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Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

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Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRhys Frake-Waterfield
Screenplay byRhys Frake-Waterfield
Based onWinnie-the-Pooh books
by A. A. Milne
E. H. Shepard
Produced byScott Jeffrey
Starring
  • Amber Doig-Thorne
  • Maria Taylor
  • Danielle Ronald
  • Natasha Tosini
  • May Kelly
  • Paula Coiz
  • Natasha Rose Mills
  • Nikolai Leon
  • Craig David Dowsett
  • Chris Cordell
CinematographyVince Knight
Music byAndrew Scott Bell[1]
Production
company
Jagged Edge Productions
Distributed by
Release date
February 15, 2023 (2023-02-15)
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish

Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey is an upcoming independent comedy horror slasher film written and directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield in his directorial debut. It stars Amber Doig-Thorne, Maria Taylor, Danielle Ronald, Natasha Tosini, May Kelly, Paula Coiz, Natasha Rose Mills, Nikolai Leon, with Craig David Dowsett as Winnie-the-Pooh and Chris Cordell as Piglet. Serving as a horror retelling of A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard's Winnie-the-Pooh books, it concerns Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet who now become feral and bloodthirsty serial killers embarking on a murderous rampage after a now grown-up Christopher Robin abandons them to go to college.

The film was announced on May 24, 2022, where it drew widespread attention due to its concept involving a character that had garnered a reputation for being a "beloved childhood icon" and was met with divided reactions.[2][3] Development for the film began when the first Winnie-the-Pooh book became a public domain work in the United States on January 1, 2022, meaning that The Walt Disney Company no longer holds the exclusive film rights to the characters first depicted in the book.[4]. A ten-day period of shooting for the film took place in the Ashdown Forest of East Sussex, England, which served as a setting for the original book series.

Produced by Jagged Edge Productions, the film is scheduled to be released on February 15, 2023, for a one-night event through Fathom Events, Altitude Film Distribution, Cineplex Entertainment, and Cinemex.[5] Around the same time, the film is also set for a large cinematic release in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Premise

During his childhood, Christopher Robin befriended Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, and their friends, playing games and also providing them with food. As he grew, these visits grew more infrequent, as did the food supply, causing Pooh and the others to grow increasingly hungry and desperate. When Christopher went to college, the visits stopped completely, causing Pooh and Piglet to become completely feral and unhinged, resulting in Eeyore and the others getting killed and eaten at some point. Now Christopher Robin has returned to the forest alongside his new wife, hoping to introduce her to his old friends.[6] Feeling betrayed, this results in Pooh and Piglet going on a murderous rampage for human flesh as they antagonize a group of university girls who are occupying a rural cabin.[7]

Cast

The cast list includes:[8]

  • Amber Doig-Thorne as Alice
  • Maria Taylor as Maria
  • Danielle Ronald as Zoe
  • Natasha Tosini as Lara
  • May Kelly as Tina
  • Paula Coiz as Mary Robin
  • Natasha Rose Mills as Jess
  • Nikolai Leon as Christopher Robin[9]
  • Craig David Dowsett as Winnie-the-Pooh
  • Chris Cordell as Piglet

Production

Development

While the drawings from the 1926 book went into the public domain along with its text, Frake-Waterfield had to avoid any elements that were unique to Disney's depictions of the character.

On May 24, 2022, Josh Korngut of Dread Central reported the announcement of a Winnie-the-Pooh-based horror film adaptation.[10] The characters' rights had been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1966 and, while Disney retains exclusive rights to the depictions of these characters from their own franchise, as well as later characters such as Tigger, Winnie-the-Pooh went into the public domain in January 1, 2022.[11] After the copyright lapsed, Rhys Frake-Waterfield began production on Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey the same year,[11] with the film marking his directorial debut.[12] Speaking to Variety, Frake-Waterfield described the plot as both Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet turn into homicidal maniacs after Christopher Robin left them for college. He stated:

Christopher Robin is pulled away from them, and he's not [given] them food, it's made Pooh and Piglet's life quite difficult... Because they've had to fend for themselves so much, they've essentially become feral. So they've gone back to their animal roots. They're no longer tame: they're like a vicious bear and pig who want to go around and try and find prey.[13]

