Kanga

Kanga is a anthropomorphic, stuffed kangaroo belonging to Christopher Robin that first appeared in the short Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. Hospitable and gentle, Kanga is the mother of Roo and a good friend to the Hundred Acre Wood residents, most notably Tigger.

Background
In Piglet's Big Movie, Kanga and Roo are implied to have been the newest members of the Hundred Acre Wood (despite Blustery Day making it clear that Tigger is the newest resident). Upon their arrival, Kanga was mistaken for a predator by Rabbit, Tigger, Pooh and Piglet. After a misadventure, however, they come to realize Kanga's true nature and warmly welcomed her and Roo into their circle.

Kanga and Roo live in a literally treehouse (which shares a joint mailbox, indicating there's two residence rather than one). She spends much of her time at home, while Roo typically joins the adventures of Pooh and the others. Kanga acts much like a typical housewife (despite being a single mother) as she is mostly seen cleaning and tending to Roo's needs. Of all the Hundred Acre Woods residents, Kanga has the strongest friendship with Tigger, whom she sometimes treats as her own. This makes sense, as Roo and Tigger often treat each other as siblings. Kanga is notable in that she is one of the few characters that Tigger doesn't bounce. Instead, he treats her extremely respectfully, often referring to her as "Mrs. Kanga".

Kanga was initially the only female character in the Winnie the Pooh franchise. This changed with the introduction of recurring characters such as Kessie and Mama Heffalump (with whom Kanga developed a close friendship). However, she continues to be the only female character in the main cast.

Personality
Kanga is easily the most down-to-earth resident of the Hundred Acre Wood. So much so, that she rarely joins the madcap exploits of her friends. Being a mother, Kanga is sweet and nurturing to both Roo and the others. She is also wise to some degree, and shares this wisdom with other residents such as Piglet. As she lacks the eccentricity of Tigger or the temper of Rabbit, Kanga often appears to be extremely leveled and mature. Her maturity also allowed her to be the first resident (alongside Roo) to overcome the universal fear of Heffalumps in Pooh's Heffalump Movie, to the point that, upon watching a Heffalump with Roo, she was the only one to not to be really scared or worried, only being confused, which shows that Kanga is able to not to judge a situaion for what it seems and that, at times, she dosen't let fear cloud her thinking and reasoning.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
In The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Kanga appears in all the stories.

In Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Kanga is shown with Roo at Christopher Robin's house and inspecting Eeyore's tail after it is reattached. She, later on, brings Roo to give Pooh some flowers when Pooh is trapped in Rabbit's door. Later on, she comes with Christopher Robin and Eeyore to help remove him, when Pooh has grown thin enough, as she takes hold of Christopher's drum, while Eeyore pulls her by taking hold of her tail.

In Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Kanga is one of the people who comes to see the damage to Owl's home, which was blown over by the strong winds. During the flood, Kanga, Roo, and Tigger are able to reach safety at Christopher Robin's home by using an umbrella as a boat. After the flood, Kanga attends the hero party that is held in honor of Pooh and Piglet.

In Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, Kanga appears in the second half of the segment. One winter day, she allows Roo to go out and play with Tigger. Kanga later comes to their aid when Tigger discovers his fear of heights. Roo is able to jump to safety, with Kanga encouraging him to not fall too fast. When Tigger is brought down, Rabbit attempts to hold Tigger to a promise to never bounce. Kanga remarks on Tigger's sadness and everyone eventually agrees to allow Tigger to continue bouncing. Kanga is then seen bouncing alongside everyone else.

The Tigger Movie
In The Tigger Movie, Kanga is first seen sweeping her front porch when Tigger bounces up and asks her to bounce with him, but she says she can't because she has too much work to do. Later on Kanga is seen along with Roo, Rabbit, Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore trying to remove a boulder off of Eeyore's house with Rabbit's Rock Remover and when Kanga suggests that they could use another helping hand Tigger bounces up and bounces onto the boulder causing both it and everyone else except for Tigger and Roo to roll into the mud and when Kanga reaches into her pouch she finds a fish in it. After this Tigger asks the gang to bounce with him to which Kanga and the others tell him that they can't bounce with him because they're not Tiggers like he is. Later on that night, Roo tells Kanga that he wishes Tigger could be his big brother and be a member of their family to which Kanga tells Roo that Tigger is one of their family and will always be if they continue to care for him. The next day Kanga, Roo, Eeyore, Pooh, Piglet, and Owl all gather at Owl's house to write Tigger a letter from his family and they all come up with their own ideas of what to say in the letter including Kanga who suggests that it should say Dress Warmly.

Piglet's Big Movie
When Piglet goes missing, Pooh and friends use his scrapbook to find him and learn more about Piglet. In one of his memories, Kanga and Roo have recently moved in and Tigger and Rabbit believe them to be predators and are afraid of them. Piglet accidentally switches places with Roo. Kanga then acts as if she thinks Piglet is Roo and uses this to show she's a sweet person. After Piglet calms down, she reveals she knew and everything is settled. Later Christopher Robin and Pooh begin an expedition to find the North Pole and Kanga joins the friends.

Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Kanga is a supporting character in the film and is first seen at the beginning with Roo wondering what the mysterious noise is. She learns later that night that it was a Heffalump and calms Roo's anger after he was denied a position in the Heffalump expedition. Later on, Kanga searches for Roo and finds him with Lumpy. Rabbit, Tigger, Pooh, and Piglet are immediately terrified of Lumpy, but Kanga is confused. She later sees Roo free Lumpy from a trap, learning that he is Roo's friend. She is touched by this, but when the others find and capture Lumpy, Kanga tells everyone (Rabbit especially) to stop and let Roo explain himself. She is touched by Roo's words. Kanga is last seen with Roo and their friends enjoying time with their new Heffalump friends.

Winnie the Pooh
Kanga is first seen with Roo during the song "A Very Important Thing to Do". She is later seen at the meeting centering Eeyore's lost tail. When a reward is meant to be issued, Kanga suggests a warm hug. She is also the third to give Eeyore a tail. She gives him a scarf but it eventually unravels. Kanga is seen at Owl's house later on and learns about the Backson. She joins the hunt to capture the creature and gets herself trapped in the Backson pit. In a scene when Owl is talking, she puts on earmuffs that she made and decides to sleep. She is then wakened up by Roo when they were freed by Pooh's thinking and Kanga and the others celebrate the return of Christopher Robin who actually just went to school for the day.

Christopher Robin
In Christopher Robin, Kanga is first seen during Christopher's farewell party. Years after Christopher's departure, she and Roo continue their lives in the woods until they mysteriously go missing, forcing Pooh to seek an adult Christopher's help. Like the others, Kanga is initially skeptical about Christopher's identity, but embraces him once she realizes he truly is himself. Kanga maintains her maternal sensibility, commenting on Christopher's growth. She does not join Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore to their journey to London. She does, however, meet Christopher Robin's wife and daughter at the end of the film, once Pooh's adventures came to an end.

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
In the TV series, Kanga is only a recurring character. She appears in a total 8 out of 83 episodes.

In the episode "Babysitter Blues", Kanga leaves Christopher Robin, Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger in charge of Roo. When she returns and finds out that Tigger and Roo are missing during a game of Hide-and-Seek, she becomes awfully worried about Roo but is relieved when Roo and Tigger come out of hiding from under the bed.

In the episode "The Old Switcheroo", Tigger tries to hide Roo from Kanga so she won't give him a bath. Kanga manages to find Roo but on the way home, Pooh manages to distract Kanga while Tigger grabs Roo and puts Piglet in Kanga's pouch. When Kanga gets home she accidentally mistakes Piglet for Roo and gives him a bubble bath. When Piglet tries to tell her he's Piglet, Kanga simply says that he is Roo doing a good job imitating Piglet's voice. Then Pooh appears and corrects Kanga and takes Piglet home. Then, Tigger and Roo come home from playing in the mud and but get stuck to gum and ask Kanga to get them unstuck. Kanga says that the only way that she can get them unstuck is by giving them a bath. Afterward, Tigger and Roo learn that baths are not as bad as they thought.

My Friends Tigger & Pooh
Kanga is a recurring character in the series often making minor cameos. She can often be found in crowd scenes paired with Mama Heffalump.

Other shows
Kanga was occasionally seen in House of Mouse. In the pilot, Pete was exposed to being a cartoon thief and during a chase with Mickey Mouse, Pete attempts to hide in Kanga's pouch. She is also seen toward the end of "The Ludwig Von Drake Song".

Kingdom Hearts II
When she first appears, she hears from Piglet that Pooh has forgotten everything about his friends and makes a medicine in attempt to restore his memory, but Tigger takes it, thinking it is a present to him. Though they get it back, Pooh never drank the medicine and he somehow regained his memory of Tigger after Tigger felt bad about Pooh not remembering him, saying it wouldn't be worth bouncing if Pooh forgot about him.

Kanga appears three times in the Hundred Acre Wood storyline, the first being at her house along with Roo and Tigger. She gives Pooh some medicine in hopes of him regaining his former self. Her second appearance is at the Spooky Cave helping Sora search for Pooh. She is last seen at Starry Hill saying goodbye to Sora.

Disney Parks
Kanga is a rare walkaround character in the parks, though she can be found on few occasions.

Walt Disney World
In the seasonal Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, Kanga can be seen with Roo in her pouch and wears a scarf and earmuffs.

Tokyo Disney Resort
Kanga makes a minor appearance in the technological show, Pooh's Hunny Hunt, in Tokyo Disneyland.

Disneyland Paris
In the stage musical Winnie the Pooh and Friends, too!, Kanga and Roo join Pooh and the others in adventures in the Hundred Acre Woods.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Kanga appears in all interactions of the popular dark ride, found in several Disney parks around the world. She appears in the opening scenes trying to keep Roo from blowing away during the "windsday".

Trivia

 * Her name, Kanga and her son's name Roo, when put together they make kangaroo.
 * In the original books, Kanga's head seemed sometimes as "full of fluff" as the other characters, while at other times she was sharper. In the Disney incarnations, she is frequently intelligent and the smartest of the cast (next to Eeyore).
 * Though her current voice actor, Kath Soucie, is part of the Kingdom Hearts II cast, voicing Sally and Shock of the Halloween Town world, for some reason, she doesn't voice Kanga there.
 * In the 2011 film and Christopher Robin, her ears are pointy instead of smooth, like a real adult kangaroo.