WHAT’S WITH THE DASHES IN

WINNIE-THE-POOH

AND OTHER FUN FACTS ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE BEAR

I am 53 years old. I carry around a cell phone with a Winnie-the-Pooh case. If that doesn’t say “love,” I’m not sure what does. I have been a Winnie the Pooh fan since I was a little girl. I remember watching Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree and falling in love with the adorable stuffed bear. And since that day Pooh has always remained my favorite. But I have always had some questions about Pooh and friends, and so I set out to answer What’s With the Dashes in Winnie-the-Pooh and other fun facts about your favorite bear.

So I while I am anxiously awaiting Christopher Robin, release date of August 3, 2018, I am passing the time answering questions and sharing (below) some printables for your children (or you) to pass the time, but I wanted to give you a little history about Pooh. To read about What Your Favorite Winnie-the-Pooh character says about you, click here!

WHAT’S WITH THE DASHES IN WINNIE-THE-POOH:

Winnie-the-Pooh vs Winnie the Pooh: When you see the dashes between the name that is because it was the original way it was written in the books by A.A. Milne. Pooh’s full name is Edward Winnie-the-Pooh Bear. When Disney acquired the rights to Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood characters, they dropped the dashes in Winnie the Pooh.

As a child who was a voracious reader, I first saw the name Winnie-the-Pooh and have written the name that way ever since. It has been hard for me to drop the dashes.

WHO WAS CHRISTOPHER ROBIN:

Christopher Robin Milne was the son of A.A. Milne. Milne wrote the stories for him and based Pooh on Christopher’s teddy bear while the rest of the crew is based on his other stuffed animals.

HOW DID POOH GET HIS NAME:

Christopher Robin named his bear after a black bear named Winnie at the London Zoo, and Pooh was a swan the family encountered on vacation.

WHICH DISNEY CHARACTER IS NOT IN THE BOOK:

Gopher does not appear in the A.A. Milne books. And while the characters of  Owl and Rabbit were in the books, they are not based on any of Christopher’s toys.

WHERE ARE THE ORIGINAL TOYS LOCATED:

You can find Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, and Kanga at the New York Public Library (see here) (#bucketlistitem). Sadly Roo was lost in the 1930’s.

WHO IS THE VOICE OF WINNIE THE POOH:

The original voice actor was Sterling Holloway who voiced Pooh from 1966-1977. Hal Smith voiced Pooh for a brief period of time from 1981-1986. Since 1988 Jim Cummings has been the voice of Winnie the Pooh (and Tigger too!) 

Jim Cummings is a Youngstown native (my hometown) and even attended the same high school I did. He graduated in 1970 from Ursuline High School along with my brother. I graduated much later. I recently asked my brother what he remembered about Jim. My brother worked at our family’s gas station and recalled Jim getting gas at the station, and that he was a “character” even back then. I remember being so excited that someone from my hometown would be the voice of Winnie the Pooh, and another one of my bucket list items is to actually meet Jim in person!

Now that you are equipped with a little more Pooh knowledge, here are the activity sheets as promised. Enjoy and stay tuned for more Pooh fun!