The Internet Has Mixed Feelings About Winnie The Pooh: Blood & Honey

Nothing is sacred, it seems. On Aug. 31, a trailer for a horror version of Winnie the Pooh titled Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey hit Twitter, prompting an overwhelming audience response that had just one question: why?

To be clear, this new take on the classic 1926 book series about an anthropomorphic teddy bear, his owner Christopher Robin, and Robin’s other lifelike toys is not a forthcoming Disney film, who had the exclusive rights to the IP from 1966 until 2021 and spawned many adaptations during that time. But Disney’s copyright lapsed last year and Winnie the Pooh became part of the public domain.

How did that happen? Well, according to the U.S. Copyright Office, “for an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire, the copyright endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.” In this case, it’s the former. Notably this only applies to the first book in A.A. Milne’s original series so any characters that appear in books 2-4 (like Tigger) are not yet part of the public domain. Utilizing Winnie the Pooh himself is fair game, and anyone can technically set up a Pooh-based project without fear of retribution.

Enter independent filmmaker Rhys Frake-Wakefield, who jumped on the opportunity to cash in on a cultural touchpoint by writing, directing, and producing Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. The film began production in January 2022, immediately after the long-held copyright expired. In Frake-Wakefield’s version, Winnie the Pooh and Piglet turn into murderous creatures when they find out Christopher Robin is leaving for college and not bringing them with him. Instead of taking us down a nostalgic path like Toy Story 3, Frake-Wakefield frames the story via a vicious lens.

Speaking with Variety, Frake-Wakefield revealed that Eeyore will only appear via his tombstone as Pooh and Piglet ate him alive out of desperation prior to the events of the film. “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.”

Frake-Wakefield reportedly had to avoid specific details that would tie the characters to the Disney enactments, which is why this horrific version of Winnie the Pooh is seen without his signature red cropped shirt. The cast is primarily comprised of mostly unknown actors, and critics are already predicting this will be a “dark and twisted cult classic” though some are also acknowledging that it is an “extremely bizarre” concept that will no doubt be “nightmare fuel.”

In a June 2022 interview with Dread Central, Frake-Wakefield revealed that Pooh and Piglet “don’t have any remorse and they’re actually pretty sadistic,” and after seeing the first looks of their renderings, you can kiss your wholesome memories goodbye. Thankfully, Twitter was there to poke fun at the new, nightmare-inducing versions of our beloved characters.

Upon the trailer’s release, the Internet went absolutely berserk at the idea that their childhood companion — that many kids have had in the form of actual stuffed animals — could be characterized in such a horrific way.

Still, some users including @laneymakesstuff have pledged to be there on opening night.‌

Some warned that this is what happens when beloved properties enter the public domain: the best ideas don’t necessarily win, but the first ones always do. But this spawned some interesting crossover ideas, including one with Dracula, another property in the public domain.‌‌

Despite its questionable existence, users like @Ralphology_ still found the trailer scary, and accounts like @pettabeam openly hoped that the film would commit to its wacky premise and not fall into genre tropes.

Brace yourself because this is only the beginning — Frake-Wakefield is already hoping to make a sequel.