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About a month or so ago, the UK Independent (via Staten Island Advance) reported that the A.A. Milne children’s classic which Disney once adapted into famous cartoons is being revisioned as horror fodder, sadly enough, now that it’s become public domain, in an example demonstrating how the concept of public domain doesn’t ensure safety from abuse of classic literature:
A new film will apparently transform the much-loved children’s character Winnie the Pooh into a horror figure.
The animated bear, who is usually portrayed as cuddly and kind, receives a sinister makeover in the forthcoming picture Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.
Pooh Bear, created by AA Milne, entered the public domain earlier this year on 1 January when the copyright on the book, initially issued in 1926, expired.
This means that the character is available for use without permission of the author’s estate and can be interpreted in any creative work, such as movies, musicals and plays.
Previously, the rights to Winnie the Pooh were held exclusively under Disney licensing, which gave the character a red T-shirt and is the version recognizable to most.
What isn’t clear so far is whether Disney is involved making this particular film. Probably not, but the studio behind this sure has demonstrated gratuitous contempt for a children’s classic. Not to mention women, if the following news from Variety says something:
“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” wrapped earlier this month, and the first stills showing a demonic Pooh and Piglet about to pounce on a scantily-clad young woman relaxing in a hot tub have already set the internet on fire.
In an interview with Variety, director Rhys Waterfield, who is in post-production on four other films including “Firenado” and “Demonic Christmas Tree,” said the response to the stills has been “absolutely crazy.”
Tragically, it’s clear they don’t give a damn what anybody offended by the premise thinks of this upcoming monstrosity, which appears to be live action, but doesn’t make it any less offensive. What makes these projects so reprehensible is that they’re as much publicity stunts as they are desecrations of classic literature, and the filmmakers couldn’t be more delighted to learn anybody’s outraged. I have no doubt they must be rolling around on the floor, howling with gleeful laughter to know there’s people out there rightly repelled by this production, and it makes no difference to them that they’re even giving sex a bad name with the scene of Pooh and Piglet plotting to assault a lady in a tub. Such plot devices are surely more accepted than we think among left-wing elites in an era where sex-negative viewpoints have become far more prevalent in entertainment.
The best Pooh purists can do to send a message of disapproval is avoid this film and save their money by not paying for a ticket at the theater, and not paying to view it on cable streaming services. For now, this sad news has to serve as a crucial lesson why public domain can be exploited for bad intent as much as it can also be employed for good intent. Why, don’t be surprised if Disney, with the way they’re going towards wokeness now, would be more than fully willing to produce an animated horror film based on children’s classics like this. Indeed, if the recent spate of horror films is any suggestion, such a genre is becoming almost synonymous with wokeness, and all at the expense of brighter themes like comedy.
Originally published here.
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