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Christopher Robin

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This article is about the fictional character. For the son of the author A. A. Milne, on whom the character was based, see Christopher Robin Milne.
Christopher Robin
Winnie the Pooh character
First appearanceWinnie-the-Pooh (1926)
Created byA. A. Milne
In-universe information
SpeciesHuman
GenderMale
FamilyMother (Dorothy de Sélincourt)
NationalityEnglish

Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne. He appears in Milne's popular books of poetry and Winnie-the-Pooh stories and is named after Christopher Robin Milne, the author's son. The character has subsequently appeared in Disney cartoons.

In the books

Christopher Robin appears in Milne's poems and in the two books: Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928). In the books he is a young boy and one of Winnie-the-Pooh's best friends. His other friends are Eeyore, Kanga, and Roo, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, and Tigger. He is characterized by his uneven socks. In the second book, there are hints that Christopher Robin is growing up. In the final chapter, the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood throw him a farewell party after learning he must leave them soon. It is implied that he will attend boarding school; Christopher Robin Milne, for whom the stories were originally developed, left home to attend Stowe School at age 9.[1]

In addition to the two Pooh books, the character was immortalized in other works by A. A. Milne including two books of poems: When We Were Very Young (1924) and Now We Are Six (1927). An arrangement of one of the poems, Buckingham Palace, was first recorded by Ann Stephens in July 1941. Petula Clark released a recording of it in 1953 to coincide with the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and despite neither making the charts, both versions were popular on BBC radio's Children's Favourites programme.

In the 2009 sequel Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, it is confirmed that Christopher Robin was at school, but during the summer break he returns to the forest for a visit with a lot of knowledge to share. Though slightly older, he is still the same person as before and is happy to share more good times with his friends all summer. At the end of the summer, he has to leave again for another school year, but the animals know they will see him again.

Christopher Robin is cheerful, compassionate, adventurous, fun-loving, imaginative, and helpful. Despite being a child, he is much wiser and more mature than many of the other characters, and is someone Pooh and the others look up to. In the book illustrations, his house appears as a hollow tree with a door at the top of the forest.

Christopher Robin Milne

Christopher Robin was based upon the author A. A. Milne's own son, Christopher Robin Milne, who in later life became unhappy with the use of his name. Christopher Milne wrote in one of a series of autobiographical works: "It seemed to me almost that my father had got where he was by climbing on my infant shoulders, that he had filched from me my good name and left me nothing but empty fame". One of the poems, Vespers – which describes young Christopher Robin saying his evening prayers – was said by Christopher Milne as "the one work that has brought me over the years more toe-curling, fist-clenching, lip-biting embarrassment than any other".[2]

Disney adaptations

Christopher Robin
(Disney version)
Christopher Robin in his Disney depiction
Voiced byBruce Reitherman (1966)
Jon Walmsley (1968)
Timothy Turner (1974)
Kim Christianson (1983)
Tim Hoskins (1988–1991)
Edan Gross (1991)
Brady Bluhm (1997–1999)
Tom Attenborough (2000)
Paul Tiesler (2001–2003)
Tom Wheatley (2003)
William Green (2002)
Struan Erlenborn (2007–2010)
Jack Boulter (2011)

Since 1966, Disney has released numerous features starring Winnie-the-Pooh and related characters. Christopher Robin appears in all of the Disney adaptations except for Kingdom Hearts Welcome to Pooh Corner, Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh, Springtime with Roo, and Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie. But in most of the cartoons, he is only a supporting character, sometimes only appearing in a few scenes or episodes; in Pooh's Heffalump Movie, he only appears during the credits. His personality is virtually the same as in the books, but he attends day school instead of boarding school.

Christopher Robin's bedroom, but not Christopher Robin himself, appears in live-action opening sequences. In the world within his storybooks, his house appears just as it does in E. H. Shepherd's illustrations.

An English boy living in the Ashdown Forest, Christopher Robin has brown hair. He wears a yellow polo shirt with white collar and trim on his short sleeves, blue shorts, white socks and black Mary Jane shoes.

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh re-imagines him as an American boy living in the suburban house 100 Acre Road whose backyard connects directly to the Hundred Acre Wood. His mother also appears in the series and Robin is apparently their surname in that continuity.

Some of these elements were reused for The Book of Pooh, but the animals are once again characters in Christopher Robin's storybook. His hollow tree house does not appear from both series.

Christopher Robin has appeared on House of Mouse with his friends, but he is the only main Winnie-the-Pooh character not to appear in the Kingdom Hearts video game series; in this continuity, the Winnie-the-Pooh book belongs to Merlin and Christopher Robin's role is played out mostly by Sora. He only appears in two episodes of My Friends Tigger and Pooh.

His appearance was updated for the 2011 film.

Casting history

Of the nine main characters, Christopher Robin has the most voice actors. He has been voiced by the following:

Hoskins, Gross and Tiesler are the only actors to use an American accent for the character. All others use an English accent.

References

  1. ^ Christopher Milne (1976). The enchanted places. Penguin. p. 1.
  2. ^ Julia Eccleshare. Beatrix Potter to Harry Potter: portraits of children's writers. National Portrait Gallery, 2002. ISBN 9781855143425 p33
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