The History of Winnie the Pooh

In 1914, British-Canadian veterinarian and soldier Lieutenant Harry Colebourn met a trapper trying to sell a black bear cub on a train platform. After learning the trapper had killed the bear’s mother but didn’t want to end the cub’s life, Colebourn purchased the cub and named her Winnipeg, after his Canadian hometown. Nicknamed Winnie, the bear proved extremely friendly and Colebourn trained her with apples and a mixture of condensed milk and corn syrup. He brought her to England with him when he shipped out and just before leaving for the Western Front, he brought Winnie to the London Zoo so that she would be safe. Winnie grew into an adult bear during the war, but remained exceptionally friendly. Children were even allowed to ride and feed her at the zoo. After the war ended, Colebourn had hoped to take her back to Canada with him, but he saw how popular she was with the people of London and didn’t want to take her away from them, so she remained at the zoo. One of her fans was a young boy named Christopher Robin Milne, the son of author A.A. Milne. His father had gifted him a teddy bear on his first birthday and after meeting Winnie, Christopher changed the bear’s name to Winnie the Pooh, a moniker inspired by the beloved live bear and a story about a swan. The elder Milne soon began writing stories for his son that starred his collection of stuffed animals, including Winnie the Pooh. He made up the setting of the 100 Acre Wood for his stories, but it was actually based on an area near the Milne family home. Milne published a collection of his stories under the title Winnie-the-Pooh in October 1926. The House at Pooh Corner was published two years later. Milne released a total of four books about Winnie the Pooh, all of which became massively popular. Then in 1930, a producer named Stephen Slesinger acquired the rights to Winnie the Pooh and his friends and began marketing merchandise in many formats. After his death, his wife continued to develop the characters, but eventually sold the licensing rights to Walt Disney Productions in 1961. (Walt Disney’s daughters were fans of Winnie the Pooh.) In 1966, the first Disney-animated Winnie the Pooh short debuted; this was of course followed by a series of movies, TV shows, video games, and amusement park rides. Today, Winnie the Pooh and his friends are some of most beloved children’s characters in the world.