Winnie The Pooh Is Getting A Prequel Film That Will Apparently Be Like Paddington
All heroes deserve an origin story. And all stuffed bears deserve a cultural resurgence. At long last, everyone's favorite honey-loving woodland creature will get both: Winnie the Pooh is returning to theaters in 2024 via a prequel film to A.A. Milne's classic book. The newest iteration of Pooh Bear and pals comes courtesy of Baboon Animation (the multi-Emmy winning studio behind "Angry Birds" and "Gigantosaurus") and IQI Media, Inc.
DreamWorks alumnus Mike de Seve ("Madagascar," "Monsters vs. Aliens") will direct, and co-write with fellow DreamWorks alum John Reynolds ("The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show"). Yet another DreamWorks alum is getting in on the action too: Charlene Kelly ("Next Gen") will serve as executive producer. "A.A. Milne's bear has aged gracefully in the last hundred years," Kelly said, per the press release, before hinting at the premise of the upcoming film. "But what happened, back-when, that made him and his pals who they are in the book? A heck of a big adventure, that's what –- one that needs a big screen. Audiences will be transported to somewhere they never expected."
Plot details remain vague but based on those comments, there's a good chance that when we catch up with Pooh's past, he won't be in the Hundred Acre Woods. So where does the honey-loving bear originate and how did he meet his friends? It will be a while before we find out, but on the bright side, once Pooh arrives, there will be plenty more heartwarming adventures to follow. Following its 2024 release, the Winnie-the-Pooh prequel will be immediately followed by a television series.
Welcome back, Pooh!
The resurgence of Pooh Bear is no big surprise. Disney held exclusive copyright over Winnie-the-Pooh storytelling for 60 years and in all that time, developed various films, TV series, video games, and shorts. But now that the cuddly bear has entered the public domain, their vice grip on his story is no more. What else would account for the existence of "Blood and Honey," the macabre slasher about Pooh and Piglet going on a rampage? Thankfully, horror fans aren't the only ones looking to reclaim Pooh's narrative.
The upcoming film from Baboon will be much closer to the "Paddington" end of the spectrum. The Baboon team cited the success of "Peter Rabbit" and "Paddington" in the announcement, noting them as proof that these classic children's tales have the power to resonate with kids through the generations. That's nothing we didn't already know, though. Pooh wasn't even in theaters that long ago — though if you're anything like me, you may have purposefully excised 2018's "Christopher Robin" from your mind because of that one scene where a very angry Ewan McGregor yells at the honey-loving bear for being too whimsical or something. Hopefully, there will be no such Pooh bashing this time around.
Writer John Reynolds certainly made it sound like this will be a mean-free zone, saying:
"We're telling the surprising origin story of the 'silly young bear' and his friends, when they were still kids, in a way designed to connect with 21st-century kids."
As for what this new take on Pooh will look like, Kelly said: "Brace yourself for a surprise." Does that sound vaguely threatening to anyone else? Now that Pooh is making his big-screen return, I can't stop fantasizing about a world where he teams up with all of the other CGI animal companions — Paddington, Lyle the Crocodile, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Peter Rabbit — for world domination.