Another Adult-Oriented Winnie The Pooh Project Is In The Works
Winnie the Pooh's best friend, Christopher Robin, is the subject of an adult-orientated new series.
Winnie the Pooh is the first Disney-owned property to enter the public domain, so it only makes sense that outside creators would descend upon the bear with very little brain and do whatever they want with him. The first (mis)use of the character came in the form of the horror film Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, which managed to make $5 million off an extremely-low $100,000 budget. Deadline reports that an upcoming R-rated comedy series, titled Christopher Robin, will soon follow in Blood and Honey‘s footsteps.
The upcoming Winnie the Pooh series is said to be a hybrid between live-action and animation. It’s being directed by Conrad Vernon of Shrek 2 and Sausage Party fame. The film’s writer is Charlie Kesslering, whose credits include an entire two episodes of The Late Late Show with James Corden and two spec scripts (Most Likely To and Turned On) that have never been made into films or shows.
The premise of Christopher Robin is about as fresh of a concept as you can expect from such a celebrated writer as Charlie Kesserling. Christopher Robin is on drugs, making Winnie the Pooh and his pals drug-induced hallucinations. That’s the kind of outside-the-box thinking that truly makes it worth waiting 95 years for a concept to enter the public domain.
Despite having a plot that would have felt innovative back when Cheech and Chong were in their heyday, this series appears to be gaining some traction — to the point where this abomination against the very concept of Winnie the Pooh might get made. There are two production companies signed on to help create Christopher Robin: Bay Mills Studios and Boat Rocker Studios. While Bay Mills Studios has only ever produced a single TV special (The 2022 Legacy Awards), Boat Rocker Studios has worked in animation since 2002, helping create the Canadian children’s animated television series Max & Ruby.
Boat Rocker has also been involved in numerous live-action series as well, meaning they might have to carry both the animated and live-action sections of this R-Rated Winnie the Pooh series. Boat Rocker has been involved in the Netflix series Orphan Black and the Showtime series American Rust. They’re also Creating the Gen-Z Robin Hood reimagining Robyn Hood and the science fiction psychological thriller series Beacon 23.
The response to the announcement of Christoper Robin has been less than enthusiastic, to say the least. Replies on Twitter have almost universally called the idea lazy and uninteresting. Many people say that the announcement makes them wish that Disney was allowed to keep the rights to Winnie the Pooh. Many have voiced disappointment that the release of properties into the public domain has, so far, only resulted in this kind of predictable content.
If the social media reaction is anything to go by, lovers of the Disney version of Winnie the Pooh (or even the old A. A. Milne books) will probably be rooting for this idea to fail. Given how many projects are announced and never come to fruition, that’s statistically the most likely outcome.
