simplified lines and pastel color adaptations of Shepard's classical drawings are now marketed under the description "Classic Pooh".
In 1977, Disney released the animated feature The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
, introducing a new character named Gopher, which Disney acknowledged by having Gopher proclaim, "I'm not in the book, you know!" This movie features three segments that were originally released separately as featurettes: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
(1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
(1968), and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!
(1974). This feature version featured new bridging material and a new ending, as it had been Walt Disney
's original intention to make a feature. In 1983, a fourth featurette, Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore
, was released.
The live-action series Welcome to Pooh Corner
ran on the Disney Channel
from 1983 to 1986. In 1988, Disney launched the animated series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
, which aired from 1988 to 1991 with a total of 83 episodes.
In 2000, Disney released the full-length film The Tigger Movie
in which the character of Tigger played the leading role. Due to its success, two more feature-length Pooh movies based on other characters were released to theaters: Piglet's Big Movie
in 2003 and Pooh's Heffalump Movie
in 2005.
In 2001, Playhouse Disney, along with Shadow Projects, produced a puppet TV series for preschoolers called, The Book of Pooh
, which aired from 2001 to 2003.
Winnie the Pooh was the next Pooh feature film to be released, on July 15, 2011.
Disney has also changed Pooh's world a bit, by changing the characters' clothes and adding many new characters, such as Gopher.
In the United States, Dutton publishers acquired exclusive volume publication rights and Stephen Slesinger, Inc., acquired sole and exclusive rights to virtually all uses outside of the Dutton books as well as rights to any sorts of future uses. Beginning in 1930 Stephen Slesinger created all of the distinctive and colorful images of Pooh outside of the books. Under license from Slesinger, Pooh made his debuts in radio, film, animation, children's theatre, advertising and a host of consumer products and services protected by trademark. Outside of the U.S. and Canada, Milne retained most of his literary copyright rights which he left to four beneficiaries of his trust: The Garrick Club
, Westminster School
, The Royal Literary Fund and the A. A. Milne Family. By direction of Milne's will, the Pooh Properties Trust was formed. Mrs. Milne, trustee of the Milne Estate and Spencer Curtis Brown, Trustee, licensed certain exclusive film rights to Disney in 1961. Christopher Robin Milne sold his rights to the other copyright holders, in order to raise money to support his daughter, before his death in 1996.
Sometime around 2000, the Pooh Properties Trust licensed additional rights to Disney and accepted a buyout from of their claims to royalties as defined in a 1991 lawsuit brought by Stephen Slesinger, Inc. Although Slesinger's rights are arguably more valuable, the combined value paid by Disney to The Pooh Properties Trust is said to be approximately $300 million for Milne's portion of those rights.
To further minimize Disney's legal exposure to Slesinger, Disney paid money to the Pooh Properties attorneys and trusts to use the name of Clare Milne, daughter of Christopher Robin, in an attempt to terminate certain of the copyright rights of Stephen Slesinger Inc, in the wake of the Sonny Bono
Copyright Term Extension Act
of 1998. The district court found in favour of Stephen Slesinger, Inc., and as did the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit. On Monday, June 26, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case, thus sustaining the Appeals Court ruling.
In December 2005, Disney announced that Pooh's friend and owner Christopher Robin
would be replaced by a six-year-old "tomboyish" red-haired
girl named Darby for the Disney Channel
animated television series, My Friends Tigger & Pooh
. Christopher Robin appeared intermittently in the series.
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...
franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
, based on animated fictional characters who have been featured as part of the Disney character line-up. The Winnie the Pooh franchise is based on 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...
's books 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...
(1926), and 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...
(1928).
Disney's Pooh was originally voiced by Sterling Holloway
Sterling Holloway
Sterling Price Holloway, Jr. was an American character actor who appeared in 150 films and television programs. He was also a voice actor for The Walt Disney Company...
in the three original Winnie the Pooh featurettes that were later used as segments to 1977's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is the 22nd full-length animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions and first released on March 11, 1977....
. Hal Smith
Hal Smith (actor)
Harold John "Hal" Smith was an American character actor and voice actor. Smith is best known as Otis Campbell, the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show, and was the voice of many characters on various animated cartoon shorts...
took over for the 1981 short Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons
Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons
Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons is an educational short film made by The Walt Disney Company, released on September 6, 1981.- Plot :...
, and would mantain the role until Jim Cummings
Jim Cummings
James Jonah "Jim" Cummings is an American voice actor who has appeared in almost 100 roles. He has appeared in classic animated movies such as Aladdin and The Lion King, as well as taking on roles in more current films, such as Bee Movie, Princess and the Frog, and Winnie the Pooh.-Personal...
began voicing Pooh in The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh (1988-1991). Cummings continues to voice Pooh (as well as Tigger
Tigger
Tigger is a fictional tiger-like character originally introduced in A. A. Milne's book The House at Pooh Corner. Like other Pooh characters, Tigger is based on one of Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed animals...
) to this day.
Adaptation and development by Disney
In 1961, Walt Disney ProductionsThe 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...
licensed certain film and other rights to the characters, stories and trademarks from Stephen Slesinger, Inc.
Stephen Slesinger
Stephen Slesinger , was an American radio/television/film producer, creator of comic strip characters and the father of the licensing industry...
