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 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.