You'd likely have to search far and wide to find anyone who doesn't like Winnie-the-Pooh. The delightful and well-meaning, but sometimes ill-behaved bear has become known to generations thanks to Disney's animated interpretations.
The character first made his appearance in 1925 in a short story published in the London Evening News, written by English author A. A. Milne, titled "The Wrong Sort of Bees." In 1926, Milne expanded this to a full book, Winnie-the-Pooh, which followed the titular bear's adventures in the idyllic Hundred Acre Wood. The book featured beautiful illustrations by E. H. Shepard of Winnie and his friends, Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, and Roo. The collection of stories was immediately successful.
Thrust Into the Spotlight
The Christopher Robin who starred in the stories was, in fact, Milne's own real-life son. Born in 1920, Christopher was six years old when the first Pooh tales were published, and, like it or not, he found himself thrust into the spotlight. Winnie-the-Pooh was also real—he was Christopher's much-loved teddy bear that had been bought from Harrods department store in London, and named Winnie after a bear that resided at London Zoo.
When word got out about Christopher's existence, fan mail began to flood in, and Milne capitalized on his son's popularity. The seven-year-old Christopher was expected to personally reply to every letter and was further pushed into the public eye by being made to participate in a Pooh-themed pageant and to contribute to audio recordings.
One person who knew Christopher well in later life was television personality Gyles Brandreth, and some of Brandreth's memories are illuminating. "Christopher told me that, until he was eight or nine, he 'quite liked being famous,'" Brandreth recalled. "He corresponded with his fans, made public appearances, even made a record. 'It was exciting and made me feel grand and important.'"
"He felt differently when he went away to boarding school where he was teased and bullied," Brandreth added. After leaving school, Christopher went to university and served in the army.
These were apparently difficult times: "Christopher failed to find his place in the world and held his parents responsible. For a time he believed that 'my father had got where he was by climbing on my infant shoulders, that he had filched from me my good name and had left me with nothing but the empty fame of being his son.'"
Making Peace With Pooh
Christopher's relationship with both his father and the Pooh books was clearly complicated. As Brandreth further observed: "That's how he felt then, but it's not how he felt later. 'I don't want to blame my parents for anything,' he told me. 'My father wasn’t good with small children—some people aren't—so he created a sort of 'dream son' in his books.'"
Happily, Christopher did find joy, marrying and settling down in Devon, where he opened a bookshop and became a writer himself. As Brandreth explained, Christopher came to accept his challenging childhood: "'My father's heart remained buttoned-up,' he said, 'but I know he loved me and, of course, I loved him. And, yes, I loved Pooh, too.'"