He also revealed that, prior to the events of the film, Pooh and Piglet ate Eeyore alive due to their hunger; Eeyore's tombstone will be shown in one scene.[13] The masks used for Pooh and Piglet in the film were created by the American prosthetic-mask manufacturing company Immortal Masks, which actually did the Winnie-the-Pooh-styled masks before the 1926 book entered the public domain.[14]

Filming

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was shot in the Ashdown Forest of East Sussex, England, over a period of ten days.[15] Jagged Edge Productions produced the film in collaboration with ITN Studios, who distributed it.[16] Frake-Waterfield was careful to avoid Pooh's iconic red shirt, as well as any other elements from Disney's depictions that could pose a copyright issue.[11]

Ashdown Forest, which is known for being the setting of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories, was used as the filming location for Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, where it was shot for ten days.

After the increased popularity of the film, ITN gave the film an increased budget, leading to several days of reshoots. This would lead to the film being the most expensive field Waterfield ever directed and the most expensive film produced by ITN.[17]

Music

On July 18, 2022, American music composer Andrew Scott Bell was announced as a provider for the film's score.[18][19] On July 14, 2022, Bell uploaded a video to YouTube titled "Winnie the Pooh: Blood, Honey, and Violins" that documented how he drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco, with his manager Mike Rosen, to collect a honeycomb-filled violin from an experimental luthier to compose the film's soundtrack.[20] In an interview with Dread Central, Bell explains how he got involved with the production of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey after he heard about it after the film went viral upon the announcement. He said:

Back in late May, a day or so before the film went massively viral, I started seeing some online chatter about a Winnie the Pooh horror movie. I remember looking it up on IMDb and finding the director Rhys Frake-Waterfield on Instagram where his story had a screenshot of a person's comment saying something to the effect of "your movie is ruining our childhoods". His reaction was, "that's what I'm trying to do, ruin everyone's childhood".[21]

Marketing

The first trailer was released on August 31, 2022.[22] The A.V. Club's Hattie Lindert called it "delightfully bonkers".[23]

Release

On November 1, 2022, it was announced that Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey is set to be released for a one-day event across theaters in the US, UK, Canada, and Mexico on February 15, 2023, with Fathom Events, Altitude Film Distribution, Cineplex Entertainment, and Cinemex acquiring the rights to release it in their respective countries.[24] The film was originally planned to be released in October 2022, but the increased publicity and reshoots motivated the change to a 2023 theatrical release.[17]

Reception

Pre-release

After the film's announcement, Salon writer Kelly McClure wrote the film is "a perfect example of the wrong that could come from a creative work slipping into public domain." She continued, calling the film a "horrific take" on Winnie-the-Pooh, also stating "you've got the makings of a dark and twisted cult classic."[25] Jon Mendelsohn, writing for Collider, called the film images "nightmare fuel" and the concept "extremely bizarre" while noting "the internet is freaking out."[26] Rotem Rusak, writing for Nerdist, wrote, "Seeing the iconic bear reimagined as a nightmarish slasher monster speaks to a delightfully imaginative spirit that really inspires us."[27] Justin Carter of Gizmodo wrote:

"The appeal of Blood & Honey will depend entirely on if you're willing to meet the movie halfway on its premise, and aren't immediately turned off by the idea of children's characters being turned into murderers or having some dark, edgy backstory. The internet was filled with that sort of thing just a decade or so ago, and this feels like it's very much pulling from that same cloth."[28]

Katarina Feder of Artnet wrote, "...you can't buy publicity like the kind they've had and something tells me that this indie passion project will find its funding, bringing to life the director's unique ideas about murdering women in bikinis."[29]

Future

In June 2022, Frake-Waterfield expressed an interest in creating a sequel and wants to "ramp it up even more and go even crazier and go even more extreme."[6] In November 2022, he announced that he was working on two horror movies, Bambi: The Reckoning and Peter Pan: Neverland Nightmare, based on Bambi, a Life in the Woods and Peter Pan, which are also in the public domain.[30][31]

