At a time when entertainment companies are hellbent on using their productions to preach the supposed virtues of far-leftist ideology, at least one production team seeks to upend how we perceive some of our most cherished Disney characters.
Much of Disney’s intellectual property has now become public domain, meaning that its older characters can now be used in creative ways. Jagged Edge Productions and ITN studios, in 2023, took advantage of this development when they created their own spin on Winnie the Pooh.
However, in this universe, the cuddly-wuddly, honey-loving stuffed bear is transformed into a brutal bloodthirsty killer – who still likes honey. “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” was a low-budget reimagining of the popular character as a horror movie villain. It was one of those movies that was so bad, it was awesome.
But now, it has been revealed that the producers who made the movie plan to expand it into a slew of other warped offerings, featuring other beloved Disney characters who suddenly acquired a taste for bloody murder.
Stand aside, Mickey Mouse slasher movie (Steamboat Willie Mickey version only): the team behind Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey—the most high-profile film in the current wave of horror movies based on beloved characters in the public domain—just leveled up. There’s an entire cinematic universe coming.
The existence of sequel Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 was confirmed last fall. Its creators, Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Studios, also intend to make films titled Bambi: The Reckoning, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, and Pinocchio Unstrung—standalone films that will culminate in a 2025 release called Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble. They’re calling it the Twisted Childhood Universe... though won’t we all just call it the “Poohniverse”?
Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who made both Winnie-the-Pooh movies and will helm Poohniverse—made some big promises in a press release. “It will be complete carnage. We are heavily influenced by Freddy vs. Jason and The Avengers. We would love to see a horror movie where the villains group together and are going after their survivors. We have some incredible set pieces in mind and some sequences I think will truly shock people.”
Frake-Waterfield’s fellow Jagged Edge Productions producer, Scott Chambers, echoed that sentiment, and he dropped some more character names: “We will follow Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Piglet, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Bambi, the Mad Hatter, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell joining forces to wreak havoc. We are working with a larger scale budget on this one and are excited for what the future will hold.” Killer Bambi! Killer Tinkerbell!
The next movie will be “Bambi: The Reckoning,” where the titular character is a far cry from the meek, orphaned deer we saw as children. This iteration of the character seeks revenge on hunters and anyone else who makes the mistake of entering his territory. Check out the trailer below.
I’ll put it to you simply: I cannot wait to see these films.
For starters, there’s something about taking characters like Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, the Mad Hatter, and others and having them massacre unsuspecting folks that piques my interest. It is a take on these characters that most would never expect. If it’s done well, it could become quite a successful franchise.
Also, if “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” is any indication, I won’t have to sit through a bunch of leftist politicking while watching these characters commit wanton murder. Disney, in many ways, has injected politics into many of its productions. Sometimes it’s not that obnoxious. But in other cases, you might feel you’re in a gender studies class being lectured by an overweight, shrill, purple-haired feminist.
The “Poohniverse” will likely be filled with campy, cheesy, horror tropes featuring the most beloved Disney characters. I’m hoping they will be a refreshing departure from the high-budget contrived films we are seeing today. Of course, I could be placing too much stock in this series – but one can only hope they represent what makes low-budget movies great in the first place.
