Winnie - the - Pooh - wikipedia Winnie - the - Pooh `` Pooh '' redirects here. For other uses, see Pooh ( disambiguation ). `` Hunny '' redirects here. For the food, see Honey. This article is about the fictional character. For the songwriter, see Poo Bear. For other uses, see Winnie - the - Pooh ( disambiguation ). Winnie - the - Pooh Pooh in an illustration by E.H. Shepard First appearance When We Were Very Young ( 1924 ) ( As Edward Bear ) Winnie - the - Pooh ( As Winnie - the - Pooh ) Created by A.A. Milne Voiced by Franz Fazakas ( 1960 ) Sterling Holloway ( 1966 -- 1977 ) Hal Smith ( 1981 -- 1986 ) Jim Cummings ( 1988 -- present ) Information Nickname ( s ) Pooh Bear Pooh Species Bear Gender Male Winnie - the - Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A.A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie - the - Pooh ( 1926 ), and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner ( 1928 ). Milne also included a poem about the bear in the children 's verse book When We Were Very Young ( 1924 ) and many more in Now We Are Six ( 1927 ). All four volumes were illustrated by E.H. Shepard. The Pooh stories have been translated into many languages, including Alexander Lenard 's Latin translation, Winnie ille Pu, which was first published in 1958, and, in 1960, became the only Latin book ever to have been featured on The New York Times Best Seller list. Hyphens in the character 's name were dropped by Disney when the company adapted the Pooh stories into a series of features that became one of its most successful franchises. In popular film adaptations, Pooh Bear has been voiced by actors Sterling Holloway, Hal Smith, and Jim Cummings in English, and Yevgeny Leonov in Russian. Contents 1 History 1.1 Origin 1.2 Ashdown Forest : the setting for the stories 1.3 First publication 1.4 Character 1.5 Sequel 1.6 Stephen Slesinger 1.7 Red Shirt Pooh 1.8 Disney ownership era ( 1966 -- present ) 1.9 Merchandising revenue dispute 2 Adaptations 2.1 Theatre 2.2 Audio 2.3 Radio 2.4 Film 2.4. 1 Soviet adaptation 2.5 Television 2.6 Disney adaptations 2.6. 1 Theatrical shorts 2.6. 2 Theatrical feature films 2.6. 3 Television shows 2.6. 4 Holiday TV specials 2.6. 5 Direct - to - video shorts 2.6. 6 Direct - to - video features 2.6. 7 Video games 3 Legacy 4 References 5 External links History Origin Original Winnie - the - Pooh stuffed toys. Clockwise from bottom left : Tigger, Kanga, Edward Bear ( `` Winnie - the - Pooh '' ), Eeyore, and Piglet. Roo was lost long ago ; the other characters were made up for the stories. A.A. Milne named the character Winnie - the - Pooh after a teddy bear owned by his son, Christopher Robin Milne, who was the basis for the character Christopher Robin. The rest of Christopher Robin Milne 's toys -- Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, and Tigger -- were incorporated into Milne 's stories. Two more characters, Owl and Rabbit, were created by Milne 's imagination, while Gopher was added to the Disney version. Christopher Robin 's toy bear is on display at the Main Branch of the New York Public Library in New York City. Harry Colebourn and Winnie, 1914 Christopher Milne had named his toy bear after Winnie, a Canadian black bear he often saw at London Zoo, and `` Pooh '', a swan they had met while on holiday. The bear cub was purchased from a hunter for $20 by Canadian Lieutenant Harry Colebourn in White River, Ontario, Canada, while en route to England during the First World War. He named the bear `` Winnie '' after his adopted hometown in Winnipeg, Manitoba. `` Winnie '' was surreptitiously brought to England with her owner, and gained unofficial recognition as The Fort Garry Horse regimental mascot. Colebourn left Winnie at the London Zoo while he and his unit were in France ; after the war she was officially donated to the zoo, as she had become a much loved attraction there. Pooh the swan appears as a character in its own right in When We Were Very Young. Statue in Winnipeg of Harry Colebourn and Winnie In the first chapter of Winnie - the - Pooh, Milne offers this explanation of why Winnie - the - Pooh is often called simply `` Pooh '' : But his arms were so stiff... they stayed up straight in the air for more than a week, and whenever a fly came and settled on his nose he had to blow it off. And I think -- but I am not sure -- that that is why he is always called Pooh. The American writer William Safire surmised that the Milnes ' invention of the name `` Winnie the Pooh '' may have also been influenced by the haughty character Pooh - Bah in Gilbert and Sullivan 's The Mikado ( 1885 ). Ashdown forest : the setting for the stories The Winnie - the - Pooh stories are set in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, England. The forest is a