Winnie the Pooh (2011 film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Winnie the Pooh
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Stephen Anderson Don Hall
Produced by	Peter Del Vecho Clark Spencer
Story by	Stephen Anderson Clio Chiang Don Dougherty Don Hall Kendelle Hoyer Brian Kesinger Nicole Mitchell Jeremy Spears
Narrated by	John Cleese
Starring	Jim Cummings Jack Boulter Travis Oates Bud Luckey Tom Kenny Craig Ferguson Kristen Anderson-Lopez Wyatt Hall Huell Howser
Music by	Henry Jackman
Cinematography	Julio Macat (live-action scenes)
Editing by	Lisa Linder Silver
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date(s)	April 6, 2011 (2011-04-06) (Belgium) July 15, 2011 (2011-07-15) (United States)
Running time	69 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Money made	$50.1 million

Winnie the Pooh is a fun animated musical comedy film from 2011. It was made by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The movie is based on the classic "Winnie-the-Pooh" books by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard.

This film is the 51st animated movie made by Disney. It brought back the popular Disney's Winnie the Pooh series. It's also the fifth Winnie the Pooh movie shown in theaters. As of 2025, it's Disney's most recent movie made with traditional animation.

Many voice actors returned for the film. Jim Cummings voiced Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. Travis Oates was the voice of Piglet. New voices included Tom Kenny as Rabbit, Craig Ferguson as Owl, Bud Luckey as Eeyore, and Kristen Anderson-Lopez as Kanga.

In the movie, the friends from the Hundred Acre Wood go on an adventure. They try to save Christopher Robin from a made-up monster. Meanwhile, Pooh is always looking for honey. The film was directed by Stephen Anderson and Don Hall. John Cleese was the narrator.

Work on the movie started in September 2009. John Lasseter, a creative officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios, wanted to make a film that everyone would love for a long time. The movie has six songs by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. It also features a new version of the "Winnie the Pooh" theme song sung by Zooey Deschanel.

The film came out in Europe on April 6, 2011, and in the United States on July 15, 2011. Critics generally liked the movie. However, it didn't make a lot of money, earning $50.1 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. The film is dedicated to Dan Read, a background artist who worked on many Disney animated films. He passed away in 2010.

The Story of Winnie the Pooh

The movie's story happens inside a storybook. You can even see letters from the book in many scenes. One morning, Winnie the Pooh wakes up and realizes he has no honey. He sings "The Tummy Song" about his hunger. While looking for honey, Pooh finds that Eeyore has lost his tail.

Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, and Roo decide to help Eeyore. They sing "A Very Important Thing To Do." Meanwhile, Tigger is busy bouncing around. Christopher Robin decides to hold a contest to find a new tail for Eeyore. The winner will get a fresh pot of honey, as heard in "The Winner Song." Everyone tries to find a tail, but they all fail. Kanga suggests using a scarf, which wins the contest, but it quickly falls apart.

Pooh still hasn't found any honey. He visits Christopher Robin and finds a note that says "Gon Out Bizy Back Soon." Pooh can't read it, so he asks Owl for help. Owl misreads the note, making Pooh and his friends believe that Christopher Robin has been taken by a scary monster called the "Backson." They sing "The Backson Song" about this new creature.

Rabbit plans to trap the Backson in a pit. They will leave a trail of items to lead the Backson to it. Meanwhile, Tigger wants a helper to fight the Backson. He gets a reluctant Eeyore to be a "second Tigger." Tigger dresses up like the Backson and tries to teach Eeyore how to fight. Eeyore escapes Tigger and hides underwater, where he finds an anchor.

Pooh tries to get honey from a beehive but fails. His hunger makes him imagine things, as shown in "Everything is Honey." He accidentally eats mud and falls into the pit meant for the Backson. Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Owl, and Piglet use Eeyore's anchor as a rope to pull Pooh out. But everyone except Piglet falls into the pit too!

Piglet tries to help them, but he misunderstands Rabbit's directions. This leads to him destroying the only rope he has. He goes to find more rope but runs into Tigger. Piglet mistakes Tigger's costume for the real monster. Piglet runs away on a red balloon, which knocks some letters from the storybook into the pit.

After a chase, Tigger and Piglet also fall into the trap. Eeyore reminds Tigger that being "the only one" is "the most wonderful thing about Tiggers." Pooh then figures out how to use the fallen letters to make a ladder. His friends are able to climb out of the pit. They soon find Christopher Robin and tell him about the Backson. Christopher Robin explains he just meant he would be "back soon." The honey pot prize is given to the red balloon, which makes Pooh a little sad.

