In general, things entering the public domain is typically a good thing. It allows generations of future creators to take existing ideas and put new spins on them, reintroduce those concepts to new audiences, and overall relish in the rich creative culture that led to their initial creation.
It came as a shock to many, and as a joke to others, when, shortly after Winnie-the-Pooh entered the public domain in 2022, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey entered production. Was it tasteless? Maybe. Was it unexpected? Not necessarily. What's certain is that, shortly after the film's announcement, the internet went ablaze with a mix of outrage and anticipation.
It marks director and producer Rhys Frake-Waterfield's most popular work to date, his name being previously attached to projects like Dinosaur Hotel and The Killing Tree. With plans for a sequel already in the works, on top of a similar reinterpretation of Peter Pan, it looks like Frake-Waterfield is anticipating the film to be a hit with horror fans. Regardless of how it plays out, this is everything we know about Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey: The Plot
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey follows a simple premise: after years of neglect from their childhood friend, Christopher Robin, Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet slowly turn more and more feral and desperate, as they had relied on Robin for food. When Robin stops visiting altogether, the classic characters turn to animalistic killers, slaughtering Eeyore and others before Robin makes a return as a married adult. As a result, Pooh and Piglet decide to take out their frustrations on them and a nearby cabin filled with college women.
It's a standard setup for a slasher film, but one can't deny that there's a sick humor in seeing childhood icons taking knives to throats and creeping along in the shadows. Whether this will translate well into a feature-length film instead of just a trailer, we'll have to wait and see. Given that the conflict is initiated through Christopher Robin's "abandonment" of his childhood friends, there may be a message about nostalgia or treating the past with more respect. On the other hand, it may just be Pooh and Piglet slaughtering people for ninety minutes.
Either way, the film's trailer sets up a variety of interesting set-pieces: we see a group of armed men facing down Pooh, Piglet cornering someone in a swimming pool, and a tense stand-off on opposing ends of a bonfire, with a bloodied sorority girl clutching a revolver in a trembling hand. We also see Pooh holding onto the roof of a speeding car for dear life, with the situation being equally hilarious and horrifying.
Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey: The Cast
Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet will be played by Craig David Dowsett and Chris Cordell, respectively. Both Dowsett and Cordell have collaborated with Frake-Waterfield in the past, appearing in films like Spider in the Attic, The Area 51 Incident, H.P. Lovecraft's Monster Portal, and 2022's Croc!. Christopher Robin will be played by Nikolai Leon, who's also been in Frake-Waterfield's The Killing Tree.
Rounding out the rest of the cast is Amber Doig-Thorne, May Kelly, Natasha Tosini, Maria Taylor, Danielle Scott, Jase Rivers, Simon Ellis, and Richard D. Myers.
Release Date
According to Bloody Disgusting, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey will release in theaters for one night only on February 15th, 2023. Theatrical releases in other territories are currently pending. As of writing, there is currently no date as to when Blood and Honey will come to streaming and VOD.
Everything Else
Instead of the cartoonish paws and distinct proportions that you may associate Pooh and Piglet with, the duo now look more like a pair of bulky men in latex masks. It makes sense. There's already a movie in the works about a killer bear on cocaine, and it allows for the characters to engage in the slasher shenanigans most have come to expect from the genre. Unfortunately, if you're expecting an appearance by Tigger or other Winnie-the-Pooh characters, you may be a little disappointed.
Forbes highlighted that only the first in a series of Winnie-the-Pooh books actually entered the public domain, meaning that Pooh and Piglet are likely the only killer animals to be featured in the film. This also means that the version of Pooh that comes to mind, a yellow bear in a distinctive red t-shirt, is also unable to be featured. That particular depiction of the character is owned by Disney, and given their history with extending copyright law, we won't be seeing anything like that for a lifetime. Thus, this particular depiction of Pooh will be donning what looks like a flannel shirt underneath a pair of overalls.