large area of tranquil open heathland on the highest sandy ridges of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty situated 30 miles ( 50 km ) south of London. In 1925 Milne, a Londoner, bought a country home a mile to the north of the forest at Cotchford Farm, near Hartfield. According to Christopher Milne, while his father continued to live in London ``... the four of us -- he, his wife, his son and his son 's nanny -- would pile into a large blue, chauffeur - driven Fiat and travel down every Saturday morning and back again every Monday afternoon. And we would spend a whole glorious month there in the spring and two months in the summer. '' From the front lawn the family had a view across a meadow to a line of alders that fringed the River Medway, beyond which the ground rose through more trees until finally `` above them, in the faraway distance, crowning the view, was a bare hilltop. In the centre of this hilltop was a clump of pines. '' Most of his father 's visits to the forest at this time were, he noted, family expeditions on foot `` to make yet another attempt to count the pine trees on Gill 's Lap or to search for the marsh gentian ''. Christopher added that, inspired by Ashdown Forest, his father had made it `` the setting for two of his books, finishing the second little over three years after his arrival ''. Many locations in the stories can be linked to real places in and around the forest. As Christopher Milne wrote in his autobiography : `` Pooh 's forest and Ashdown Forest are identical ''. For example, the fictional `` Hundred Acre Wood '' was in reality Five Hundred Acre Wood ; Galleon 's Leap was inspired by the prominent hilltop of Gill 's Lap, while a clump of trees just north of Gill 's Lap became Christopher Robin 's The Enchanted Place because no - one had ever been able to count whether there were sixty - three or sixty - four trees in the circle. The landscapes depicted in E.H. Shepard 's illustrations for the Winnie - the - Pooh books were directly inspired by the distinctive landscape of Ashdown Forest, with its high, open heathlands of heather, gorse, bracken and silver birch punctuated by hilltop clumps of pine trees. Many of Shepard 's illustrations can be matched to actual views, allowing for a degree of artistic licence. Shepard 's sketches of pine trees and other forest scenes are held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The game of Poohsticks was originally played by Christopher Milne on a footbridge across a tributary of the River Medway in Posingford Wood, close to Cotchford Farm. The wooden bridge is now a tourist attraction, and it has become traditional to play the game there using sticks gathered in nearby woodland. When the footbridge recently had to be replaced, the engineer designed a new structure based closely on the drawings of the bridge by Shepard in the books, which were somewhat different than the original structure. First publication Winnie - the - Pooh 's debut in the 24 December 1925 London Evening News Christopher Robin 's teddy bear, Edward, made his character début in A.A. Milne 's poem, `` Teddy Bear '', in the edition of 13 February 1924 of Punch, and the same poem was published in Milne 's book of children 's verse When We Were Very Young ( 6 November 1924 ). Winnie - the - Pooh first appeared by name on 24 December 1925, in a Christmas story commissioned and published by the London newspaper The Evening News. It was illustrated by J.H. Dowd. The first collection of Pooh stories appeared in the book Winnie - the - Pooh. The Evening News Christmas story reappeared as the first chapter of the book. At the beginning, it explained that Pooh was in fact Christopher Robin 's Edward Bear, who had been renamed by the boy. He was renamed after a black bear at London Zoo called Winnie who got her name from the fact that her owner had come from Winnipeg, Canada. The book was published in October 1926 by the publisher of Milne 's earlier children 's work, Methuen, in England, and E.P. Dutton in the United States. Character In the Milne books, Pooh is naive and slow - witted, but he is also friendly, thoughtful, and steadfast. Although he and his friends agree that he `` has no Brain '', Pooh is occasionally acknowledged to have a clever idea, usually driven by common sense. These include riding in Christopher Robin 's umbrella to rescue Piglet from a flood, discovering `` the North Pole '' by picking it up to help fish Roo out of the river, inventing the game of Poohsticks, and getting Eeyore out of the river by dropping a large rock on one side of him to wash him towards the bank. Pooh is also a talented poet, and the stories are frequently punctuated by his poems and `` hums. '' Although he is humble about his slow - wittedness, he