AA. Milne's original "Winnie the Pooh" stories only entered the public domain five months ago, but the chubby little cubicle has already made its foray into slasher movies. “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” wrapped earlier this month, and the first images showing a demonic Pooh and Piglet about to pounce on a scantily clad young woman relaxing in a hot tub have already set the internet on fire.
Director Rhys Waterfield, who is in post-production on four other films including "Firenado" and "Demonic Christmas Tree," said the response to the images has been "absolutely crazy."
Director: Rhys Frake-Waterfield
Writers: Rhys Frake-Waterfield, A.A. Milne
Stars: Amber Doig-Thorne, Natasha Tosini, May Kelly
“Because of all the press and stuff, we're going to start speeding up editing and getting it through post-production as fast as we can,” Waterfield said. “But also, making sure it stays good. It will be a high priority."
According to Waterfield, who also wrote and co-produced the film, "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" will see Pooh and Piglet as "the main villains... gone berserk" after being dumped by Christopher Robin, who is heading off to college. "Christopher Robin is taken away from them, and he hasn't given them food, he's made life for Pooh and Piglet pretty hard."
"Because they've had to fend for themselves so much, they've essentially gone wild," Waterfield continued. “So they have gone back to their animal roots. They are no longer tame: they are like a vicious bear and pig that want to run around and try to find prey.”
The film was shot in 10 days in England, not far from Ashdown Forest, the inspiration for Milne's imagined Hundred Acre Wood in the "Winnie the Pooh" stories. Although Waterfield declined to reveal the slasher movie's budget, he said audiences "shouldn't expect this to be a Hollywood-level production." Jagged Edge Productions, which Waterfield runs with co-producer Scott Jeffrey, made the film and ITN Studios has already signed on to distribute it.
Given the premise, the biggest challenge, Waterfield said, was balancing the line between horror and comedy. “When you're trying to make a movie like this, and it's a really crazy concept, it's very easy to go down a route where nothing's scary and it's really ridiculous and really stupid. And we wanted to go between the two ”.
As an example, Waterfield explained the setup behind the still photo (above) of a girl relaxing in a hot tub with Pooh and Piglet standing ominously near her. "She's having fun and then Pooh and Piglet come up behind her, chloroform her, take her out of the hot tub and then drive a car over her head," Waterfield said. "It's scary, but there are also funny bits because there are shots of Winnie the Pooh in a car and seeing him with her little ears behind her wheel and how he slowly drives over there [to kill her]."
The only concern, especially with all the newfound hype, is whether Disney will have anything to say about "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey." Although Milne's early stories are no longer copyrighted, Disney retains exclusive use of his interpretations of Pooh Bear and his friends. “We have tried to be extremely careful,” Waterfield said. “We knew there was a line between that, and we knew what their copyright was and what they had done. So we did everything we could to make sure [the film] was only based on the 1926 version."
That's why Pooh Bear from Waterfield has swapped out the red T-shirt for a lumberjack outfit and Piglet is dressed in black. It's also the reason why other characters still copyrighted, such as Tigger, won't appear, although there is a scene showing the tombstone of Eeyore, the miserable donkey who was eaten by a hungry Pooh and Piglet.
“No one is going to confuse this,” Waterfield said. "When you see the cover art of this and you see the trailers and the stills and all that, there's no way anyone would think this is a children's version."