Winner the Pooh! 45 Years and Counting
It has been 45 years since the release of “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”. These are the stories based on A A Milne’s children’s books. A collection of vignettes of “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree”, “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day” (Academy Award), and “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too”.
Spring 2022 D23 does a character analysis of the animals in the story. But I don’t think it goes far enough. So I will adapt my accent to German, zit in my chair… and place each character on my couch as I analyze Vinnie de Pooh, from my perzzpective of courze. How my Sigmund accent doing?
Tigger
Tigger is all about fun. Carefree. The key is, no responsibilities and anything that might prevent that upsets him. His carefree nature borders narcissism. It is all about his fun. Oh, he will take you along, but do not be fooled, it is for his benefit. His friendship isn’t false, it is just focused on his benefit. Tigger represents that life is not worth living, if you don’t enjoy the living.
Rabbit
Responsibility. Rabbit represents needs of life. Food, shelter, taking care of what needs to be done. Rabbit will remind you to meet your needs. He even will help you, after he has taken care of his responsibilities. He represents that part of life that we all have. Rent/mortgage, health insurance, education, food, etc…
Piglet
Loyalty. Loyal to the bone. Piglet is the friend who is always there. Maybe not even who you believe to be your BFF, but Piglet will meet your needs of a friend when your BFF doesn’t. Piglet will be there, even when he fears the consequences. He will follow you, help you up, be there when you’re down. Piglet is the true friend who will confront the gates of Hell with you, despite being terrified, because the friendship is that important.
Owl
Wisdom, or is it “wizdumb”? Owl to me represents that person who always thinks they know best, even when they don’t. He is that person that interferes so many times, he sometimes gets it right, and that plays into the perception that it is wisdom, and not “wizdumb”. It gives people credence to his words. We all have those people in our lives more then willing to tell us what to do and how to live. IMHO, our society has become a bunch of online owls, unfortunately, they’re using “wizdumb”.
Eeyore
Melancholy is Eeyore’s trait, or is it…… If Eeyore didn’t have bad luck, he would have no luck at all. But even through the many happenings of his life, Eeyore sees the bright side. Optimism is his trait. Eeyore sees what is coming, expects it, and perseveres with an attitude it will be all right. Unfortunately, everyone sees what happens to him, rather then, how he overcomes it. He represents that part of life that says, focus on the success, not the problem.
Kanga & Roo
Not just a play on words. These two are combined because of the symbiosis. Kanga is that part that cares for those who need care for. Not because she has too, but because she wants to and loves too. Roo is that part that needs to be cared for and is not afraid to admit it. They represent that symbiotic relationship between people who see the need, and who have the need to be seen.
Gopher
The problem solver. Always looking to fix things, even when they don’t need to be fixed. It is not enough to fix issues, one has to look for them, even create them in their mind so they have something to be fixed. I believe the animal they choose is a good one. Their eyesight is not all that great. This presents the theory that even though they are a problem solver, they don’t always see the real problem, thus, their solution may make things worse. Oh, they get it right sometimes, and other times… wow.
Pooh
Pooh is learning. He is that part of us who grows and learns; who understands all that his friends represent and lives to balance those. He learns from their exuberance, love and mistakes. A few years before I retired, my job was affecting me health wise. High blood pressure, a heart attack, peristalsis, all caused by the stress, among other things. At about 1 am, I would wake and lie there going over the issues at work and many times, I would come up with the solutions. It occurred to me while reading the article in D23, I was at my “thotful spot”. Pooh, to me, represents us, me. Pooh is the avatar of the child (Christopher Robin) in the story. Naïve, needing direction, learning, applying what he learns and in the end, growing. But he is all of us, through all our stages in life. He represents that our learning not only never ends, but that we must pass on what we have learned as well.
In the end, I am not sure how much of this wears off on us in our lives. Entertaining, yes. Memorable, yes. Classic, yes. From what I understand, Disney’s copyright on Pooh ended and he is now in imminent domain. I wonder, what will the masses do with such a growing tool. I guess I will just have to sit in my “thotful spot” and contemplate what we as a society are capable of.
Think, Think, Think…..
8 Comments
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steve
I love how you analyzed each character. Great article!
warrsm
Thank goodness for the whole Pooh clan
warrsm
Oh this was terrific!! Eeyore has been my favorite from the state 💜he’s always been about his friends and I just love how there’s always a brighter day to come!
Nascfan
Good article, thanks!
Ccoop73
Way to go!! You pretty much hit it right on the head of the nail! This is a great article!
Ferg
I loved this so much! It was almost one of those “personality exams of which Pooh character are you?” kind of things. Except we all tend to be one of them but we have a little of all of them in us. What a fun read! I also have to be honest. I completely forgot the existence of Gopher. I had to Google him to jolt my brain and as soon as I saw his picture, it came back. Thanks for the great article!
dngnb8
Well, someone has picked up Pooh for a script. It is a horror movie.
jman410_89
Very nice article.