is comfortable with his creative gifts. When Owl 's house blows down in a storm, trapping Pooh and Piglet and Owl inside, Pooh encourages Piglet ( the only one small enough to do so ) to escape and rescue them all by promising that `` a respectful Pooh song '' will be written about Piglet 's feat. Later, Pooh muses about the creative process as he composes the song. Pooh is very fond of food, especially `` hunny '' but also condensed milk and other items. When he visits friends, his desire to be offered a snack is in conflict with the impoliteness of asking too directly. Though intending to give Eeyore a pot of honey for his birthday, Pooh can not resist eating the honey on his way to deliver the present, and so instead gives Eeyore `` a useful pot to put things in ''. When he and Piglet are lost in the forest during Rabbit 's attempt to `` unbounce '' Tigger, Pooh finds his way home by following the `` call '' of the honeypots from his house. Pooh makes it a habit to have `` a little something '' around eleven o'clock in the morning. As the clock in his house `` stopped at five minutes to eleven some weeks ago, '' any time can be Pooh 's snack time. Pooh is very social. After Christopher Robin, his closest friend is Piglet, and he most often chooses to spend his time with one or both of them. But he also habitually visits the other animals, often looking for a snack or an audience for his poetry as much as for companionship. His kind - heartedness means he goes out of his way to be friendly to Eeyore, visiting him and bringing him a birthday present and building him a house, despite receiving mostly disdain from Eeyore in return. Sequel An authorised sequel Return to the Hundred Acre Wood was published on 5 October 2009. The author, David Benedictus, has developed, but not changed, Milne 's characterisations. The illustrations, by Mark Burgess, are in the style of Shepard. Another authorised sequel, The Best Bear in All the World, was published by Egmont in 2016. The sequel consists of four short stories by four leading children 's authors, Kate Saunders, Brian Sibley, Paul Bright, and Jeanne Willis. Illustrations are by Mark Burgess. The Best Bear in All The World sees the introduction of a new character, a Penguin, which was inspired by a long - lost photograph of Milne and his son Christopher with a toy penguin. A further special story, Winnie - the - Pooh Meets the Queen, was published in 2016 to mark the 90th anniversary of Milne 's creation and the 90th birthday of Elizabeth II. It sees Winnie the Pooh meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Stephen Slesinger On 6 January 1930, Stephen Slesinger purchased US and Canadian merchandising, television, recording and other trade rights to the `` Winnie - the - Pooh '' works from Milne for a $1000 advance and 66 % of Slesinger 's income, creating the modern licensing industry. By November 1931, Pooh was a $50 million - a-year business. Slesinger marketed Pooh and his friends for more than 30 years, creating the first Pooh doll, record, board game, puzzle, US radio broadcast ( NBC ), animation, and motion picture film. Red shirt Pooh The first time Pooh and his friends appeared in colour was 1932, when he was drawn by Slesinger in his now - familiar red shirt and featured on an RCA Victor picture record. Parker Brothers introduced A.A. Milne 's Winnie - the - Pooh Game in 1933, again with Pooh in his red shirt. In the 1940s, Agnes Brush created the first plush dolls with Pooh in his red shirt. Shepard had drawn Pooh with a shirt as early as the first Winnie - The - Pooh book, which was subsequently coloured red in later coloured editions. Disney ownership era ( 1966 -- present ) Main article : Winnie the Pooh ( franchise ) After Slesinger 's death in 1953, his wife, Shirley Slesinger Lasswell, continued developing the character herself. In 1961, she licensed rights to Walt Disney Productions in exchange for royalties in the first of two agreements between Stephen Slesinger, Inc. and Disney. The same year, A.A. Milne 's widow, Daphne Milne, also licensed certain rights, including motion picture rights, to Disney. Since 1966, Disney has released numerous animated productions starring Winnie the Pooh and related characters. These have included theatrical featurettes, television series, and direct - to - video films, as well as the theatrical feature - length films The Tigger Movie, Piglet 's Big Movie, Pooh 's Heffalump Movie, and Winnie the Pooh. Merchandising revenue dispute Pooh videos, soft toys, and other merchandise generate substantial annual revenues for Disney. The size of Pooh stuffed toys ranges from Beanie and miniature to human - sized. In addition to the stylised Disney Pooh, Disney markets Classic Pooh merchandise which