Why I still love Winnie-the-Pooh

“Promise me that no matter what happens you will always remember…”

“Remember what?” asked pooh sleepily.

“You are braver than you believe stronger than you seem and smarter than you think”, Christopher Robin smiled.

“But the most important thing is that even if we’re apart we’ll always be together.”

***

Unknown to many Winnie-the-Pooh is a series of books for children by A.A Milne. It has received popularity through the Disney movie franchise. In my opinion it is the best franchise created by Disney till date. Although I have not read the books, I have watched the series religiously.

Winnie-the-Pooh revolves around Winnie-the-Pooh, a teddy bear belonging to young Christopher Robin and their many adventures together with the other stuff toys in the beautiful Hundred Acre Woods. The main themes of the stories is childhood innocence and friendship. There has never been a plot so sweet , innocent and lovable. Each character be it Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger or even the gloomy Eeyore strikes a chord in our hearts.

The characters-

• Winnie (affectionately called Pooh) is a naive bear of small brains and fear of big words. His hobby is to find honey and keep his tummy full. He always gets into trouble while doing so and is often rescued from the angry bees by Christopher.

• Piglet is Pooh’s best friend after Christopher. He is shy and timid but a great friend and a real hero. (Ohh dddear, I mustn’t fffear!)

• Tigger is probably the most loved character in the series. He is bouncy, jovial, happy-go-lucky and the funniest character. He thinks himself a hero and spends his time bouncing around on his tail. He is especially fond of Rabbit.

• Rabbit is bossy and an obsessive perfectionist who gets into frequent rows with Tigger and can’t bear his presence. He seems to have rotten luck as his garden which he protects so obsessively always gets destroyed by Tigger.

• Eeyore is a depressed donkey who struggles to keep his house (a pile of sticks) intact. The poor guy has a great heart but often goes unnoticed by his friends.

The Highlights-

• Tigger and Rabbit- The best element is the chemistry between Tigger and Rabbit who are practically opposites. Tigger affectionately calls Rabbit ‘bunny ears’, greets him every time by toppling him over, and ‘helps him’ with gardening. He doesn’t have a clue about how much Rabbit hates this special treatment.
• Tigger’s song– This is the song Tigger sings to introduce himself and say goodbye

The wonderful thing about Tiggers
Is Tiggers are wonderful things
Thier tops are made out of rubbers
Their bottoms are made out of springs
They’re bouncy, trouncy, founcy, pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!
But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers
Is that I’m the only one!

• Poohsticks- This is the best game to play(after quidditch).
• The quotes and subtle life lessons- You won’t think this childish cartoon has anything to teach us. But it sure does.

Winnie-the-Pooh makes us smile intuitively, laugh heartily and even cry silently. The ending is strikingly sad and touching. It goes like this-

Wherever they go and whatever happens to them on the way in that enchanted place on the top of the forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.

I really wish! But we all know that Christopher won’t be a little boy forever. But who knows, maybe he’ll still remember his old friends. As Winnie said,

Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart…