Winnie the Pooh. A childhood classic and staple whether or not you were raised with the books or with the cartoons. Personally, I was raised with the latter and much of my early childhood was spent watching the oh so lovable and yet simple minded mustard yellow bear in his ill fitting red shirt. I wasn’t and never was a spectacular pooh fan. You will not see me buying Eeyore hoodies or Pooh coin purses or even caring that there is a Piglet movie out. Still, despite my lack of enthusiasm for Pooh and his little simple minded friends, I can’t help but feel a certain respect and gratitude towards these fellows as they have greatly shaped my past. It is interesting to see how the characters seem to take on different personality traits. Eeyore is sadness, Piglet is fear, Tigger is enthusiasm, Rabbit is grumpiness, Owl is wisdom, Pooh is innocence, etc. I have also found that I have an alarming amount in common with many of them. I shall quickly go through them to better illustrate my point.

Pooh- Despite the name that brings to mind a far different mental image, Winnie the Pooh is a rather rotund little fellow of a mustardish hue who wears a red t-shirt that’s a bit on the small side, and has a rather unfortunate and serious addiction to honey which has done little but hurt him and his friends and which he seems to refuse to seek counseling for. A very sad tale indeed. Despite his dependency, he is a rather cheerful and pleasant fellow with not much in his head, in fact some would even say it’s “stuffed with fluff”. His inability to think can be rather irritating, even to himself as he sometimes sits on a nearby log and proceeds to physically strike his head in an effort to produce some sort of activity from his brain. Since he has no brain (a fact we already established) not much comes from this and so he usually comes up with whatever idea he can pull out of thin air which is almost always a lousy one. In spite of these character flaws, Pooh is quite possibly the nicest character in the tales, with Kanga and Piglet as a close second. He has a generous and giving nature and a warm heart. If I were to classify him as a personality type I would have to go with pure well meaning innocence. His lack of gray matter has never cost him friends, in fact I would have to say he is the most popular fellow in the hundred acre wood, and without a doubt the envied favorite of Christopher Robin, who despite finding Pooh to be a “silly old bear”, clearly prefers his company over the others. And with the optimistic and ever lasting good cheer of the pooh, would could blame him?

Tigger- This is a well beloved character in the stories, sometimes even more favored than Pooh by certain people, though Christopher Robin certainly would not be one of them. Still, his enthusiasm and energy is quite admirable, though he is likewise egotistical and self centered. Tigger, likes to think of him self as unique, his mantra being, “The most wonderful thing about tiggers is that I’m the only one.” Obviously the fellow is a bit of an egotist. Along with this inflated sense of self esteem, Tigger is something of a trickster. One of his favorite activities is to pounce on people when their back is turned. His victims are less than thrilled at these antics, but Tigger finds great joy and mirth in them, much to everyone else’s irritation. One of these escapades went horribly awry, in which the poor victim, namely Eeyore, was to end up floating in a stream due to being “bounced”. Tigger was to get horrendously scolded for this and for a time learn his lesson, though it was not to last long. He often gets himself into scrapes that he cannot get out of again, and is always dragging little Roo along, corrupting the young lad with his wild ways. Tigger is a troublemaking, loud and boisterous creature who often irritates as many as he amuses. Despite al this though he is one of the most loveable pests in children’s entertainment. His everlasting cheerfulness and enthusiasm has won him fans the world over, and his zest for fun and life has even brought Rabbit around a time or two. Speaking of Rabbit…

Rabbit- There was once a time that I was more like him than any other character. Fortunately those days are over, because frankly Rabbit is one of the more unpleasant characters in my opinion. He is the voice of reason and also the most surly and grumpy in the hundred acre wood. He is very possessive of his vegetable garden, and guards it vigorously against any possible assailants. Unfortunately Tigger often disrupts his vigil, even causing the garden harm a time or two, and this has made Rabbit distrustful of the fellow. Tigger doesn’t seem to mind or notice this, in fact often preferring to bother the moody fellow, no doubt because he gets some strange kind of kick out of it. Rabbit can be pleasant and amiable despite his fixation with order and leafy greens. He enjoys a good game of pooh sticks as much as anyone else, and enjoys the outdoors. He’s polite and respectful most of the time, but he has a nasty temper and can be a stick in the mud.

