Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey controversially turns the classic lovable animals into horrifying creatures, but its success could be good news for Disney. Blood and Honey was able to be created when characters such as Pooh and Piglet came into the public domain, and director Rhys Frake-Waterfield took this opportunity to create a horror/slasher movie with the beloved characters. Despite backlash from audiences who hate the twist on their favorite childhood characters, Blood and Honey has done surprisingly well at the box office and even meant its one-off release in December was changed to release widely in theaters.
The movie has opened to a poor Rotten Tomatoes score despite its Blood and Honey's surprising box office performance. Starring Nickolai Leon as Christopher Robin, Craig David Dowsett as Pooh Bear, and Chris Cordell as Piglet, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey has caused controversy, with Wakefield receiving complaints and even death threats over the twisted story. Blood and Honey reverts the woodland animals back to their animalistic nature and sets them on a revengeful murderous rampage after Christopher left for college, and they were unable to survive without him.
Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood & Honey Makes Audience Love Disney's Version Even More
The backlash has not affected the success of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and this in turn may make audiences love Disney’s version even more. Blood and Honey has already put audiences on the defensive, not wanting it to ruin their childhood, and it could push audiences to embrace and revisit Disney’s stories. Even fans of Blood and Honey will be more encouraged to support Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh characters, as the movie can ignite nostalgia.
Plus, Disney has avoided horror franchises, and it does not fit with their genre or target audience, but it is a popular gap in their market. Horror movies such as Blood and Honey which use Disney characters in the public domain essentially take care of Disney horror without Disney having to risk making it. Disney attempting horror could flop as it does not fit with what their audiences currently expect from them and could cause negative reactions from audiences who want Disney to continue to provide the magical escapist experience.
Blood & Honey's Success Could Lead To Disney's Own Horror Movies
However, the success of Blood and Honey is a good indication of whether Disney could successfully explore horror, and it would not be so strange for Disney to pursue it now. Disney may have been wary of exploring horror because of the reaction from their fans, but now Blood and Honey has proven the success of the horror twist on classic characters, it may be more appealing for Disney to explore horror. This may be a one-off, so Wakefield’s development of a Peter Pan horror slasher will give Disney a better idea of whether the horror genre will consistently be successful.
Plus, Disney+ has a wide variety of genres now and Disney has the ability to create movies without completely affecting their image. If they do choose to explore horror, they would be able to release the movies without it affecting their mainstream output and release them on Disney+ to test the appeal. Disney can use the success of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, and its link to Disney, to their advantage and can gauge how beneficial horror as a genre will be to Disney in the future.