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Maybe it's just the impossibly cozy nature of the 'hood, but for 80 years there has been no change in the resident line-up of the Hundred Acre Wood.
Guess who's coming for honey? As part of a barrel-full of Winnie the Pooh anniversary events, Disney is working on a new animated series that will replace Christopher Robin with a 6-year-old girl.
To quote one loquacious Rabbit: "Oh my, oh my, oh my goodness!"
Although the bear's party fare includes much Disney hoopla anniversary-themed goods, Disney Channel marathons and a stage show that kicks off today in New York the real bother is sure to be over tinkering with a classic.
Details are sketchy on the as-yet-nameless new arrival, who will make her debut in the 2007 computer-generated series My Friends Tigger and Pooh. Disney execs say the idea is to bring an older audience to an iconic franchise born when British author A.A. Milne began musing about the imaginary world of his son, Christopher Robin.
"We got raised eyebrows even in-house at first, but the feeling was these timeless characters really needed a breath of fresh air that only the introduction of someone new could provide," says Nancy Kanter of the Disney Channel.
The gamble could sweeten the pot of a company that already brings in $1 billion annually from Pooh merchandise, "more than all their core characters combined," says Thomas Ranese of marketing consultants Interbrand. "Pooh appears to be a robust brand that can handle expansion."
There could be a side benefit to luring new kids to this idyllic forest. Because today's tykes often get introduced to literary characters through their cartoon counterparts, "the hope is this will bring more kids to (Pooh) books," says Rory Halperin, who covers entertainment for Child magazine.
But some fans no doubt will feel that Winnie's world was fine just the way it was. "This strikes me as a step too far away from the vision of the original books," says Kathleen Horning, who trains children's book librarians at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Besides, growing up, I had no problem relating to Christopher Robin. He almost had a non-specific gender."
Disney's Kanter says the new cartoon represents not an abandonment of an old, familiar world, but rather an alternate universe for Pooh and his crew.
"Christopher Robin is still out there in the woods, playing," she says. "We hope people will fall for this new tomboyish girl. The last thing we want to be is the ones who brought the franchise down."
...gee. How lovely.
(sighs and shakes head)
"We got raised eyebrows even in-house at first, but the feeling was these timeless characters really needed a breath of fresh air that only the introduction of someone new could provide," says Roger Myers Jnr of Itchy & Scratchy.
and thus POOCHIE was born!
How delightfuly fugly.
WOW. Um, I don't know what to say. They did add a hefalump (that elephant thing with the cotton ball tail) named Lumpy in the last two movies, but I don't quite know what to think of this...
Because the only boys that play with stuffed animals are gays and furrys. And we all know how evil and immoral those are.
[sarcasm off]
~Rico
...where are the TACO NAZIS? It's all about the Taco Nazis that look around, count on Lassie, knit, dance and bake cakes!
o.o
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Because the only boys that play with stuffed animals are gays and furrys. And we all know how evil and immoral those are.
Now what the hell are you talking about?
You can really ruin a good Bush joke you know that?
~Rico
And soon, the little girl will say she must return to her home planet and will later return to her home planet, but will die along the way...
~Neo
Well, the Disney Channel is known to ruin perfectly good shows.
But why, of all things, Winnie the Pooh? Why can't they just leave well enough alone?
This doesn't really bother me much, but if they really felt they had to have a Christina Robin, why couldn't they just make her Christopher's twin sister or something; they could've both had adventure's with Pooh ya know! Hmm, oh, well, now to get back on with life.
Hay look! Its AA Milnes grave, let us go dance and s**t on it!
*AA Milne turns in his grave*
Just don't let the police see you do that and you won't get arrested. 
NO.
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and thus POOCHIE was born!
There's a Dork Tower cartoon on that.
However, Neil Gaiman's response (his blog on www.neilgaiman.com) was sufficiently amusing that it almost makes up for this piece of arrant stupidity.
Wander over his site and look at the entry in question. It's a few days down...
is it just me or does the kid in that pic look like Jimmy Neutron?
It's just you.
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and thus POOCHIE was born!
Specifically, this sounds like a Lola Bunny move to me. You know when excutives create some new "hip, fresh, and strong" female character in a old franchise with a all or nearly- male franchise to bring in "female empowerment".
The girl also ends up to be a CANONCAL!Mary Sue
GIRRRL POWAAAA!!!
The girl also ends up to be a CANONCAL!Mary Sue
I had never realized that but that is so true oo;
Wonder if the executives are usually male when this happens? >> Or if it's some woman trying to make some big difference?
