Pooh Baby Nursery

Winnie-the-Pooh, or more commonly known as Pooh Bear, was created by A. A. Milne for his little son, Christopher Robin. The lad named his teddy bear after a bear named “Winnie” which he had seen in the London Zoo. “Winnie” was abbreviated from Winnipeg, Canada, from where it came. The bear cub was brought to England during World War I, and claimed by The Fort Garry Horse Regiment as it unofficial regimental mascot.

The Canadian lieutenant, Harry Colebourn, who had brought “Winnie” to England, left it for safe keeping at the London Zoo when his regiment was deployed to France. After the war the bear was donated to the zoo. It became a much loved attraction. “Pooh” was a swan the Milne family saw while on a holiday.

A. A. Milne published his first collection of stories in Winnie-the-Pooh, in 1926. He later published The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Winnie-the-Pooh featured in a poem When We were Very Young and also in Now We are Six (1927). E. H. Shepard illustrated all four of Milne’s works.

It would seem that Stephen Slesinger was first to illustrate Winnie-the-Pooh wearing the red shirt. This was in 1932 where it featured on an RCA Victor picture record. Winnie was first manufactured as a plush toy in the 1940s. In the early 1960s, Slinger’s daughter licensed the rights to Winnie to the Walt Disney Productions, while about the same time Daphne Milne licensed certain other rights to Disney. These included motion picture rights.

Many animated productions for the cinema, television and live theatre have appeared since the mid 1960s. Disney has also produced stylised versions of both Winnie the Pooh and friends, e.g. Tigger, Roo, Kanga, and Piglet, etc. These days the characters also appear at the Disney theme parks.