Winnie the Pooh will be returning to the big screen, but this time in a horror slasher film. Since the character exists in the public domain, the usage of his character by anyone is fair use. The film, entitled “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Horror” finished wrapping a few weeks ago but just released a few stills to create buzz around the film. The director, who also wrote and co-produced according to Variety, Rhys Waterfield said that the response to the film was “absolutely crazy.”
First look at ‘WINNIE THE POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY’, a horror retelling of Winnie The Pooh. pic.twitter.com/VfBF6MTpOc
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) May 26, 2022
Waterfield describes the premise of the film, saying that Winnie the Pooh and his friend Piglet go on a “rampage” after being abandoned by Christopher Robbins, who is now in college. After being abandoned, they become feral from defending themselves and return to their animalistic roots. The film will be a mix of horror and comedy, as Waterfield comments “When you try and do a film like this, and it’s a really wacky concept, it’s very easy to go down a route where nothing is scary and it’s just really ridiculous and really, like, stupid. And we wanted to go between the two.”
Winnie the Pooh is being made into a R-rated horror film. Yes, really.
This is why I love the public domain. pic.twitter.com/ZuEWwZ7WJg
— Crimson Mayhem (@Crimson_Mayhem_) May 25, 2022
‘WINNIE THE POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY’ follows Pooh and Piglet going on a rampage after being abandoned by a college-bound Christopher Robin — “it’s made Pooh and Piglet’s life quite difficult.”
(Source: https://t.co/0wjSyxdqGe) pic.twitter.com/aqZQoS5liq
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) May 26, 2022
Although the film’s premise might seem silly, it immediately caused a reaction online, causing it to trend online as people reacted to the first look at the film. “Winnie The Pooh is public domain so we get a horror movie of the property now… I love this” one person wrote online. “The fact Winnie the Pooh went to public domain and this was immediately created will never not be funny,” another person commented.
Can't wait for when Mickey Mouse enters public domain
— Smack (@Smackup_) May 26, 2022
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Although A.A. Milne’s version of Winnie the Pooh enters the public domain, Disney’s version with the red shirt and his other friends has not. “We knew there was this line between that, and we knew what their copyright was and what they’ve done. So we did as much as we could to make sure [the film] was only based on the 1926 version of it.” So, that explains why Pooh wears a lumberjack suit and characters like Tigger and Eyeore will not make an appearance.