, and The Estate of 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...
and made a series of cartoon films about him. The early cartoons were based on several of the original stories and the distinctive images made popular by Stephen Slesinger, Inc. during the 1930s through 1960s. Alongside the cartoon versions, which Disney adapted from Slesinger, Slesinger's simplified lines and pastel color adaptations of Shepard's classical drawings are now marketed under the description "Classic Pooh".
In 1977, Disney released the animated feature The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is the 22nd full-length animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions and first released on March 11, 1977....
, introducing a new character named Gopher, which Disney acknowledged by having Gopher proclaim, "I'm not in the book, you know!" This movie features three segments that were originally released separately as featurettes: 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...
(1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day is a 1968 animated featurette based on stories from the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. The featurette was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution on December 20, 1968 before The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. This was...
(1968), and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!
Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!
Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too is a 1974 animated feature from Disney released as a double feature with The Island at the Top of the World. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, but lost to Closed Mondays. It was later added as a segment to the 1977 film The Many...
(1974). This feature version featured new bridging material and a new ending, as it had been Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's original intention to make a feature. In 1983, a fourth featurette, Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore
Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore
Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore is a Disney Winnie the Pooh animated featurette, based on two chapters from the books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, originally released theatrically on March 11, 1983, before the 1983 re-issue of The Sword in the Stone...
, was released.
The live-action series 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...
ran on the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
from 1983 to 1986. In 1988, Disney launched the animated series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television that ran from 1988 to 1991, inspired by A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories.-Overview:...
, which aired from 1988 to 1991 with a total of 83 episodes.
In 2000, Disney released the full-length film 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...
in which the character of Tigger played the leading role. Due to its success, two more feature-length Pooh movies based on other characters were released to theaters: 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...
in 2003 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 :...
in 2005.
In 2001, Playhouse Disney, along with Shadow Projects, produced a puppet TV series for preschoolers called, The Book of Pooh
The Book of Pooh
The Book of Pooh is an American television series that aired on the Disney Channel. It is the third television series to feature the characters from the Disney franchise based on A. A...
, which aired from 2001 to 2003.
Winnie the Pooh was the next Pooh feature film to be released, on July 15, 2011.
Disney has also changed Pooh's world a bit, by changing the characters' clothes and adding many new characters, such as Gopher.
Ownership controversy and drastic changes
During his lifetime, Milne was liberal with his grant of rights. At times he licensed the same exclusive rights to more than one entity.In the United States, Dutton publishers acquired exclusive volume publication rights and Stephen Slesinger, Inc., acquired sole and exclusive rights to virtually all uses outside of the Dutton books as well as rights to any sorts of future uses. Beginning in 1930 Stephen Slesinger created all of the distinctive and colorful images of Pooh outside of the books. Under license from Slesinger, Pooh made his debuts in radio, film, animation, children's theatre, advertising and a host of consumer products and services protected by trademark. Outside of the U.S. and Canada, Milne retained most of his literary copyright rights which he left to four beneficiaries of his trust: The Garrick Club
Garrick Club
The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in London.-History:The Garrick Club was founded at a meeting in the Committee Room at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on Wednesday 17 August 1831...
, Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
, The Royal Literary Fund and the A. A. Milne Family. By direction of Milne's will, the Pooh Properties Trust was formed. Mrs. Milne, trustee of the Milne Estate and Spencer Curtis Brown, Trustee, licensed certain exclusive film rights to Disney in 1961. Christopher Robin Milne sold his rights to the other copyright holders, in order to raise money to support his daughter, before his death in 1996.
Sometime around 2000, the Pooh Properties Trust licensed additional rights to Disney and accepted a buyout from of their claims to royalties as defined in a 1991 lawsuit brought by Stephen Slesinger, Inc. Although Slesinger's rights are arguably more valuable, the combined value paid by Disney to The Pooh Properties Trust is said to be approximately $300 million for Milne's portion of those rights.
To further minimize Disney's legal exposure to Slesinger, Disney paid money to the Pooh Properties attorneys and trusts to use the name of Clare Milne, daughter of Christopher Robin, in an attempt to terminate certain of the copyright rights of Stephen Slesinger Inc, in the wake of the Sonny Bono
Sonny Bono
Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono was an American recording artist, record producer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades.-Early life:...
Copyright Term Extension Act
Copyright Term Extension Act
The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 extended copyright terms in the United States by 20 years. Since the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright would last for the life of the author plus 50 years, or 75 years for a work of corporate authorship...
of 1998. The district court found in favour of Stephen Slesinger, Inc., and as did the U.S. Court of Appeals
United States court of appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
for the Ninth Circuit. On Monday, June 26, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case, thus sustaining the Appeals Court ruling.
In December 2005, Disney announced that Pooh's friend and owner 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....
would be replaced by a six-year-old "tomboyish" red-haired
Red hair
Red hair occurs on approximately 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations...
girl named Darby for the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
animated television series, My Friends Tigger & Pooh
My Friends Tigger & Pooh
My Friends Tigger & Pooh is a computer animated television series, inspired by Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne. The television series features Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends, including two new characters: a brave 6-year-old red-headed girl named Darby and her dog Buster...
. Christopher Robin appeared intermittently in the series.
External links
- Winnie-the-Pooh (2011) at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...