more closely resembles E.H. Shepard 's illustrations. In 1991, Stephen Slesinger, Inc. filed a lawsuit against Disney which alleged that Disney had breached their 1983 agreement by again failing to accurately report revenue from Winnie the Pooh sales. Under this agreement, Disney was to retain approximately 98 % of gross worldwide revenues while the remaining 2 % was to be paid to Slesinger. In addition, the suit alleged that Disney had failed to pay required royalties on all commercial exploitation of the product name. Though the Disney corporation was sanctioned by a judge for destroying forty boxes of evidential documents, the suit was later terminated by another judge when it was discovered that Slesinger 's investigator had rummaged through Disney 's garbage to retrieve the discarded evidence. Slesinger appealed the termination and, on 26 September 2007, a three - judge panel upheld the lawsuit dismissal. After the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, Clare Milne, Christopher Milne 's daughter, attempted to terminate any future US copyrights for Stephen Slesinger, Inc. After a series of legal hearings, Judge Florence - Marie Cooper of the US District Court in California found in favour of Stephen Slesinger, Inc., as did the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On 26 June 2006, the US Supreme Court refused to hear the case, sustaining the ruling and ensuring the defeat of the suit. On 19 February 2007 Disney lost a court case in Los Angeles which ruled their `` misguided claims '' to dispute the licensing agreements with Slesinger, Inc. were unjustified, but a federal ruling of 28 September 2009, again from Judge Florence - Marie Cooper, determined that the Slesinger family had granted all trademarks and copyrights to Disney, although Disney must pay royalties for all future use of the characters. Both parties have expressed satisfaction with the outcome. Adaptations Theatre Winnie - the - Pooh at the Guild Theater, Sue Hastings Marionettes, 1931 Winnie - the - Pooh, a play in three acts, dramatized by Kristin Sergel, Dramatic Publishing Company, 1957 Winnie - the - Pooh, a musical comedy in two acts, lyrics by A.A. Milne and Kristin Sergel, music by Allan Jay Friedman, book by Kristin Sergel, Dramatic Publishing Company, 1964 A Winnie - the - Pooh Christmas Tail, In Which Winnie - the - Pooh and His Friends Help Eeyore Have a Very Merry Christmas ( Or a Very Happy Birthday. ), book, music, and lyrics by James W. Rogers, Dramatic Publishing Company, 1977 `` Bother ! The Brain of Pooh '', Peter Dennis, 1986 Winnie - the - Pooh, small cast musical version, dramatized by le Clanché du Rand, music by Allan Jay Friedman, lyrics by A.A. Milne and Kristin Sergel, additional lyrics by le Clanché du Rand, Dramatic Publishing Company, 1992 Audio RCA Victor record from 1932 decorated with Stephen Slesinger, Inc. 's Winnie - the - Pooh Selected Pooh stories read by Maurice Evans released on vinyl LP : Winnie - the - Pooh ( consisting of three tracks : `` Introducing Winnie - the - Pooh and Christopher Robin '' ; Pooh Goes Visiting and Gets into a Tight Place `` ; `` Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting and Nearly Catch a Woozle '' ) 1956 More Winnie - the - Pooh ( consisting of three tracks : `` Eeyore Loses a Tail '' ; `` Piglet Meets a Heffalump '' ; `` Eeyore Has a Birthday ''. ) In 1960 HMV recorded a dramatised version with songs ( music by Harold Fraser - Simson ) of two episodes from The House at Pooh Corner ( Chapters 2 and 8 ), starring Ian Carmichael as Pooh, Denise Bryer as Christopher Robin ( who also narrated ), Hugh Lloyd as Tigger, Penny Morrell as Piglet, and Terry Norris as Eeyore. This was released on a 45 rpm EP. In the 1970s and 1980s, Carol Channing recorded Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner and The Winnie the Pooh Songbook, with music by Don Heckman. These were released on vinyl LP and audio cassette by Caedmon Records. Unabridged recordings read by Peter Dennis of the four Pooh books : When We Were Very Young Winnie - the - Pooh Now We Are Six The House at Pooh Corner In 1979 a double audio cassette set of `` Winnie the Pooh '' was produced featuring British actor Lionel Jeffries reading all characters in the stories. This was followed in 1981 by an audio cassette set of stories from `` House at Pooh Corner '' also read by Lionel Jeffries. In the 1990s, the stories were dramatised for audio by David Benedictus, with music composed, directed and played by John Gould. They were performed by a cast that included Stephen Fry as Winnie - the - Pooh, Jane Horrocks as Piglet, Geoffrey Palmer as Eeyore, and Judi Dench as Kanga. Radio Winnie - the - Pooh was broadcast by Donald Calthrop over all BBC stations on Christmas Day, 