NationStates Jolt Archive


Winnie The Pooh. American?

Eternal Green Rain
06-02-2005, 11:59
I just tried to watch Winnie the Pooh on TV with my daughter.
Who decided Pooh has an American accent? What's a gopher doing in The Hundred Acres Wood? What gives these people the right to butcher classic literature? I am saddened. What about you?
Haken Rider
06-02-2005, 12:02
appathetic.
New Fuglies
06-02-2005, 12:06
I just tried to watch Winnie the Pooh on TV with my daughter.
Who decided Pooh has an American accent?

I'd like to see Pooh bear with an Indian accent. :D
Eternal Green Rain
06-02-2005, 12:08
I'd like to see Pooh bear with an Indian accent. :D
It would be closer to reality (did I really type that?) than that all pervasive US thing.
Fimble loving peoples
06-02-2005, 12:11
Most stuff is closer to reality than anything touched by Americans.

They even butchered Thomas the tank engine. My childhood taken away from me just like that.
Eternal Green Rain
06-02-2005, 12:12
What I'm really doing on closer inspection is debating the Americanisation of EVERYTHING. So things just aren't american and should be left in their original form. Good Gods they overdubbed the movie "Gregories Girl".
Cambridge Major
06-02-2005, 12:13
Nooooo!!!! Not poor old Winnie! How could they?
Slinao
06-02-2005, 12:13
I just tried to watch Winnie the Pooh on TV with my daughter.
Who decided Pooh has an American accent? What's a gopher doing in The Hundred Acres Wood? What gives these people the right to butcher classic literature? I am saddened. What about you?

think about it, Pooh just wants to sit around and eat sweets all day, isn't that the average american anymore?

The gopher had to come around because everyone knows there is an underground immigration problem everywhere in the world.
umm, the right was given by The Butcher from diablo, Fresh Meat.
not saddened, just umm, don't care?
Eternal Green Rain
06-02-2005, 12:14
Most stuff is closer to reality than anything touched by Americans.

They even butchered Thomas the tank engine. My childhood taken away from me just like that.
What did they do to Thomas?
It's not possible to change without completely buggering it.
How can I show this to my kids and tell them it's great stuff when it's been turned into more bland "Product"
Canermaca
06-02-2005, 12:22
it doesn't matter if he sounds american or not, the fact of the matter is that winnie the pooh is canadian. and Canadians kick ass. Winnie was an actual bear a long time ago in Quebec or something
JRV
06-02-2005, 12:25
Let’s face it Winnie the Pooh is shit programming. Where ever you are.
Wicked Witch
06-02-2005, 12:26
Well the major problem with it is not enough eeyore in the show.
Donkeytot rules you see!
Petsburg
06-02-2005, 12:30
A.A Milne was an englishman, from Berkshire to be precise. Thus, Winne the pooh should have an english accent.
Fimble loving peoples
06-02-2005, 12:31
What did they do to Thomas?
It's not possible to change without completely buggering it.
How can I show this to my kids and tell them it's great stuff when it's been turned into more bland "Product"

They made it into a film. An American PC film. They ieven got rid of the fat controller. He wasn't politically correct apparently.
Eternal Green Rain
06-02-2005, 12:31
Let’s face it Winnie the Pooh is shit programming. Where ever you are.
The point, again, it's shit because of the way it's made. I still read AA milne to my kids and they still love it. It should be excellent but was sold to Disney who make grey androginous crap with a hard US edge!
Eternal Green Rain
06-02-2005, 12:33
A.A Milne was an englishman, from Berkshire to be precise. Thus, Winne the pooh should have an english accent.
YES YES YES. And the stories should be kept in their original form. That way they're funny and don't try to teach some strange American version of morals.
Wicked Witch
06-02-2005, 12:34
AA milne didn't anticipate the impact that Donkeytot would have to children. Disney, renouned for grey androginous crap, were at least insightful enough to embrace donkeytot with their relentless marketing. They follow the dollar.
Eternal Green Rain
06-02-2005, 12:35
They made it into a film. An American PC film. They ieven got rid of the fat controller. He wasn't politically correct apparently.
Thats crap. My kids never derided the FC for being fat they were in awe of his mighty power over our heros. He actually scarred them (and me) a bit. He was the epitome on Victorian power.
JRV
06-02-2005, 12:41
They made it into a film. An American PC film. They ieven got rid of the fat controller. He wasn't politically correct apparently.

