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Winnie-the-Pooh Has Evolved A Lot Over The Years, And The Newest Look Goes Back To The Beginning
Winnie-the-Pooh is one of the best and more popular characters from our childhoods. Kids probably recognize him as easily as they recognize Mickey Mouse. And just like Mickey Mouse, he has gone through a couple makeovers through the years.
Let's take a look at the many looks of that "willy, nilly, silly, old bear" that we all love so much.
How it started:
Winnie-the-Pooh was based on an actual bear. She was a black bear named Winnipeg that was brought to Britain during the First World War by Canadian lieutenant, Harry Colleburn.
Coleburn had to give the bear to the London Zoo when he was sent to France, but that was where the whole story really started.
A.A. Milne's son, Christopher Robin, saw the bear at the zoo. He had a stuffed bear that he had loved that was originally named Edward, but after encountering Winnipeg the bear he changed his toy's name to "Winnie-the-Pooh".
Milne was inspired by this new character his son created and included Winnie-the-Pooh in a book of poetry in 1924. In 1926 he wrote an entire story devoted to the "Hundred Acre Woods" featuring Pooh and all of his new friends.
The origin of the shirt
The original illustrator, E.H. Shepard, was responsible for giving Winnie-the-Pooh his start, but another artist took over in 1930 and added one very important detail: his shirt.
Stephen Slesinger purchased the Winnie-the-Pooh rights in 1930 and made the decision to add the iconic red shirt.
Disney's involvement
In 1961, Disney was able to license the characters from Slesinger. Everyone got a cartoon makeover and started to look a lot more like they do now.
Click through to the next page to see how the newest evolution of Winnie-the-Pooh will actually bring you right back to the start!
Now
Winnie-the-Pooh's newest look is actually quite the interesting choice. Fox Searchlight Pictures has made a movie about the creation of Winnie-the-Pooh. They go back to A.A. Milne's career before the iconic character while he struggles in post-WWI Britain.
The movie stars Domhall Gleeson and Margot Robbie as Milne and his wife, and Will Tilston will play the young Christopher Robin.
The story looks as though it will go into issues like PTSD and the sudden rise to fame. It honestly looks as though it will have everyone weeping by the end of the movie.
It's crazy that these Winnie-the-Pooh stories still resonate with us after almost a century, but there are just some characters that are too good to worry about the time period. The movie will be released on October 17th if you want to go check it out and see how Winnie-the-Pooh became the icon that he is.