New information regarding Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, the horror movie based on A.A. Milne's books, reveals that the film will involve Pooh and Piglet eating Eeyore. The first theatrical release in the media franchise of Winnie the Pooh that Disney produced based on the books by author A. A. Milne was in 1966 with the short film Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. Milne also based the characters in the series on the toys that his son, Christopher Milne, had as a child. Since then, there have been several films and the popular television series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
At the heart of every film or television show is Pooh, the anthropomorphic teddy bear who, throughout the years, gained several friends, including Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore, to name a few. Piglet is Pooh's best friend and is generally timid, although he occasionally finds the courage to help Pooh. Tigger is a zany tiger who bounces on his tail, while Eeyore, in contrast, is a usually glum and depressed grey donkey.
Recently, the writer and director of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, Rhys Frake-Waterfield, spoke with Dread Central regarding specific plot points of the film, including that Pooh and Piglet will eat Eeyore. According to Frake-Waterfield, the plot begins with Pooh and Piglet turning evil due to Christopher neglecting to feed them as he grows into adulthood. This leads to Piglet and Pooh getting continuously more feral and even results in them eating Eeyore to survive. Although Eeyore is one of Pooh's and Piglet's first victims, he certainly is not the last, as their rampage continues throughout the film. A full quote from Frake-Waterfield on Eeyore's death in the movie can be read below:
Pooh and Piglet experience a drastic drop in food as Christopher grew up. Over the years they became increasingly hungry and feral. They had to resort to eating Eeyore. Then Christopher returns with his wife to introduce her to his old friends. And when that happens, they get enraged when they see them. All of the hatred they’ve built up over the years unleashes and then they go on this rampage. That continues when they end up at this rural house with these girls.
Frake-Waterfield also promises that even though Pooh and Piglet are the main characters, they are far different from the Disney version of themselves. They are sadistic without any remorse instead of being caring and friendly. Some of this sadism comes in drawn-out deaths where Pooh and Piglet choose to taunt their victims mercilessly. Like Pooh and Piglet being friends in the original stories, they are once again a team, but this time with Pooh taking on more of a mob-boss alpha role and Piglet acting as his henchman. This more solidly defined power dynamic may lead to tension in the film from their killings and maybe even a potential power struggle in future films should there be sequels. The reimagined characters may create a new, successful, campy, slasher film reminiscent of the Chucky films where the protagonist is both based on an archetype that is traditionally comforting, in Chucky's case a doll, but horrifically evil in an alternate universe.
The film's premise offers nostalgic fun with a horror twist for many adults who grew up watching the Winnie the Pooh films and tv series or slasher fans alike. Frake-Waterfield is a newcomer in the horror field, with Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey marking his debut film. Whether Frake-Waterfield's love of the horror genre will be enough to deliver a debut film that will live up to viewers' now high expectations is yet to be seen. Viewers will have to see Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey for themselves to judge whether the film offers a satisfyingly gruesome look at the beloved children's characters turned vicious.
Sources: Dread Central