The Fat Controller? Wasn’t he from Thomas the Tank Engine?

The point, again, it's shit because of the way it's made. I still read AA milne to my kids and they still love it. It should be excellent but was sold to Disney who make grey androginous crap with a hard US edge!

Winnie the Shit.
Haken Rider
06-02-2005, 12:44
It's simple:

In Germany, Winnie speaks German.
In France, Winnie speaks French.
In Enland, Winnie speaks "English".
In America, Winnie speaks "American".
JRV
06-02-2005, 12:49
Has anybody ever seen that crazy European animated penguin called ‘Peungio’? ... Even in English speaking countries he speaks friggin French, and that's just frustrating.
Markodonia
06-02-2005, 12:49
Hmm, good point, that doesn't make up for the rest of what Disney's done to Winnie though...

The did a Thomas the Tank Engine movie without the Fat Controller??? What the heck?
JRV
06-02-2005, 12:51
What?! They made a movie of Thomas the Tank Engine and I didn’t see it? Damn…
JRV
06-02-2005, 12:53
Thats crap. My kids never derided the FC for being fat they were in awe of his mighty power over our heros. He actually scarred them (and me) a bit. He was the epitome on Victorian power.

Well my sister and I always derided him...
Eternal Green Rain
06-02-2005, 12:55
It's simple:

In Germany, Winnie speaks German.
In France, Winnie speaks French.
In Enland, Winnie speaks "English".
In America, Winnie speaks "American".
I'd love to agree with that but in truth we in the uK just get the american version. And every one gets that sodding gopher. An animal, for the uninitiated, not native to the UK and not in the book.

They did the same with 101 dalmations. The cartoon has the rolling hills of suffolk!!!
and the movie while using English actors still had an apperance of a SKUNK!!
Do these people never read anything?
Eternal Green Rain
06-02-2005, 12:56
Well my sister and I always derided him...
Yeah.. from the safety of NZ where you knew he'd never visit to get you!
Haken Rider
06-02-2005, 12:58
I'd love to agree with that but in truth we in the uK just get the american version. And every one gets that sodding gopher. An animal, for the uninitiated, not native to the UK and not in the book.

They did the same with 101 dalmations. The cartoon has the rolling hills of suffolk!!!
and the movie while using English actors still had an apperance of a SKUNK!!
Do these people never read anything?
So this means the UK doesn't like to spend lots of money to produce it of their own. Can't blame the Americans for it.
Eternal Green Rain
06-02-2005, 13:10
So this means the UK doesn't like to spend lots of money to produce it of their own. Can't blame the Americans for it.
It's to do with integrity of the original material.
If we made Tom Sawer in London on the Thames there would be an uproar from across the pond but it doesn't work the other way.
They buy the rights to these things for millions then bugger them up.
It's American politics in the small. We're bigger and wealthier so we can dictate how you do things. Being forced to have an American style democracy.
It's the same imperialism
Jeruselem
06-02-2005, 13:15
Winnie the Panda (the Chinese version). He slaves all day and is always pro-Communists fighting capitalists when needed (except when China benefits).
Wicked Witch
06-02-2005, 13:30
Winnie the Panda (the Chinese version). He slaves all day and is always pro-Communists fighting capitalists when needed (except when China benefits).

China are funny ones, quite secretive. I think they've been working on donkeytot for quite a while, just haven't go there yet. I think donkeytot has a sort of pro-anarchy edge which gives it enough bite to last, but not too severe as to alienate the children.
Chinkopodia
06-02-2005, 13:30
They made it into a film. An American PC film. They ieven got rid of the fat controller. He wasn't politically correct apparently.