1925. Pooh made his US radio debut on 10 November 1932, when he was broadcast to 40,000 schools by The American School of the Air, the educational division of the Columbia Broadcasting System. Film 2017 : Goodbye Christopher Robin, a drama film exploring the creation of Winnie - the - Pooh by A.A. Milne. Soviet adaptation A postage stamp showing Piglet and Winnie - the - Pooh as they appear in the Soviet adaptation In the Soviet Union, three Winnie - the - Pooh, ( transcribed in Russian as `` Vinni Pukh '' ) ( Russian language : Винни - Пух ) stories were made into a celebrated trilogy of short films by Soyuzmultfilm ( directed by Fyodor Khitruk ) from 1969 to 1972, after being granted permission by Disney to make their own adaptation in a gesture of Cold War détente. Винни - Пух ( Winnie - the - Pooh, 1969 ) -- based on chapter 1 Винни - Пух идёт в гости ( Winnie - the - Pooh Pays a Visit, 1971 ) -- based on chapter 2 Винни - Пух и день забот ( Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, 1972 ) -- based on chapters 4 and 6. Films use Boris Zakhoder 's translation of the book. Pooh was voiced by Yevgeny Leonov. Unlike the Disney adaptations, the animators did not base their depictions of the characters on Shepard 's illustrations, creating a different look. The Soviet adaptations make extensive use of Milne 's original text, and often bring out aspects of Milne 's characters ' personalities not used in the Disney adaptations. Television Winnie - the - Pooh and his friends debuted on NBC Television in 1958 - 1960. 1958 - 1960 : Shirley Temple 's Storybook on NBC : Winnie - the - Pooh ' A marioneets version of Winnie The Pooh, designed, made and operated by Bil And Cora Baird,. Pooh himself is voiced by Franz Fazakas. During the 1970s the BBC children 's television show Jackanory serialised the two books, which were read by Willie Rushton. Disney adaptations Theatrical shorts 1966 : Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree 1968 : Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day 1974 : Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too 1981 : Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons 1983 : Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore Theatrical feature films 1977 : The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ( compilation of Honey Tree, Blustery Day, and Tigger Too ) 2000 : The Tigger Movie 2003 : Piglet 's Big Movie 2005 : Pooh 's Heffalump Movie 2011 : Winnie the Pooh 2018 : Christopher Robin Television shows Welcome to Pooh Corner ( * ) ( Disney Channel, 1983 -- 1986 ) The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ( ABC, 1988 -- 1991 ) The Book of Pooh ( * ) ( Disney Channel ( Playhouse Disney ), 2001 -- 2003 ) My Friends Tigger & Pooh ( Disney Channel ( Playhouse Disney ), 2007 -- 2010 ) Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ( Disney Junior, 2011 -- 2014 ) Magical World of Winnie the Pooh ( Note : These are episodes from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ) ( * ) : Puppet / live - action show Holiday TV specials 1991 : Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too, included in A Very Merry Pooh Year 1996 : Boo to You Too ! Winnie the Pooh, included in Pooh 's Heffalump Halloween Movie 1998 : A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving, included in Seasons of Giving 1999 : A Valentine for You Direct - to - video shorts 1990 : Winnie the Pooh 's ABC of Me Direct - to - video features 1997 : Pooh 's Grand Adventure : The Search for Christopher Robin 1999 : Seasons of Giving * 2001 : The Book of Pooh : Stories from the Heart 2002 : A Very Merry Pooh Year * 2004 : Springtime with Roo 2005 : Pooh 's Heffalump Halloween Movie 2007 : Super Sleuth Christmas Movie 2009 : Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too 2010 : Super Duper Super Sleuths These features integrate stories from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and / or holiday specials with new footage. Video games The following games are based on Disney 's Winnie the Pooh. Main title / alternate title ( s ) Developer Release date System ( s ) Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood Sierra On - Line 1984 Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS A Year at Pooh Corner Novotrade, Sega Sega Pico Ready for Math with Pooh Disney Interactive Studios 1997 Microsoft Windows Ready to Read with Pooh Disney Interactive Studios 1997 Microsoft Windows Tigger 's Honey Hunt Doki Denki, NewKidCo 2000 PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 64 Winnie the Pooh : Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood Tose, NewKidCo 2000 Game Boy Color Disney 's Winnie the Pooh : Preschool Hi Corp, Atlus 2001 PlayStation Disney 's Pooh 's Party Game : In Search