Winnie the Pooh is a bear character that was created by the author A A Milne. Winnie the Pooh first appeared in 1926 and has been delighting children and adults ever since with his sweet sayings and fun adventures. Not only is Winnie the Pooh very popular, his friends have become famous too, often appearing alongside pooh bear in fan art tattoos.

Winnie the Pooh tattoos are a cute way to celebrate your own childhood, honor loving parents or delight children with an adorable design of the popular bear. [source]

Winnie the Pooh is loved by children and adults alike for his wholesome goodness. The cuddly bear character has become a symbol of fun, adventure, innocence and unjaded love. In tattoos, a Winnie the Pooh tattoo is often a way of celebrating the experiences of both childhood and parenting. [source]

Winnie-the-Pooh becomes Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh was named after a soft toy bear owned by A A Milne’s son, Christopher Robin Milne, who was the inspiration for the Christopher Robin character. The Winnie-the-Pooh teddy bear was named by Christopher Robin after a Canadian black bear called Winnie that was housed at the London Zoo. “Pooh” was added to the name of the teddy after a swan that the family had met while on holiday. Most of the other characters in the Winnie the Pooh stories were also inspired by various toys owned by Christopher Robin Milne including Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger. Owl, Gopher and Rabbit were added to the cast by Walt Disney studios.

This photo shows Christopher Robin’s toys that were the inspiration for the Winnie the Pooh characters. Even in real life, Eeyore looks depressed. [source]

Milne’s son was so taken with Winnie, a black bear at the London Zoo, that he named his prized teddy bear after Winnie. Both the teddy bear and Milne’s son became the inspiration for the Winnie the Pooh stories. [source]

Winnie the Pooh was initially introduced through a series of books as “Winnie-the-Pooh”, but when Disney animation studios licensed Pooh, they changed his name to “Winnie the Pooh”. The simpler, un-hyphenated version has stuck with this lovable bear. Before Disney created the iconic characters that most people recognize today, the stories were illustrated by EH Shepard. Ironically, these first drawings of Pooh were not based on the Winnie the Pooh teddy bear owned by Christopher Robin, but on a stuffed bear called “Growler” that was owned by Shepard’s own son. Walt Disney Studios changed the original character designs by EH Shepard to be more robust, colorful and appealing to children.

This tattoo shows Pooh Bear as he appeared in the original illustrations by EH Shepard. In this design, Winnie tries to escape a swarm of bees by flying away with a helium balloon. [source]

The Friendship and Fun of Winnie the Pooh Tattoos

The Winnie the Pooh stories were more than simple children’s stories. The characters interacted in the sweetest ways, defending each other, supporting each other and most of all, loving each other. The friends spent many hours adventuring with Christopher Robin, who gave and received his own fair share of love from the cute characters. Winnie the Pooh’s favorite and best friend was an adorable little guy called Piglet, who was often afraid but took comfort in Pooh’s presence.

This beautifully executed tattoo show Winnie the Pooh discovering Piglet in a jar of honey.
Piglet is so small that if he’s not careful, he falls into the honey jars and needs to be rescued by his friend Pooh. [source]

Based on the characters designed by Walt Disney studios, this tattoo shows the two best friends, Piglet and Pooh, chilling out together, enjoying the day and each other’s company. [source]

The Winnie the Pooh stories encouraged imagination and enjoyment of the finer things in life such as eating, making music, dancing, adventuring and spending time playing with friends. Many illustrations of Pooh Bear show the character engaged in various activities but the one pastime that Pooh is most famous for is eating honey. Winnie the Pooh is often shown holding his honey pot which has the humorously misspelled label “hunny” written across it.

Winnie the pooh sits on a music note waving a conductor’s baton. Including the music oriented symbols in the design shows that the tattoo owner is a fan of both Winnie the Pooh and music. Here, Pooh is shown holding his famous honey pot. Many of the Pooh adventures have honey eating as a central activity. [source] 

Winnie the Pooh Quotes and Sayings become Tattoo Designs

The Winnie the Pooh stories had many inspirational sayings that have become very popular. Quotes from the books sometimes appear in fan art either with one of the Winnie the Pooh characters or simply as an attractively designed text. Sayings from the books have become popular as picture quotes, posters and cards, all of which are often given from one friend to another as a supportive gesture or show of love. In tattoos, sayings from Winnie the Pooh make for wise and thought-provoking body art.

Text tattoos are becoming more and more popular as a way to wear personal beliefs and morals on the skin. This tattoo design includes an inspirational quote from Winne the Pooh, “You are stronger than you seem, braver than you believe, and smarter than you think.” [source]

Sometimes it is a conversation between two of the characters that inspires a Winnie the Pooh tattoo. Conversations between Piglet and Pooh are often especially sweet and are the ones chosen to appear in a Pooh tattoo. These text tattoos symbolize friendship, fun and innocence. The world that the Winnie the Pooh characters exist in is largely free from stress or pressure, allowing the characters to simply exist together and enjoy each other’s company.

“What day is it?” asked Pooh.
“It’s today,” squeaked Piglet
“My favorite day,” said Pooh
This cute conversation is one of the most popular discussions between the two best friends, Piglet and Pooh. This tattoo is a celebration of friendship, innocence and sweetness. [source]