Winnie the Pooh (franchise)

Winnie the Pooh is an American Walt Disney franchise, based on A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories. The Disney media franchise commenced in 1966 with the theatrical release of the short Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.

Disney's Pooh was originally voiced by Sterling Holloway in the three original Winnie the Pooh featurettes that were later used as segments to 1977 theatrical film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Hal Smith took over for the 1981 short film Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons, and would maintain the role until Jim Cummings began voicing Pooh in 1988 television The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988 –1991). Cummings continues to voice Pooh (as well as Tigger) to this day.

Overview
In the midst of a 2003 battle where Disney stood to lose commercial rights to Winnie the Pooh, The Telegraph noted "Losing control of the Winnie the Pooh franchise would be a disaster for Disney. Analysts believe Pooh is worth $3bn-$6bn of Disney's total annual sales of $25bn." According to a 2013 Variety article, Winnie the Pooh is the third best-selling franchise in the world, after Disney's own Disney Princess and Star Wars. The New York Time said "The stakes are high for Disney. Global sales of Pooh merchandise — books, plush toys, T-shirts, potty chairs — have fallen 12% over the last five years, but still account for a staggering $5.5 billion", adding "Pooh...remains Disney’s second best-selling character after Mickey Mouse". It noted "Branding experts say aging character franchises are among the most difficult to keep alive because they require continually walking a tightrope. 'With Winnie the Pooh, Disney is going to continue to struggle with the tension of remaining relevant to kids versus maintaining a love-mark brand that parents trust,' said Matt Britton, a founder of Mr. Youth, a New York marketing firm." In a 2014 overview of Disney's top franchises, CNN wrote "Pooh may have been born in the 1920s in A.A. Milne's books. But the bear is still going strong via Disney movies and DVD's. Pooh Bear sells games, stuffed animals, clothing, and even iPhone and iPad apps. Pooh is also a favorite subject in books from Disney Publishing Worldwide, the world's largest publisher of children's books and magazines with more than 700 million products sold each year".

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Sebastian Cabot narrates the adventures of bumbling bear Winnie the Pooh as he battles a nest of vicious bees over a trove of honey, weathers a terrible wind storm and endures the foibles of the hyperactive tiger Tigger, all while singing and bumbling his way through the Hundred Acre Wood.

The Tigger Movie
Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo, and Rabbit are preparing a suitable winter home for Eeyore, the perennially dejected donkey, but Tigger's continual bouncing interrupts their efforts. Rabbit suggests that Tigger go find others of his kind to bounce with, but Tigger thinks "the most wonderful thing about tiggers is" he's "the only one!" Just in case though, the joyously jouncy feline sets out to see if he can find relatives.

Piglet's Big Movie
Piglet is the smallest of all his friends, which doesn't account for his big heart and bold attitude. But, try as he might, Piglet cannot convey his personality to his friends - not even to Winnie the Pooh! Piglet becomes fed up after being excluded from a honey-thieving scheme, so strikes out on his own to do some thinking. But when Piglet's friends discover he's missing, the only clue they have to go on is a scrapbook he left behind.

Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Roo search for a mysterious and fearsome creature.

Winnie the Pooh
Three stories inspired by A.A. Milne add up to a very busy day for a obese bear Winnie-the-Pooh and friends. Upon learning that Eeyore has lost his tail, the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood start a contest to see who can find a new one for the melancholy donkey - with a pot of honey going to the winner. Amid the goings-on, Owl mistakenly relates the news that Christopher Robin has been abducted. However, all ends well when Pooh finds a land of sweet delights.

Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin
It's time for Christopher Robin to return to school, which means he's unable to keep visiting with his obesity friend, Winnie the Pooh. But when Pooh misreads a letter from Robin, he thinks his friend has been snatched and relocated to a fearsome land. Along with the tiger Tigger, the pig Piglet, the donkey Eeyore and the domestic bunny Rabbit, Pooh journeys to the terrifying place to rescue their friend, meeting many frightening obstacles along the way.

Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving
Winnie the Pooh and his friends telling three stories in "GroundPiglet Day", 1997's A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving and "Find Her, Keep Her".

The Book of Pooh: Stories from the Heart
Tigger tries to teach Piglet how to be like him in one of a collection of Winnie-the-Pooh tales.

A Very Merry Pooh Year
Pooh and his lovable friends celebrate Christmas and the New Year.

Springtime with Roo
Roo and friends discover that Rabbit has no interest in an Easter egg hunt.

Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie
Kanga's baby Roo and Lumpy gather the courage to search for the Gobloon, a creature that can grant wishes.

Super Sleuth Christmas Movie
To save Christmas, Pooh, Darby and the gang must return Santa's bag of toys to the North Pole.

Tigger and Pooh and a Musical Too
Rabbit creates many new rules as the Mayor of the Hundred Acre Wood, leading Tigger to challenge him for mayorship and causing a Big White Line to be drawn, dividing the Wood.

Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
Winnie the Pooh, a overweight teddy bear attempts to raid a beehive in a tall tree.

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Winnie the Pooh and his friends experience high winds, heavy rains, and a flood in Hundred Acre Wood.

Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!
An vain bunny animal Rabbit is tired of a energetic tiger Tigger always bouncing him, so he get's Pooh and Piglet together to come up with an idea to get the bounce out of Tigger. Rabbit suggests they take him into the middle of nowhere and leave him overnight. The idea backfires and Rabbit, Piglet and Pooh find themselves lost, but Pooh's tummy guides them home. Then, Tigger and Roo go out for a bounce and get caught in a tree, which Tigger is too afraid to get out of, and Rabbit makes Tigger promise that if they help get Tigger down, that Tigger can never bounce again. So Tigger is rescued and feels sad that he can no longer bounce, but everyone, even Rabbit, agrees they liked the old bouncy Tigger better.

Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons
Christopher Robin gives Winnie the Pooh a calendar, and Pooh uses it to learn about the seasons.

Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore
Pooh and lovable friends decide to throw a birthday celebration for gloomy, old donkey Eeyore.

Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too
It's Christmas, but Winnie the Pooh and his friends are worried about Santa Claus, except Christopher Robin.

Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh
Piglet is too scared to dress up for Halloween.

A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving
It's Thanksgiving time in the Hundred Acre Wood and Winnie the Pooh and all his friends bring food for the big dinner. Piglet brings acorns, Pooh brings honey, Owl brings biscuits, Gopher brings lemonade, and Tigger brings ice cream. But then, Rabbit walks in and tells them their Thanksgiving dinner was unacceptable and informs them that a real Thanksgiving dinner includes turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, so Pooh and his friends set out to find those very items.

A Valentine for You
Winnie the Pooh and his friends are worried that Christopher Robin may like Winifred better than themselves.

Welcome to Pooh Corner
Winnie the Pooh's first live-action television series. The popular "Pooh Corner" consisted of a mix of full-body costumes and radio controlled 'puppetronics' that kept the mouths and eyes moving. For a cable series, the show was very popular during its 1983-1986 run on the Disney Channel.

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Honey, anyone? Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga, Roo and Christopher Robin from the A.A. Milne children's books, along with a few new friends, enjoy a series of animated adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood, courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

The Book of Pooh
A new Disney version of the classic children's stories about Winnie the Pooh and his friends. Rather than the animated versions of the past, this series is done entirely in a puppet format. In it, Tigger bounces, Piglet worries, Eeyore glooms, and Pooh just tries to get a tummy full of honey.

My Friends Tigger & Pooh
Follow a 6-year-old girl named Darby and her puppy Buster, who join Pooh and Tigger on adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood. To help solve mysteries Pooh and Tigger wear homemade superhero costumes and become Super Sleuths. With their new friend Darby they tackle some of the Hundred Acre Wood's wonders.

Video games

 * Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood (1986)
 * Tigger's Honey Hunt (2000)
 * Piglet's Big Game (2003)
 * Winnie the Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure (2005)
 * Disney Friends (2007)
 * Ready to Read with Pooh
 * Pooh's Hunny Trouble
 * Winnie The Pooh's Home Run Derby (2010)

Ownership controversy and drastic changes
During his lifetime, Milne was liberal with his grant of rights. At times he licensed the same exclusive rights to more than one entity.

In the United States, Dutton publishers acquired exclusive volume publication rights and Stephen Slesinger, Inc., acquired sole and exclusive rights to virtually all uses outside of the Dutton books as well as rights to any sorts of future uses. Beginning in 1930 Stephen Slesinger created all of the distinctive and colorful images of Pooh outside of the books. Under license from Slesinger, Pooh made his debuts in radio, film, animation, children's theatre, advertising and a host of consumer products and services protected by trademark. Outside of the U.S. and Canada, Milne retained most of his literary copyright rights which he left to four beneficiaries of his trust: The Garrick Club, Westminster School, The Royal Literary Fund and the A. A. Milne Family. By direction of Milne's will, the Pooh Properties Trust was formed. Mrs. Milne, trustee of the Milne Estate and Spencer Curtis Brown, Trustee, licensed certain exclusive film rights to Disney in 1961. Christopher Robin Milne sold his rights to the other copyright holders, in order to raise money to support his daughter, before his death in 1996.

Sometime around 2000, the Pooh Properties Trust licensed additional rights to Disney and accepted a buyout from of their claims to royalties as defined in a 1991 lawsuit brought by Stephen Slesinger, Inc. Although Slesinger's rights are arguably more valuable, the combined value paid by Disney to The Pooh Properties Trust is said to be approximately $300 million for Milne's portion of those rights.

To further minimize Disney's legal exposure to Slesinger, Disney paid money to the Pooh Properties attorneys and trusts to use the name of Clare Milne, daughter of Christopher Robin, in an attempt to terminate certain of the copyright rights of Stephen Slesinger Inc, in the wake of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. The district court found in favor of Stephen Slesinger, Inc., and as did the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On Monday, June 26, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case, thus sustaining the Appeals Court ruling.

In December 2005, Disney announced that Pooh's friend and owner Christopher Robin would be replaced by a six-year-old "tomboyish" red-haired girl named Darby for the Disney Channel animated television series, My Friends Tigger & Pooh. Christopher Robin appeared intermittently in the series.