*~~*Pooh's Hunny Pot*~~*

It all began during the first World War, when a Canadian Lieutenant by the name of Harry Coleboum stopped in White River, Ontario on his way to join the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade. There he met a hunter with a small female Canadian Black Bear. The hunter had killed the black bear's mother and Harry bought the cub for a mere $20. He named her Winnepeg after his hometown in Canada. Winnie became the brigade's mascot and traveled everywhere with them. While the brigade was posted in France, Coleboum took Winnie to the London Zoo and left her in their care as a long loan. He formally presented Winnipeg to the London Zoo in December of 1919. The Canadian Black Bear was a very popular attraction and lived there until her death in 1934.

At age four, Christpher Robin Milne visited the London Zoo where he befriended the Canadian Black Bear named Winnie. It was his favorite animal at the Zoo, and he often spent time inside the cage with Winnie. The little black bear was Christopher Robin's inspiration for calling his own teddy bear Winnie or Winnie the Pooh. The name Pooh originally belonged to a swan that also lived on the Cotchford Farm, in East Sussex, England. As time went on, Christopher added other stuffed toys to his collection and soon the whole gang was involved with in the stories. There was a rabbit, piglet, kangaroo, donkey, and the last to be added was a tiger.

Christopher Robin's father, A.A. Milne, became very fascinated with the relationship between the boy and the bear and this was part of the inspiration for the "Pooh Stories". On December 24, 1925, the first Pooh story was published in the "London Evening News." The descriptive title it was given was, "In Which We Are Introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh, and Some Bees, and the Stories Begin." The story proved to be very popular and was broadcast by BBC radio the very next day, Christmas Day to be exact.

A.A. Milne never intended his stories to be published. He was mainly writing to amuse himself and his young son. The books were written at the suggestion of his wife, Daphne. He wrote two Pooh books, "Winnie-the-Pooh" (1926) and "The House at Pooh Corner" (1928). Both books were illustrated by noted artist E.H. Shepard. They also collaborated on two other children's verses, "When We Were Very Young" (1924) and "Now We Are Six" (1927). Both verses also featured the beloved character Winnie-the-Pooh.

The Pooh books were also favorites of Walt Disney's daughters, and inspired him to bring Pooh to film. In 1966, Pooh came to life for the first time in the featurette, "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree." The next time that we would see Pooh would be ten years later in 1977, in the feature-length animated film, "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh." In 1996, after the second release of "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh," the loveable forgetful Bear had proven to be more popular than any other Disney® character. So, in 1997, twenty years after Pooh's first debut, Disney® released a second feature-length animated film, "Pooh's Grand Adventure." And then on February 11, 2000, Disney® released a third feature-length animated film titled, "The Tigger Movie," establishing a lead role for Tigger. This led Disney® to release yet another feature-length animated film in March of 2003 entitled, "Piglet's BIG Movie," giving the lead role to Piglet.

Through the years, Pooh and the Gang have appeared in many videos, educational films, holiday specials, and even a TV series. They have proven to be loveable characters for the young and the young at heart!

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