Why? :eek: How could they!? Nooooooooooooooooooo........
NianNorth
06-02-2005, 13:37
It's simple:

In Germany, Winnie speaks German.
In France, Winnie speaks French.
In Enland, Winnie speaks "English".
In America, Winnie speaks "American".
How many times has this got to be said, there is no spoken language called 'American' unless the native speakers can decide on one of their many to call an official American language!
Stormforge
06-02-2005, 13:48
How many times has this got to be said, there is no spoken language called 'American' unless the native speakers can decide on one of their many to call an official American language!That's why it was placed in quotation marks, to denote that it's not really a separate language.
Kaptaingood
06-02-2005, 13:49
you buy the rights you can do what you like with it.

Disney bought the rights to winnie the crap, and they are doing with it as they will.

TTE I think is owned now by Hit Entertainment who are buying up big and own a bucket of kids TV shows like Bob the builder.

It is interesting that while the US soaks up O/S TV content, it has protections built in for importing content, but then it has the market power to do what it likes.

still US content is being manufactured o/s because of costs in the US, and arent the Actors guild whining like stuck pigs.

NZ, Canada, africa, Aus asia have all benifited from US production occuring there instead of in the USA, however they are filming US content there.

still if folks didn't go to see US films they wouldnt be successful.

not that I'm complaining, love the big budget action flick.
Alien Born
06-02-2005, 14:40
A.A Milne was an englishman, from Berkshire to be precise. Thus, Winne the pooh should have an english accent.

In that case, an American accent has to be better than that flat, unemotional noise that is a Royal Berkshire accent. ;)
But get rid of the gopher.
Borgoa
06-02-2005, 16:08
ha ha, he speaks perfect Swedish as well.... Maybe he's just multilingual? Although he does change his name to Nalle Puh.

I should add his friends Nasse, Uggla, Lor, Tigger, Känga and Ru are all fluent Swedish speakers to!
Demented Hamsters
06-02-2005, 16:12
Thats crap. My kids never derided the FC for being fat they were in awe of his mighty power over our heros. He actually scarred them (and me) a bit. He was the epitome on Victorian power.
"Kill the Fat Controller! I need a new drug!"
cookie to anyone who knows what the hell I'm talking about.
Bodies Without Organs
06-02-2005, 16:14
What's a gopher doing in The Hundred Acres Wood?

The answer to that is the same as the answer to 'what the fuck are australian marsupials (Kanga & Roo) doing in the orginal?'

It ain't a nature program, its a story about stuffed toys. I think it would probably be safe to say that the kangaroos were based on toys owned by your actual Christopher Robin.
Snub Nose 38
06-02-2005, 16:31
Well...you put me in an untenable position here.

I grew up on Winnie The Pooh

("Winnie Ther Pooh, please."

"Ther?"

"Yes. That's his name."

"Oh.")

I grew up on Winnie Ther Pooh, and couldn't agree more - Disney has virtually destroyed what A.A. Milne created. There's very little of Winnie Ther Pooh in the movies/tv shows/etc Disney puts out.

On the other hand, I'm an American.

On the other hand

("Isn't that too many hands?"

"We're using Poohs hands, too - he's letting us"

"Oh. Okay")

On Poohs' other hand, I've only seen "Gregories Girl" in the original. If "they" dubbed over it - well, that would just be an example of good old American boorishness and stupidity.

("Both?"

"Yes. They aren't being very nice."

"Well, I can see that."

"Shall we go on?"

"Yes.")

It's not Americans, or America, that you should hold accountable for this awful business. It's capitalism run rampant. Everything and anything in the name of a mark, a yen, a buck, or a pound.

("Have you permission to use that quote?"

"Pooh says we can - he's sure they won't mind.")

MacDonalds in Bremen, Brussels, Barcelona? Pepsi in Peeking?

The blame is to be shared, in pro-ratio amounts, between everyone who owns shares of the massive mindless moneymaking holding companies that do absolutely nothing but hold stock and demand profit.

And that's my two cents.
(tuppence?)
Zeppistan
06-02-2005, 16:39
A.A Milne was an englishman, from Berkshire to be precise. Thus, Winne the pooh should have an english accent.


