This is how Winnie the Pooh costumes have changed over the years in the parks and stage shows.
| Image | Year | As seen at | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
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1965 | Disneyland | The first Pooh costume wore a red sweater with his name, "Pooh", embroidered on it in script and a honey pot with a bee on it on his head (the performer looked out of the costume through the letters on the pot). He has brown eyes and eyebrows, a tongue, a movable muzzle and ears, and short, inoperable arms the performer controls from inside using small rods.
This Pooh costume was first used as early as February 1965; it appeared at Disneyland for less than a year (most notably as part of the 1965 edition of Fantasy on Parade, as seen in the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color episode "Disneyland Around the Seasons") before being slightly modified a year later. |
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1966-Early 1993 | Various Disney Park | Pooh's eyebrows are now black, his arms are slightly flatter, and his paws are smaller. In some versions of Disney on Parade, he lacks eyebrows.
Versions of Pooh with different hats or shirts have been known to exist. This Pooh costume appeared at Disneyland until 1989, Walt Disney World until early 1990 (where it was used as part of Mickey's All-American Birthday Parade at the Magic Kingdom), and Tokyo Disneyland until 1992 but still used in some parades until January 1993 (although it was used one more time there in a promo for the park's 10th anniversary). |
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1972-1973: | An alternate costume used for the 1972-73 edition of Disney on Parade, one that looks almost accurate to his animated counterpart. | |
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1983-1987: | The first articulated version of Pooh was only seen in Welcome to Pooh Corner. His head and ears shrink, his eyes are white with black pupils, and his eyebrows are raised upward. His legs are a bit longer in contrast to the version seen in the 1972-1973 edition of DOP. | |
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1989-2000: | Various Disney Parks | Pooh is now taller and no longer wears a honey pot, gets a new large head eliminating the cheeks, his eyes are smaller (but still look similar to the previous design, with white eyes and black pupils), his ears are seen almost face-front, his muzzle is rounder and is colored a darker shade than the rest of his body, and the arms are now longer for the performer to use his arms freely.
The version of the costume used at Disneyland Paris does not have "Pooh" embroidered on the shirt, since Pooh is known as "Winnie l'ourson" in France. This Pooh costume appeared at the American parks from 1989 to late 1999, Tokyo Disneyland from 1992 to mid-2000, and Disneyland Paris from opening day to circa 2000. |
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1999-present: | Various Disney Parks | Pooh looks more like his animated counterpart: his head shrinks down once again, and he is now fluffier, cuter and a little bit thinner. His eyes are now completely black, and his ears face front. There is also no more writing on his shirt. |
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2004-present: | The articulated version of Winnie the Pooh (based on the 1999 design), seen in live stage shows.
This Pooh was covered a bit differently with golden fur and given a jawline to make him move his mouth to lip-sync through dialogue and songs. Pooh's eyes were made of marbles which had black on one half and gold on the other to give him the illusion to blink. |
