This Ain't No Bedtime Story

Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh is a comfort character for many. 

For much of the character's 98-year history, the AA Milne and EH Shepard creation was known as a cuddly bear with a love for "hunny", whose kind-hearted thoughtfulness reflected in his friendships with Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore and others in Hundred Acre Wood. 

Pooh is an anthropomorphic teddy bear belonging to Christopher Robin, and the character first appeared onscreen in the 1966 Disney short, "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree". 

Sometime in January 2022, the Winnie-the-Pooh universe entered the public domain – except for Tigger's character, which is still copyright protected – meaning anyone can take the essence of the character and transform it into anything they deem fit, as long as it is original. 

Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield has injected a macabre aspect into his upcoming slasher horror, "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey", in which an iteration of Pooh is a monstrous killer! 

First-look images from the film feature an individual wearing a frightening Pooh mask, and a rather messed-up version of Piglet, who are "the main villains going on a rampage" after being abandoned by an adolescent Robin: 

"Christopher Robin is pulled away from them, and he's not [given] them food, it's made Pooh and Piglet's life quite difficult. Because they've had to fend for themselves so much, they've essentially become feral. So they've gone back to their animal roots. They're no longer tame: they're like a vicious bear and pig who want to go around and try and find prey". 

Check out the trailer:

 

Waterfield went on to describe the tone of the film as one that balances horror and comedy within the ambit of "a wacky concept". 

While there has been ample room for reinterpretation due to the "Winnie the Pooh" franchise being in the public domain, Waterfield has altered the appearance of the characters drastically, adding an ominous tint to the familiar creatures. While Pooh dons a lumberjack-like attire with suspenders, Piglet wears all-back, as opposed to the tell-tale pink the character is known to don. 

While the limits of human imagination are boundless, turning a bear who is clearly a symbol of friendship and kindness into a frightening killer indulging in weird, twisted shenanigans surely does push boundaries in terms of artistic liberty. 

A release date has not been revealed for "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" at the moment, but the slasher is expected to release sometime this year. 

Watching the trailer seems like a train wreck and honestly, I'm all for it! I love movies that are so bad they're good!