of the Treasure Doki Denki, SCEE, Electronic Arts, Tomy Corporation 2001 PlayStation, Microsoft Windows Kuma no Pooh - San : Mori no Nakamato 123 Atlus 2001 PlayStation Pooh and Tigger 's Hunny Safari Digital Eclipse, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft 2001 Game Boy Color Disney 's Winnie the Pooh 's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure Hi Corp, Atlus 2002 PlayStation Piglet 's Big Game Doki Denki Studio, Disney Interactive Studios, THQ, Gotham Games 2003 Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance Pooh 's Hunny Pot Challenge Walt Disney Internet Group 2003 Mobile phone Pooh 's Pairs Walt Disney Internet Group 2003 Mobile phone Tigger 's Bouncin ' Time Walt Disney Internet Group 2003 Mobile phone Pooh 's Hunny Blocks Walt Disney Internet Group 2003 Mobile phone Winnie the Pooh 's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure Phoenix Games Studio, Ubisoft 2005 Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, mobile phone Kuma no Pooh - San : 100 Acre no Mori no Cooking Book Disney Interactive Studios 2011 Nintendo DS Disney 's Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree Animated Storybook Disney Interactive Studios 2014 Microsoft Windows Legacy A plaque on Winnie - the - Pooh Street ( ulica Kubusia Puchatka ) in Warsaw Winnie the Pooh has inspired multiple texts to explain complex philosophical ideas. Benjamin Hoff used Milne 's characters in The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet to explain Taoism. Similarly, Frederick Crews wrote essays about the Pooh books in abstruse academic jargon in The Pooh Perplex and Postmodern Pooh to satirise a range of philosophical approaches. Pooh and the Philosophers by John T. Williams uses Winnie the Pooh as a backdrop to illustrate the works of philosophers including Descartes, Kant, Plato, and Nietzsche. Epic Pooh is a 1978 essay by Michael Moorcock that compares much fantasy writing to AA Milne 's as work intended to comfort, not challenge. One of the best known characters in British children 's literature, a 2011 poll saw Winnie the Pooh voted onto the list of icons of England. Forbes magazine ranked Pooh the most valuable fictional character in 2002, with merchandising products alone generating more than $5.9 billion that year. In 2005, Pooh generated $6 billion, a figure surpassed by only Mickey Mouse. In 2006, Pooh received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, marking the 80th birthday of Milne 's creation. The bear is such a popular character in Poland that a Warsaw street is named for him, Ulica Kubusia Puchatka. There is also a street named after him in Budapest ( Micimackó utca ). In music, Kenny Loggins wrote the song `` House at Pooh Corner '', which was originally recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Loggins later rewrote the song as `` Return to Pooh Corner '', featuring on the album of the same name in 1991. In Italy, a pop band took their name from Winnie, and were titled Pooh. In Estonia there is a punk / metal band called Winny Puhh. In the `` sport '' of Poohsticks, competitors drop sticks into a stream from a bridge and then wait to see whose stick will cross the finish line first. Though it began as a game played by Pooh and his friends in the book The House at Pooh Corner and later in the films, it has crossed over into the real world : a World Championship Poohsticks race takes place in Oxfordshire each year. Ashdown Forest in England where the Pooh stories are set is a popular tourist attraction, and includes the wooden Pooh Bridge where Pooh and Piglet invented Poohsticks. The Oxford University Winnie the Pooh Society was founded by undergraduates in 1982. In the People 's Republic of China, images of Pooh were censored in mid-2017 from social media websites, when internet memes comparing Chinese president Xi Jinping to Pooh became popular. References Jump up ^ McDowell, Edwin. `` Winnie Ille Pu Nearly XXV Years Later '', The New York Times ( 18 November 1984 ). Retrieved 2 January 2010. Jump up ^ `` Pooh celebrates his 80th birthday ''. BBC News. Retrieved 20 July 2015 Jump up ^ Ford, Rebecca ( 28 February 2007 ) `` Happy Birthday Pooh '', Daily Express. 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Jump up ^ `` Tigger comes to the forest : and other stories ''. OCLC WorldCat. Retrieved 15 January 2016. Jump up ^ `` His Master 's Voice Speaks Again ''. Playthings. November 1932. Jump up ^ `` Russian animation in letters and figures `` Winnie the Pooh '' ``. Animator.ru. Retrieved 9 March 2015. Jump up ^ Soviet version of AA Milne classic hits British screens Daily Mail Online Jump up ^ Biography : Willie Rushton. BBC. Retrieved 11 March 2015. Jump up ^ Fleming Jr., Mike. `` Disney Sets Live - Action ' Winnie The Pooh ' Film ; Alex Ross Perry To Write ''. Deadline. Retrieved 6 April 2015. Jump up ^ Lincoln, Ross A. ( 18 November 2016 ). `` Marc Forster To Helm Live - Action ' Christopher Robin ' Based On ' Winnie The Pooh ' Character ''. Deadline. Jump up ^ `` Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ''. IMDb. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2016. Jump up ^ spiked - culture Article Pooh - poohing postmodernism. Spiked-online.com. Retrieved 12 February 2011. Jump up ^ Sonderbooks Book Review of Pooh and the Philosophers. Sonderbooks.com ( 20 April 2004 ). Retrieved 12 February 2011. Jump up ^ `` ICONS of England -- the 100 ICONS as voted by the public ''. Culture 24 News. 20 July 2015. Jump up ^ `` Top - Earning Fictional Characters ''. Forbes ( New York ). 25 September 2003. Retrieved 11 November 2012. ^ Jump up to : `` Pooh joins Hollywood Walk of Fame ''. BBC. Retrieved 24 November 2014 Jump up ^ `` Google Maps ''. Google Maps. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 9 March 2015. Jump up ^ `` House at Pooh Corner by Loggins and Messina Songfacts ''. Songfacts.com. 14 October 1926. Retrieved 9 March 2015. Jump up ^ Plans to improve access to Pooh Bridge unveiled. BBC. Retrieved 15 October 2011 Jump up ^ McDonell, Stephen ( 17 July 2017 ). `` Why China censors banned Winnie the Pooh ''. BBC News. Retrieved 6 October 2017. External links Find more aboutWinnie - the - Poohat Wikipedia 's sister projects Media from Wikimedia Commons Quotations from Wikiquote Data from Wikidata Winnie - the - Pooh at Curlie ( based on DMOZ ) The original bear, with A.A. Milne and Christopher Robin, at the National Portrait Gallery, London The real locations, from the Ashdown Forest Conservators Winnie - the - Pooh at the New York Public Library `` Winnie the Pooh saga turns 100 years old '', CBC News, 24 August 2014. `` The skull of the ' real ' Winnie goes on display '', BBC News, 20 November 2015. Winnie - the - Pooh by A.A. Milne Winnie the Pooh ( Disney franchise ) Books When We Were Very Young ( 1924 ) Winnie - the - Pooh ( 1926 ) Now We Are Six ( 1927 ) The House at Pooh Corner ( 1928 ) Return to the Hundred Acre Wood ( 2009 ) The Best Bear in All the World ( 2016 ) Winnie - the - Pooh Meets the Queen ( 2016 ) Characters Winnie - the - Pooh Disney version Piglet Tigger Christopher Robin Rabbit Eeyore Owl Kanga Roo Heffalumps Gopher Soyuzmultfilm featurettes Winnie - the - Pooh ( 1969 ) Winnie - the - Pooh Pays a Visit ( 1971 ) Winnie - the - Pooh and a Busy Day ( 1972 ) Disney featurettes Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree ( 1966 ) Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day ( 1968 ) Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too ( 1974 ) Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore ( 1983 ) Disney shorts Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons ( 1981 ) Disney feature films Walt Disney Animation Studios films The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ( 1977 ) Winnie the Pooh ( 2011 ) Disneytoon Studios films The Tigger Movie ( 2000 ) Piglet 's Big Movie ( 2003 ) Pooh 's Heffalump Movie ( 2005 ) Live - action continuation Christopher Robin ( 2018 ) Direct - to - video films Pooh 's Grand Adventure : The Search for Christopher Robin ( 1997 ) Seasons of Giving ( 1999 ) The Book of Pooh : Stories from the Heart ( 2001 ) A Very Merry Pooh Year ( 2002 ) Springtime with Roo ( 2004 ) Pooh 's Heffalump Halloween Movie ( 2005 ) Super Sleuth Christmas Movie ( 2007 ) Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too ( 2009 ) Super Duper Super Sleuths ( 2010 ) Television Welcome to Pooh Corner ( 1983 -- 1986 ) The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ( 1988 -- 1991 ) The Book of Pooh ( 2001 -- 2004 ) My Friends Tigger & Pooh ( 2007 -- 2010 ) Specials Cartoon All - Stars to the Rescue ( 1990 ) Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too ( 1991 ) Boo to You Too ! Winnie the Pooh ( 1996 ) A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving ( 1998 ) A Valentine for You ( 1999 ) Video games Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood ( 1986 ) Disney 's Animated Storybook Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree ( 1995 ) Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too ( 1999 ) Kingdom Hearts ( 2002 onwards ) Ready to Read with Pooh ( 1997 ) Tigger 's Honey Hunt ( 2000 ) Piglet 's Big Game ( 2003 ) Winnie the Pooh 's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure ( 2005 ) Disney Friends ( 2007 ) Winnie the Pooh 's Home Run Derby ( 2007 ) Songs `` Winnie the Pooh '' ( 1966 ) `` Up, Down and Touch the Ground '' ( 1966 ) `` Rumbly in My Tumbly '' ( 1966 ) `` Little Black Rain Cloud '' ( 1966 ) `` Mind over Matter '' ( 1966 ) `` A Rather Blustery Day '' ( 1968 ) `` The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers '' ( 1968 ) `` Heffalumps and Woozles '' ( 1968 ) `` The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down '' ( 1968 ) `` Hip Hip Pooh - Ray ! '' ( 1968 ) `` House at Pooh Corner '' ( 1970 ) `` I Hum to Myself '' ( 1983 ) `` The Right Side '' ( 1983 ) `` You 're the Only You '' ( 1983 ) `` Try a Little Something New '' ( 1983 ) People Christopher Robin Milne E.H. Shepard Harry Colebourn Shirley Slesinger Lasswell Stephen Slesinger Sherman Brothers David Benedictus Mark Burgess Related Ashdown Forest Bother ! The Brain of Pooh Disney franchise Hundred Acre Wood The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction More Songs from Pooh Corner Pooh 's Hunny Hunt Poohsticks Return to Pooh Corner The Tao of Pooh The Te of Piglet Eeyore 's Birthday Party Winnipeg the Bear A Bear Named Winnie Goodbye Christopher Robin Teddy bears Manufacturers Build - A-Bear Workshop Chad Valley J.K. Farnell Gund Ideal Toy Company Margarete Steiff GmbH Merrythought Teddy Atelier Stursberg Teddy - Hermann Ty Inc. Vermont Teddy Bear Company Types AG Bear Beanie Babies Boyds Bears Care Bears Coffee Bean Bears Forever Friends Freddy Teddy Gund Snuffles Holiday Beanie Babies Me to You Bears WereBears Museums Dorset Teddy Bear Museum Teddy bear museum Teddy Bear Museum of Naples Famous teddies Aloysius Archibald Ormsby - Gore Benjamin Bear Bamse Berlino Duffy the Disney Bear Corduroy Fozzie Bear Freddy Fazbear Grizzly Teddy Lotso Microsoft Bear Misha Nassur Nev Paddington Bear Pooky Pudsey Bear Rilakkuma Roosevelt Rupert Bear Rupert ( Family Guy ) Smokey Sooty SuperTed Teddy ( Mr. Bean ) Teddy Ruxpin Uszatek Mr Whoppit Winnie - the - Pooh Yogi Bear Film and television The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin Bear Behaving Badly Becky and Barnaby Bear Boonie Bears C Bear and Jamal Colargol Disney 's Adventures of the Gummi Bears Issi Noho Old Bear Stories Paddington The Secret World of Benjamin Bear SuperTed Ted Ted 2 Teddybears The Teddy Bear Master Teddy Edward The Upstairs Downstairs Bears The Yogi Bear Show Books Corduroy Little Bear Old Bear and Friends Teddy Dressing The Berenstain Bears Polar the Titanic Bear Uppo - Nalle Winkie Winnie - the - Pooh Music `` ( Let Me Be Your ) Teddy Bear '' `` Psycho Teddy '' `` Teddy Bears ' Picnic '' `` The Teddy Bear Song '' Video games Build - A-Bear Workshop Hubert the Teddy Bear : Winter Games Opération Teddy Bear Teddy Together Naughty Bear Related topics The Bear Club Peter Bull Gummy bears Round and Round the Garden SGUL Teddy Bear Hospital Richard Steiff Stuffed toys Sudanese blasphemy case Teddybear Airdrop Minsk 2012 Teddy bear parachuting Teddy Bear Review Teddy bear toss Teddy Grahams GND : 133372065 LCCN : no2014169001 NLA : 58458776 VIAF : 33185902 United Kingdom portal Children 's literature portal Disney portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Winnie-the-Pooh&oldid=853437211 '' Categories : Winnie - the - Pooh East Sussex in fiction Fictional bears Kingdom Hearts characters Bears in literature Male characters in literature Teddy bears Winnie - the - Pooh characters Fictional characters introduced in 1924 20th - century British children 's literature Hidden categories : CS1 : Julian -- Gregorian uncertainty Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL Webarchive template wayback links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from October 2010 Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism Wikipedia indefinitely move - protected pages Use dmy dates from January 2018 EngvarB from January 2018 Pages using deprecated image syntax Articles with Curlie links Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk View source Contents About Wikipedia Ænglisc Asturianu Azərbaycanca Bân - lâm - gú Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Brezhoneg Буряад Català Чӑвашла Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Emiliàn e rumagnòl Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Føroyskt Français Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית ქართული Kaszëbsczi Кыргызча Latina Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Magyar मैथिली Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Română Runa Simi Русский Scots Simple English Slovenščina Српски / srpski Basa Sunda Suomi Svenska Татарча / tatarça ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt Winaray ייִדיש 粵語 中文 59 more Edit links This page was last edited on 4 August 2018, at 19 : 59 ( UTC ). 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Question: where did winnie the pooh get his name
Answer: after Winnie, a Canadian black bear he often saw at London Zoo, and "Pooh", a swan they had met while on holiday