Later, Pooh visits Owl and finds that Owl has Eeyore's tail! Owl is using it as a bell pull and doesn't know what it is. Owl offers Pooh honey for lunch. But Pooh, ignoring his rumbling tummy, rushes to give Eeyore his tail back. Christopher Robin is very proud of Pooh's kindness. As a reward, Pooh gets a pot of honey twice as tall as he is! This is shown in "Pooh's Finale."

In a short scene after the movie credits, the Backson is shown to be real. But he is actually very nice and gentle. He finds the items left for him, including the chalk drawing of himself. He calls it a "scary looking fella." He decides to return the items to their owners, but then he falls into the pit himself.

Meet the Characters

Here are the main characters and the actors who voiced them:

• Jim Cummings voices two characters:
  • Winnie the Pooh: A friendly bear who loves honey.
  • Tigger: An energetic tiger who loves to bounce.
• Bud Luckey as Eeyore: An old grey donkey who is often gloomy and has lost his tail.
• Craig Ferguson as Owl: An owl who thinks he is very wise but tells long, boring stories.
• Jack Boulter as Christopher Robin: A young human boy and one of Pooh's best friends.
• Travis Oates as Piglet: A small pig who is afraid of almost everything. He is also one of Pooh's best friends.
• Tom Kenny as Rabbit: A rabbit who is very organized and loves planting vegetables.
• Kristen Anderson-Lopez as Kanga: A sweet kangaroo and Roo's mother.
• Wyatt Hall as Roo: Kanga's energetic young joey.
• Huell Howser as The Backson: The mysterious creature thought to have taken Christopher Robin.
• John Cleese as the Narrator: He tells the story.

Movie Music

Winnie the Pooh
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	July 12, 2011 (2011-07-12)
Recorded	2011
Genre	Soundtrack
Label	Walt Disney
Producer	Kristen Anderson-Lopez Robert Lopez Henry Jackman
Walt Disney Animation Studios chronology
Tangled (2010) Winnie the Pooh (2011) Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

The directors, Stephen Anderson and Don Hall, wanted to find the best songwriters for the film. They sent ideas to five different songwriting teams. They loved the songs created by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. This duo had worked with Disney before on a musical for the "Finding Nemo" theme park show.

The first song they were asked to write was "Everything Is Honey." This song shows Pooh having a wild dream because he's so hungry for honey. The Lopezes were inspired to write this song because their newborn daughter was keeping them awake at night!

The Lopezes wrote seven songs for the movie. These include "The Tummy Song," "A Very Important Thing to Do," "Everything Is Honey," "The Winner Song," "The Backson Song," "Pooh's Finale," and "It's Gonna Be Great." "The Backson Song" was also inspired by their daughter's sleeping problems. Kristen Anderson-Lopez even sings in the song as Kanga.

Zooey Deschanel performed three songs for the film. She sang a version of the classic Winnie the Pooh theme song. She also sang "A Very Important Thing to Do" and an original song called "So Long" for the end credits. She performed "So Long" with her bandmate M. Ward.

The movie's background music was created by Henry Jackman, with extra music by Christopher Willis.

The song "So Long" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media in 2012. "The Backson Song" and "So Long" were also considered for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Henry Jackman was considered for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. However, none of them received the final nominations.

Even though Winnie the Pooh didn't make as much money as hoped (it came out at the same time as the last Harry Potter series film), Disney executives noticed how good the Lopezes were at telling stories with music. Because of this, they didn't have to try out for their next Disney project. Instead, Disney asked them to work on Frozen!

Other Versions of Songs

The Walt Disney Company released different versions of the song "Welcome to my world" in other languages. For example, there's a Polish version called Witaj w moim świecie, a Romanian version called Bun Venit în Lumea mea, a Hungarian version called Az én világom, a Ukrainian version called Мій світ, and a Bulgarian version called Добре дошъл в моя свят.

Stage Show

There is a musical play based on the movie called Disney's Winnie the Pooh KIDS. It has extra music by Will Van Dyke and more lyrics and scenes by Cheryl Davies.

Movie Toys

Official Winnie the Pooh plush toys from the 2011 movie were released soon after the film came out.

Images for kids

• 

  The soundtrack album cover.

See also

In Spanish: Winnie the Pooh (película de 2011) para niños