Piglet- This is the character that I most identify with currently. He is in a word….a chicken. Well, technically he’s a small pig, but he acts like a chicken. Piglet is very shy and nervous and afraid of many many things. That is me to a T, but then we are not here to talk about me now are we? Despite his shyness and slight social anxiety disorder, piglet is a very kind and generally happy individual. He is giving and generous and very well meaning and never seems to put up much resistance. He is the kind of person who agrees with everything you say, even if he doesn’t want to. Sadly his lack of backbone has cost him in the past, for example when he lost his house to Owl because he wouldn’t stand up and defend himself and his homeowner’s rights! That still infuriates me to this day, but poor little piglet simply didn’t have the guts and so had to live with Winnie the pooh, which despite his habit of leaving sloppy honey containers out, was still a decent roommate. Yes, piglet is, despite his cowardly ways, cute, generous, and a very loveable character indeed. The only part I have in common with him though would be the coward characteristics. The others I do not have I fear.

Eeyore- The ultimate gloomy gus. I fear I have a lot in common with him as well as pessimism is a trait that I am very well known for, though not quite to his extent…This is a donkey in serious need of some prozac. He is almost never happy, never excited about anything, and has one of the most gloomy monotone voices you could ever hope to hear. I suppose this all comes of his being homeless and having a tail that is not properly attached. I suppose if I had to live in a house of twigs and was forever losing one of my appendages, I would be unhappy too, but even so you’d think he could be cheerful about something! I suppose there was an episode once where he smiled a bit at his birthday party, but that was one of the rare exceptions. Despite his frequent downer attitude, Eeyore is a favorite among many pooh fans. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that he’s a unique character and everyone has felt like an Eeyore at some point in their lives. He’s a fine character and all I suppose, but I frankly couldn’t take too much of him. His short appearances here and there are just enough to round out the story, but not long enough that you would suddenly find yourself depressed and filling out mood journals while scheduling an appointment with the nearest psychologist. Let’s just say this is one donkey who is not going to have a spin off series anytime soon. Though with today’s EMO trend, it might actually be successful… Still, I suppose there is something loveable about the depressed little blue equine creature. As for me, I’m glad that he’s only there in small doses.

Owl- I do not have much in common with Owl. He is an exceedingly boring individual for the most part, and he always uses flowery complicated words that tend to put one to sleep. My vocabulary did improve from watching the show, however. I learned what an anecdote was, and to this day it is one of my favorite words. He is more of a secondary character, in my opinion. He flies around and means well but never really does the best job of listening. Rather, it seems he prefers to listen to himself talk, and talk and talk and talk. I have known many an Owl in my lifetime. In fact, they are alarmingly common. People who jabber on about things you have absolutely no interest in, take forever, and then don’t even give you a turn to talk. Yes, Owl is not someone I identify with, or at least I hope not! Despite all this, he means well and is very hospitable, and willing to try to help out in a jam. He is also the most scholarly and learned of the group, which leads people to think he is wise, though really I have serious doubts on that score. After all, anyone who would take poor piglet’s house like that can’t be all that wise! Still, he has his uses if only to serve in furthering the plot. He’s not one of my favorite characters though. Maybe if he came up with better anecdotes.

Kanga- Well, Kanga is something of a two dimensional character. She is basically a mom with a pouch in her tummy. She is always making sure Roo is safe, wearing his scarf, and behaving himself. She is often depicted with a broom and a gentle yet chiding voice when necessary. You hardly ever see her save to tell someone to do this or not to do that or to offer a kind word here and there. Sadly, she is the only female character in Winnie the pooh, and whether she’s two dimensional or not, that makes her important. She is not a very interesting character, to be so defined by her role as a mother, but she is kind and gentle and very warm and I suppose if everyone’s mother were like her the world would be a pretty good place indeed. If Hitler’s mother were like Kanga, I think history would be quite different…

Roo- Cute as a button and surprisingly well behaved, Roo is the baby of the Pooh series. He adores Tigger, and strives to be like him, which at times is rather unfortunate. Still, his mother keeps him fairly well behaved, warmly dressed, and respectful. Roo tends to do as he is told, which tells you right there that he is very much a fictional character.

Gopher- A very minor character, he is nonetheless an interesting one. I love the way he whistles when he says his ‘s’, and his slightly pudding brained mentality. He is clearly a hard worker nonetheless, and energetic as well. His slightly sluggish mental capacity only serves to make him more memorable and amusing, indeed as does his speech impediment. Truly a noteworthy character.

Christopher Robin- One of the most important characters in the story, Christopher Robin is the child around which everything revolves to some extent or another. Pooh is his favorite, though he is certainly fond of everyone in the hundred acre wood. He is young, kindly, and ever so slightly effeminate in his style of dress, though I adore his boots. He is very laid back and carefree and lazy, just the way little boys should be. I find it interesting that everyone uses his full name. I guess it’s because he’s so important, or maybe he’s just very particular about what he’s called. Or maybe they don’t want him to get mixed up with some other Christopher, but whatever the reason, he will always have a very special place in the hundred acre wood.