Yes, but Winnie herself was a Canadian born bear purchased by a vetrinary officer who brought the cub over Britain to serve as the unit mascot for Winnipeg's Fort Garry Horse Battalion of the the Second Canadian Infantry Brigade. Named after Winnipeg - near where he purchased the cub - Winnie stayed in Colebourn's tent, slept under his bed, and became a favorite pet to many of the Canadian soldiers. She played games with the men and followed them around camp like a puppy. But when the unit was ordered to the battlefields of France, Winnie had to be placed with the London Zoo for safekeeping where he stayed until she died at age 20.


One of Winnie's most delightful charms for zoo regulars was that she had an uncanny ability to remember an admirer. She would always greet a recognized, friendly face in the same fashion by rubbing her flanks against their legs and this is how she said hello to a regular young visitor named Christopher Robin. Christopher was the son of A.A.Milne, World War I veteran, author, and one-time assistant editor of Punch Magazine. Both father and son were quite taken by Winnie.

In his introduction to Winnie-the-Pooh, Milne described his link to the bear:

"Christopher Robin once had a swan that he used to call Pooh. Well when Edward Bear said that he would like an exciting name all to himself, Christopher Robin said at once, without stopping to think, that he was Winnie-the-Pooh. And he was. So as I have explained the Pooh part, I will now explain the rest of it.

When Christopher Robin goes to the Zoo, he goes to where the Polar Bears are, and e whispers something to the third keeper from the left, and the doors are unlocked and we wander through dark passages and up steep stairs, until at last we come to the special cage, and the cage is opened, and out trots something brown and furry, and with a happy cry of 'Oh Bear!' Christopher Robin rushes into his arms. Now this bear's name is Winnie, which
shows what a good name for bears it is."



So the author may be British, but Winnie is a Canadian.
Reaper_2k3
06-02-2005, 16:55
Most stuff is closer to reality than anything touched by Americans.

They even butchered Thomas the tank engine. My childhood taken away from me just like that.
i loved that show, it was bad ass with george carlin as like a 2 inch magical something or other and a huckster running some shitty arcade. oh well
Andaluciae
06-02-2005, 17:05
You don't like it. Don't watch it.

I happen to have loved both Winnie the Pooh and Thomas the Tank Engine in my childhood. Although the book of Winnie the Pooh was far better...

And the assumption that Thomas the Tank Engine is made by Disney is false...It's a "Britt Allcroft Production." And besides that...I seem to remember some sort of fat guy with a top hat. Not sure what he did...but I remember him.

So, in summary:

Chill out.
Randomea
07-02-2005, 06:47
So Winnie is Canadian-born but became a British citizen (jk), but Winnie-the-Pooh was British born. The hundred acre wood isn't far from my home, I went pooh-stick dropping once.
Take any film though, it has to have something American about it to sell to the American market. Name any mainstream film without an American actor somewhere. They could try giving their audience some credit and try one...
Big Fish always makes me laugh though...they put a Scot in an American role :p
Dakini
07-02-2005, 06:50
I just tried to watch Winnie the Pooh on TV with my daughter.
Who decided Pooh has an American accent? What's a gopher doing in The Hundred Acres Wood? What gives these people the right to butcher classic literature? I am saddened. What about you?
*gasp*

no!

they can't do that! pooh isn't american... he has a soft voice with... well, i can't exactly place the accent, (it's been some time since i've watched pooh) i think it was english of some sort though. :(
Bodhis
07-02-2005, 06:54
Psychologists everywhere agree maybe kids shouldn't be watching the show anyhow:

http://collection.nlc-bnc.ca/100/201/300/cdn_medical_association/cmaj/vol-163/issue-12/1557.htm
http://www.psych-health.com/pooh.htm

;)
Breakeyville
07-02-2005, 06:56
yeah i saw a quebecers who think taht winnie came from quebec... i m sorry but winnie came from manitoba

on peut pas tout avoir
Rhummenkoak
07-02-2005, 07:16
Psychologists everywhere agree maybe kids shouldn't be watching the show anyhow:

http://collection.nlc-bnc.ca/100/201/300/cdn_medical_association/cmaj/vol-163/issue-12/1557.htm
http://www.psych-health.com/pooh.htm

