You may have heard by now that the characters of A.A Milne’s 1926 classic Winnie the Pooh has entered the public domain, meaning they are free to use legally without repercussion from the house of the mouse. You may have also seen the trailer for the horror movie, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey which features the band of lovable animals turned into anthropomorphic feral monsters fixated on punishing Christopher Robin for abandoning them. This idea for a movie is an interesting choice to say the least as the first piece of Winnie the Pooh media in the public domain, but it begs the question. What other properties or movies can Winnie the Pooh now be in?
Scooby Doo
Winnie the Pooh appearing as a villain of the day on Scooby Doo, or more specifically, in Mindy Kailing’s upcoming adult animated series Velma on HBO Max would be amazing. While the 10-episode first season doesn’t debut until 2023, the series will follow the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the underappreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang and will unmask her colourful and complex past. Winnie the Pooh could be framed in the show as a villain who is stealing honey from shops or bee farms for honey and destroying bee hives in the process with Velma and the Mystery Inc gang tasked with solving the mystery of the honey stealer. It could even be just a person dressed up as Winnie the Pooh stealing the honey, the options are endless.
Mufasa: The Lion King
The live-action prequel to 2019’s billion-dollar The Lion King is a perfect project to have Winnie the Pooh appear. The idea speaks for itself, it’s Disney, who still owns trademark rights to the character such as his signature red shirt and Winnie is already a bear, so to have him appear next to Mufasa and Simba would be quite the sight. Since the film is directed by Oscar Winner Barry Jenkins, maybe an arthouse take on the bear and his lazy ways would be an interesting subversion of expectations. Maybe he helps Mufasa become the lion king, or maybe he challenges him to the title. The film’s not due out until 2024 so we have plenty of time to speculate.
What If? Season 2
Winnie the Pooh appearing in Marvel Studio’s What If? Season 2 is a perfect opportunity to have the red-shirt-loving bear join the Avengers. As the animated show explores multiverse stories such as Black Panther being Star-Lord and zombie Marvel heroes, having an episode where in an alternate universe, Winnie the Pooh joins the Avengers would be so much fun. You have to think though, what would his powers be? Well, this is where it gets interesting. If Winnie the Pooh joined the Avengers, Tony Stark would make him an iron-man-like robot suit that has honey blasters that shoot dangerous poisonous honey. He would be a force to be reckoned with on the Avengers team, but he wouldn’t be the best though, that spot is saved for Spider-Man.
House of the Dragon
Winnie the Pooh appearing in the Game of Thrones prequel series would work similarly to how the wolves appeared in the original series. The wolves were loyal to members of the Stark family and were kept as sort of protectors. While the Targarayens have their dragons in the prequel series, it wouldn’t hurt for them to also have bears as their protectors, more specifically, Winnie the Pooh. In the inevitable Targaryen civil war that is currently brewing in the show, Winnie the Pooh would appear alongside the army of soldiers and dragons ready to battle. While the anthropomorphic appearance of the yellow bear wouldn’t be present, a CGI yellowed-furred real-looking bear alongside many CGI dragons would be epic. Lucky for Winnie, I don’t think dragons are particularly fond of honey anyways.
