New 'Winnie the Pooh' Project Described as "Nightmare Fuel"

A new Winnie the Pooh project has been announced, and people are describing it as “pure nightmare fuel.” Needless to say, fans of the silly old bear want it stopped.

Disney’s interpretation of Winnie the Pooh is one of the most beloved animated characters of all time. Based on the books written by A. A. Milne and illustrated by E. H. Shepard, these stories follow a young boy named Christopher Robin and his many adventures with Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Eeyore, Gopher, Tigger, Kanga, and Roo.

There have been many popular shows and movies based on Pooh Bear featured on Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney+, including The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988-1991), The Tigger Movie (2000), and Christopher Robin (2018). You can even visit Pooh Corner in Disney World and any other Disney Park.

Winnie the Pooh opens his arms wide in Fantasy Gardens — Credit: Hong Kong Disneyland

To say Winnie the Pooh is a Disney icon is an understatement. However, Milne’s original stories of a boy and his teddy bear officially entered the public domain in 2022. And the projects that have been created since then have been interesting, to say the least.

Winnie the Pooh Has Become a Horror Icon

Winnie, Rabbit and Tigger scared in Winnie the Pooh — Credit: Disney

The copyright lapsing on the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood has been fascinating. While Disney Winnie the Pooh will still be around, other companies can create different versions of Pooh and Friends. Naturally, the first thing people did was create a grotesque horror version of the character called Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023), written and directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield.

Blood and Honey is a British independent slasher film where Pooh, Rabbit, and Piglet are the killers. The story follows Christopher Robin years after he met all of his animal friends. After leaving for college, Pooh and Friends had no one to feed them and, instead of starving, opted to eat Eeyore. Years later, after Christopher returned, Pooh and all the rest vowed to get revenge.

Pooh standing in darkness, looking down on you — Credit: Jagged Edge Productions

The movie was critically panned, receiving a rare 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, although it has since improved to 3%. Despite this, the media frenzy caused by turning an innocent character into a monstrous killer piqued the interest of horror and Disney fans worldwide, leading to a $5.2 million box office on a $100,000 budget.

Now, a sequel is in the works, called Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 (2024), as well as an entire public domain universe that will include Bambi: The Reckoning (TBA) and Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare (TBA). However, this isn’t the end of Winnie the Pooh-themed horror projects. This time, it’ll be in a completely different medium: video games.

The Hundred Acre Wood Meets John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’

Pooh Bear after the virus has taken over his body in Winnie's Hole — Credit: Twice Different

Twice Different is an independent game studio known for its dungeon-crawler card game Ring of Pain (2020). It was a good start for a new company, receiving decent critical reviews and popularity on Steam. Naturally, fans were excited to see what the studio would come up with next, and their new game will leave a rumbly in your tumbly.

In a trailer revealed through IGN on October 2, Twice Different announced that their next game is Winnie’s Hole (2023). This dungeon-crawler roguelite turns Winnie the Pooh into a Cronenberg-esque monster that has been compared to John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982).

The new trailer for Winnie’s Hole is pure NIGHTMARE FUEL.

Players will embody a virus tasked with capturing cells to grow more limbs and overtake Winnie the Pooh in the 2D strategy dungeon crawler roguelite RPG. pic.twitter.com/Fx1CM7VRu2

— IGN (@IGN) October 3, 2023

The game has already been described as “pure nightmare fuel,” with players taking control of a virus that slowly takes over Pooh’s body and turns him into a grotesque creature, traveling the Hundred Acre Wood and consuming all his friends.

Much like Blood and Honey, reactions have been mixed. While some praise the art style and horror influence, most simply declared that they were sick and tired of this trend.

Winnie the Pooh as he appears in the horror video game Winnie's Hole — Credit: Twice Different

Twitter user Rocket simply said, “[This is] what public domain will do to a character.” HowlingMutant was sarcastically shocked: “This is a beloved childhood thing, but they made it…twisted?!” But the best reaction came from voice actor Zane Schact, who said, “I’d be down for this concept if it wasn’t Winnie the Pooh. Not that I think Winnie the Pooh is some hallowed property that can’t be horrored, but a virus would have no effect on Pooh. He’s full of stuff and fluff. He has no flesh to mutate.”

More than anything, it’s apparent that people are sick and tired of the Winnie the Pooh horror concept, and it’s only been done once. It’d be much more interesting to see people take more artistic risks with the property like we’ve seen with Pinocchio. Hopefully, this horror interpretation will be received much better than Blood and Honey.

Are you tired of horror interpretations of classic children’s stories? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below!