;)
For a minute there, I thought they were serious.
Land Sector A-7G
07-02-2005, 07:21
Americans own the rights. Happens to alot of classics
Buben
07-02-2005, 07:26
Find old copys of the books, they cant change those on you!
Freebeez
07-02-2005, 07:36
:p America doesn't belong to Americans anymore. Multinational corporations have bought up everything, even Disney. You'll be next. This is capitalism. I wish I could wake up and find it's all a bad dream...
Snub Nose 38
07-02-2005, 15:06
Try this one :)

Christopher Robin's Winnie-the-Pooh Character Guide (http://www.lavasurfer.com/pooh-guide.html)

or this one :cool:

Welcome to the 100 Aker Wood (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3914/)

Note - the voice of Winnie in the original Disney movies (that very soft and loveable voice) is the actor Sterling Holloway (since deceased). Mr. Holloway provided Pooh's voice for four movies (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! (1974), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh(1977)

Pooh's voice has also been provided by Hal Smith ("Welcome to Pooh Corner", TV series 1983-1993), Martin Sheen ("Apocolypse Pooh", TV, 1987), and most recently Jim Cummings (the current Disney release of Pooh's Hefalump Movie, a large number of videos, all the other Disney Pooh movies, and a few TV shows).

AND ME! I briefly had the honor of being Pooh in a presentation of the childrens musical play Winnie The Pooh by a community theatre group, Ridgebury New Country Theatre (which may not even exist anymore) near Middletown, New York in the summer of 1971. I still live under the name of Sanders. (Yes, of course - I have a sign, lettered exactly as it appears in the original Pooh books, that reads "Sanders" - and I live under it.) If you have never seen the play, it combines the Huney Tree, and A Bear In A Tight Place, and Eeyore's New House, and Pooh Sticks, and is really fun for pre-schoolers.

In the first movies Disney made, Pooh is Pooh, Piglet is Piglet, and the movies are very true to A.A. Milne's Pooh. Those first few are actually pretty good.

Here's a VERY Good Pooh site I just found (http://www.knowmadz.org/gallery/pooh/)
Zeppistan
07-02-2005, 15:24
So Winnie is Canadian-born but became a British citizen (jk), but Winnie-the-Pooh was British born. The hundred acre wood isn't far from my home, I went pooh-stick dropping once.


Yep - T'was just another case of your Imperialist mindset stealing the birthright of a fine upstanding citizen of the Empire... :P


Bah, the fact that the actual bear was Canadian is rather pointless really. The author who fashioned the character in the books was a Brit, and there IS a difference between Winne the Black Bear and Winnie the Pooh after all.


But hey, as long as the discussion was ongoing I just figured I'd put the facts out there. I'm sure that there's also some Nepalese person out there going: "Yeah! And Tigger is OURS!!!", which is entirely beside the point of a bunch of odd characters in a book with distinct mental disorders.... lol.
Vonners
07-02-2005, 15:27
The only decent thing to come from France in the 20th Century -

Magic Roundabout....

In proper English :)
NianNorth
07-02-2005, 15:30
The only decent thign to come from France in the 20th Century -

Magic Roundabout....

In proper English :)
And powered aircraft, no that was the 19th century!
PurpleMouse
07-02-2005, 15:32
Magic Roundabout was great, I could still watch it now, I've also got a video of "Dougal and the blue cat". Shame the new film seems to be more based on the french version rather than the English.
Helioterra
07-02-2005, 15:55
http://www.giftsbasketsetc.com/80526.JPG
mutant winnie
Helioterra
07-02-2005, 16:04
Has anybody ever seen that crazy European animated penguin called ‘Peungio’? ... Even in English speaking countries he speaks friggin French, and that's just frustrating.
ooh ooh ooh this one?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/images/2004/07/15/pingu_350x240.jpg

he doesn't speak. he mumbles. it's not ment to be understood
Vonners
07-02-2005, 16:11
Pingu ROCKS!!!!!

http://www.shef.ac.uk/physics/teaching/phy205/pingu.jpg
Helioterra
07-02-2005, 16:19
Pingu ROCKS!!!!!

