Revisiting a Childhood Classic with a Dark Twist in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
I wasn’t into Winnie the Pooh too heavily as a child but, I remember the books and television show. We watched a lot of Muppet Babies. From what I found quickly on Wikipedia, Winnie the Pooh was born in 1926 so, that’s almost a century ago. As Winnie the Pooh is now public domain, because of its age, you can make horror movies with the same name. Thus, we have Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. Copyright infringement is something Hollywood must be conscious of. Anyway, from what I remember of the story, I was always curious about what happened or what would happen when Christopher Robin grew up. At some point, he would have to abandon his imaginary friends. Would they disappear? Would another child adopt them? What would happen? Clearly, someone with a creatively twisted mind and a budget had the same questions. Christopher Robin has messed up, badly.
Realistic Reactions: What Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey Got Wrong
I find myself fussing in blogs about how things from movies would have really happened. Also, I find myself often saying that I realize it’s a movie. I’m going to continue this with this blog too. There are a few things that drove me up the wall in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. First, I’ve never seen someone take so long to leave a pool. Mind you, the sledgehammer to the dome was cool but, this was ridiculous. Second, I strongly support the 2nd amendment and so do my daughters. If I travel to cabins in the woods, I am always strapped. If I found out my daughters had traveled to a cabin and were not carrying, we’d have a serious safety conversation. Further, from 20 feet at the top of a staircase in a prone position with a revolver, I could have easily turned Pooh’s head into a canoe and ended the movie right there.
The Intrigue of Color in Film
Maybe it’s the artist in me and/or recent education, but I find myself paying more attention to color in movies now. Two scenes that stood out to me from Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey were the swimming pool scene, mentioned in the previous paragraph, and the car tire murder scene. I enjoyed the bright blue colors that heavily contrasted against the dark background at the pool. I’ve been using Adobe Lightroom lately and it’s so fun to target colors and run the saturation up to make them jump out. In the scene where they crush the chick’s head with the car tire, the orange light is amazing. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey makes use of color in many other scenes but, these were my favorites. For those of you who have seen this movie, are there other scenes that stood out to you?
Costume Choices in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
The costume design was good and bad for me. If the Winnie the Pooh characters are now public domain, why couldn’t they look more like them? I’m not suggesting that Pooh walk around in a red sweater showing his stomach or even have fur, although a solid red sweater would have been an improvement. I liked the Pooh mask a lot. Piglet, not so much. I didn’t really get the tusks. Piglet could have had a striped shirt or something to help his character’s image. Then, maybe he wouldn’t have reminded me of Bee-Bop from TMNT. To be clear, overall, I liked the costume designs – the character resemblance was close enough. Based on the trailer alone, I don’t feel the same for the sequel. I’ll watch this later…maybe.
Horror Trends: How Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey Reflects Modern Gore
A big issue I have with modern horror is the focus on gore and torture instead of the story. In the case of Halloween for instance, the violence was there but, it wasn’t what created the terror. It was the psychological fear from the stalking and writing that worked so well. Today it’s just let’s see how gruesome we can be, and this is really a creative letdown. Everything is a watered-down version of Hostel with a guy wearing a mask. This is unfortunate, upsetting, and a representation of where creativity is today in Hollywood. These are strong opinions but, they are mine. I liked Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, but it was the standard hyper-horrific violence and torture-based standard for 2023. I must say, the slow head crush with the car tire was cool – don’t think I’ve seen this before.
Final Showdown and Ending Thoughts
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey’s conclusion was great and terrible simultaneously. Warning – Spoilers ahead. I was expecting the band of fellows that showed up to be working with Pooh, but they were just cannon fodder. Then, as the vehicle burned, I was expecting Pooh to ignite. Pooh seemed afraid of fire based on how he acted in the tree tunnel. The movie ended with Pooh not even dying but walking off into the woods. I certainly didn’t like him speaking. I know the intro narration mentioned this but, they should have avoided it. There’s something about these slashers talking that ruins their character in my opinion. Can you imagine Jason or Michael talking? I feel like they wouldn’t be as scary anymore. There’s something about silence that makes them seem emotionless and more terrifying.
Open Questions on Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
In closing, I have a few questions and final thoughts. I don’t understand why the gun only had one bullet in it. Was the main character going to kill herself or did I just miss something? Pooh seemed to have the torture mindset of Leatherface with the size and juggernaut qualities of Jason Voorhees. So, why could he cut off arms with his hands but not bust a windshield? Further, how was the chick able to overpower Piglet but nothing could be done with Pooh? Was he just different? Was he worse when he was angry? Perhaps he’s kin to the Incredible Hulk? The story left me wondering about the whereabouts of Tigger, Owl, and Rabbit too. I know the sequel brings in some but, where were they? I guess that will eventually watch Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey’s sequel but, I will not be watching the original again.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this artist’s thoughts on Winne the Pooh: Blood and Honey. I invite you to follow my art journey on social media, visit my website, and consider supporting and buying my work here. If you liked this blog or the movie, please share. Also, feel free to comment, especially if you are a fan of this one. There is fan art on deck too – I’ve already bought what I need to get started. Keep your eyes on my social media for progress. Peace.