Winnie-the-Pooh
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Winnie-the-Pooh |
| Abbreviation(s): | |
| Creator: | A. A. Milne |
| Date(s): | Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), The House at Pooh Corner (1928) |
| Medium: | short story collections, animated film |
| Country of Origin: | United Kingdom |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Winnie-the-Pooh originated as a character in a series of books and poems by English-born author A. A. Milne (1882-1956). Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional teddy bear. The first collection of stories about Pooh and his friends (including a variety of other toy animals and the child who ‘owned’ them, Christopher Robin) was the book Winnie-the-Pooh (1926). This was followed by The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Milne also included poetry about Pooh in When We Were Very Young (1924) and Now We Are Six (1927). All four volumes were illustrated by E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh was subsequently adapted into film by The Walt Disney Company, at which point the hyphens were dropped from Pooh’s name.
Fandom
There are some fans who have never read the books for whom the fandom is based on the Disney films, while others eschew the Disney version of Pooh focusing solely on the books. Some fans appreciate both.
Fan communities about Winnie-the-Pooh include:
The Classic Pooh Fan Club – This Yahoo Group began in 1998. As of January 2011 it had 1500 members. The community exists for members to share their knowledge and experiences about Winnie-the-Pooh, and appears to be focused on the original book version of Pooh. Posts are generally closed for members only to view.
Winnie the Pooh and his Friends – This Yahoo Group began in 1998. As of January 2011 it had 315 members, and billed itself as “a place for everyone who loves Pooh”. Posts are generally open to casual viewers, and despite the title of the community, many of them do not appear to focus on Winnie the Pooh, whether the book version or Disney version.
Pooh’s World – This Yahoo Group began in 2000. As of January 2011 it had 128 members, describing itself as being “for the lovers of Pooh and Gang everywhere!” Posts are generally closed for members only to view.
Winnie the Pooh (and Friends) Pictures – This Yahoo Group began in 2002. As of January 2011 it had 1968 members. Not surprisingly, given this group is included in the comics and animation category of Yahoo Groups, it appears to be focused on the Disney version of Pooh. Posts are generally closed for member only to view.
Pooh-a-Day – This LiveJournal community began in July 2009. It is moderated by redecember and twirling. As of January 2011 it had approximately 160 members. It exists to provide daily comics of favorite Winnie the Pooh characters, and is focused on the Disney version of Pooh. Posts are generally open to casual viewers.
Pooh's Adventures - This multi-website community began sometime around November 2007. Moderated by several members, this community devotes its time to creating videos where they splice in clips of Disney's Pooh (of various incarnations) into movies to create stories in which Pooh participates in the movie. It has gotten a lot of negative feedback. The videos range from open to privatized to removed.
Fanfiction
There is an enduring popularity to Pooh stories. It is regularly nominated to Yuletide and a selection of Pooh fanfiction can be found in the Yuletide archives:
- Winnie-the-Pooh fanfiction archive at Yuletide (old website archive containing stories up to and including 2008)
The largest archive with Pooh fanfiction (over 40 stories as of January 2011) is found at fanfiction.net:
There is no centralised archive of Pooh-based fan-fic as not all people who write it are involved with organised fan communities. This means that individual Pooh-based fic may sometimes be found on individuals' blogs for the enjoyment of their friends, without wider publication. An example is the story by fawatson below.
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
- In Which a New Child Comes to the Forest at yuletidetreasure or ao3 by Loligo -- widely recommended Yuletide story
- In Which Worlds Collide and Eeyore Investigates a Terrible Crime at yuletidetreasure or ao3 by torch -- crossover with Discworld, written for Yuletide
- In Which Pooh Solves a Mystery by fawatson - one of several Pooh fanfic stories posted by an individual on her blog as a part of a writing exercise.
- In Which Owl Discovers an Office Key In His Files, and Reads It To Pooh by Gray Cardinal -- drabble from the tthdrabbles LiveJournal community, featuring the Poohniversal equivalent of a famous Buffyverse prophecy
- Sherlock-the-Pooh by thisprettywren (2011)
Archives
- Pooh Quotes - website from 1999