http://www.shef.ac.uk/physics/teaching/phy205/pingu.jpg
and more
http://www.hitentertainment.com/pingu/us/intro.html
or smack the pingu
http://www.casper.ru/temp/pingu/?namn=406
Pwnsylvakia
08-02-2005, 03:22
It's to do with integrity of the original material.
If we made Tom Sawer in London on the Thames there would be an uproar from across the pond but it doesn't work the other way.
They buy the rights to these things for millions then bugger them up.
It's American politics in the small. We're bigger and wealthier so we can dictate how you do things. Being forced to have an American style democracy.
It's the same imperialism

Not sure how you made the jump from Disney screwing up Pooh to American government being forced upon you. We trying to dictate how you do things either. Disney bought it fair and square, they're an American company, so they're going to Americanize it. It's still a British television company that decides to air it.
Peechland
08-02-2005, 03:46
So how did Winnie end up "American"? Hes not surely! The man who created him...Alan Alexander Milne was born in Scotland but raised in London. He went to Westminster and was a student of HG Wells. Supposedly a Canadian black bear , named Winnipeg, was his source for the name Winnie. He had a son named Christopher Robin Milne . Sooooooo....

Poohs a Brit if you ask me!
Pepe Dominguez
08-02-2005, 06:24
I dunno if anyone's mentioned it, but the original Winnie the Pooh was a guy named Stirling Holloway, from Georgia. So Winnie's been voiced with a southern American accent since day 1. Just saying.
Dem Crazy Dudes
08-02-2005, 06:37
An american accent?
Von Witzleben
08-02-2005, 06:47
It's to do with integrity of the original material.
If we made Tom Sawer in London on the Thames there would be an uproar from across the pond but it doesn't work the other way.
They buy the rights to these things for millions then bugger them up.
It's American politics in the small. We're bigger and wealthier so we can dictate how you do things. Being forced to have an American style democracy.
It's the same imperialism
So what else is new?
Pepe Dominguez
08-02-2005, 07:27
An american accent?

Yeah, the original guy who did it for like 30 years had a southern accent, from Georgia.. sounded like a less retarded Jimmy Carter. Every Winnie the Pooh voice actor has imitated that voice ever since.
Stephistan
08-02-2005, 08:11
So how did Winnie end up "American"? Hes not surely! The man who created him...Alan Alexander Milne was born in Scotland but raised in London. He went to Westminster and was a student of HG Wells. Supposedly a Canadian black bear , named Winnipeg, was his source for the name Winnie. He had a son named Christopher Robin Milne . Sooooooo....

Poohs a Brit if you ask me!

All correct, except the actual bear the story is based on was Canadian. However, it was a British writer. Pooh should and basically does have a Canadian accent. Americans who live in North eastern US, talk basically the exact same as Canadians..so I don't know what the fuss is. Pooh has a Canadian accent, as he should. Christopher Robin, should have a British accent.. not Pooh.
NianNorth
08-02-2005, 13:12
All correct, except the actual bear the story is based on was Canadian. However, it was a British writer. Pooh should and basically does have a Canadian accent. Americans who live in North eastern US, talk basically the exact same as Canadians..so I don't know what the fuss is. Pooh has a Canadian accent, as he should. Christopher Robin, should have a British accent.. not Pooh.
Fraid not 100 acre wood is set in Engalnd and the bear etc are supposed to be toys. So the accent would be english, hate to say it but more than likley southern as 100 acre hardwoods are hard to come accross up north, as are they in Canada.
Peechland
08-02-2005, 14:22
I dunno if anyone's mentioned it, but the original Winnie the Pooh was a guy named Stirling Holloway, from Georgia. So Winnie's been voiced with a southern American accent since day 1. Just saying.


Yep- Sterling Holloway did do Poohs voice and hes from Cedartown Ga....my home town. We have a street named after him.
Peechland
08-02-2005, 14:24
All correct, except the actual bear the story is based on was Canadian. However, it was a British writer. Pooh should and basically does have a Canadian accent. Americans who live in North eastern US, talk basically the exact same as Canadians..so I don't know what the fuss is. Pooh has a Canadian accent, as he should. Christopher Robin, should have a British accent.. not Pooh.


Right....my post said the Canadian Black Bear- Winnipeg. I think Pooh might be mixed-lol. He's Canadian/British.