See also

References

  1. ^ McAndrews, Mary Beth (July 18, 2022). "'Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey' Composer Creates Bee-Filled Violin For the Score [Exclusive Video]". Dread Central. Archived from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  2. ^ Dent, Alec. "Against the Winnie-the-Pooh Slasher Movie". thedispatch.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  3. ^ "Winnie the Pooh fans have mixed reactions to horror film starring bear as killer". The Independent. May 26, 2022. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  4. ^ France, Lisa Respers (May 26, 2022). "'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey' turns children's classic into horror". CNN. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  5. ^ Squires, John (November 1, 2022). "'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey' Slashing into Theaters for One Night Only Next Year". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  6. ^ a b joshkorngut (June 1, 2022). "'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey' Director Reveals One of Its Nastiest Kill Scenes [Exclusive Interview]". Dread Central. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  7. ^ O'Connor, Rachael (May 26, 2022). "Winnie the Pooh returns with a vengeance in slasher horror Blood and Honey". Metro. Archived from the original on June 2, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  8. ^ Mansfield, Taylor (May 26, 2022). "Here's the full cast of 'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey'". We Got This Covered. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  9. ^ McClelland, Timothy (July 18, 2022). "Watch Pooh Horror Movie Composer Make Horrific Bee-Filled Violin". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  10. ^ Korngut, Josh (May 24, 2022). "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey Is a Nightmare Reimagining of the Beloved Bear". Dread Central. Archived from the original on August 19, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  11. ^ a b c Yossman, K.J. (May 26, 2022). "'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey' Director Teases Slasher Film Plot: 'Pooh and Piglet Go on a Rampage'". Variety. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  12. ^ Nepa, Stephen (May 28, 2022). "Winnie The Pooh Is Out For Blood". Age of the Nerd. Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  13. ^ a b Trenholm, Richard (May 27, 2022). "Winnie the Pooh Horror Movie 'Blood and Honey' Ends Badly For Eeyore, oh Bother". CNET. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  14. ^ Miller, Melissa (June 14, 2022). "Mask From WINNIE THE POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY Horror Movie Is Nightmarish". Nerdist. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  15. ^ Kelly, Dylan (August 31, 2022). "'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey' Slasher Receives Official Trailer". Hype Beast. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  16. ^ Wanshel, Elyse (May 26, 2022). "Slasher Film 'Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey' Shows Beloved Characters Gone 'Feral'". HuffPost. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  17. ^ a b Ritman, Alex (November 4, 2022). "How an Online Frenzy Lit a Fuse Under Microbudget Slasher 'Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey'". The Hollywood Reporter.
  18. ^ McClelland, Timothy (July 18, 2022). "Watch Pooh Horror Movie Composer Make Horrific Bee-Filled Violin". ScreenRant. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  19. ^ Miller, Melissa T. (August 3, 2022). "Bee-Drenched Violin Creates Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey's Horror Soundtrack". Nerdist. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  20. ^ Winnie the Pooh: Blood, Honey, and Violins, retrieved October 28, 2022
  21. ^ McAndrews, Mary Beth (July 18, 2022). "'Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey' Composer Creates Bee-Filled Violin For the Score [Exclusive Video]". Dread Central. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  22. ^ Skrebels, Joe (August 31, 2022). "Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey - First Trailer Reveals the Horrors in 100 Acre Wood". IGN. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  23. ^ Lindert, Hattie (August 31, 2022). "The Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey trailer has public domain written all over it". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  24. ^ Ritman, Alex (November 1, 2022). "Viral Low-Budget Horror 'Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey' Getting Theatrical Release in U.S., U.K., Canada, Mexico (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  25. ^ McClure, Kelly (May 26, 2022). ""Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" takes Pooh and Piglet to the bad place". Salon. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  26. ^ Mendelsohn, Jon (May 26, 2022). "'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey' Images Are Pure Nightmare Fuel". Collider. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  27. ^ Rusak, Rotem (May 27, 2022). "Winnie the Pooh is a Terrifying Slasher Villain in Blood and Honey". Nerdist. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  28. ^ Carter, Justin (May 27, 2022). "Winnie the Pooh Enters the Public Domain, Immediately Becomes a Serial Killer". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  29. ^ Feder, Katarina (June 24, 2022). "Know Your Rights: Could I Get Sued for Publishing the Sneaky Photos I Took of James Turrell's Roden Crater? + More Artists-Rights' Questions, Answered". Artnet News. Archived from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  30. ^ Fuge, Jonathan (November 2, 2022). "Peter Pan: Neverland Nightmare Coming from the Makers of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey". MovieWeb. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  31. ^ Fuge, Jonathan (November 25, 2022). "Bambi Horror Movie to Transform the Disney Character Into a Vicious Killing Machine". MovieWeb. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
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