From The Hundred Acre Wood To Midtown – Winnie The Pooh in New York

It is a shame the toys aren’t in the UK where the books were written and are set. It makes little sense to have them in the US (apart from them being a gift a good few decades ago!). They ought to be returned to the rightful home.

I saw them on a trip to New York after seeing your original post a few years ago, good to see they’ve created a more suitable environment.

I agree that these guys should be sent back home where they belong… but not until after I get to visit and pay my respects. The Milne books are amazing to read, even as an adult.

“He’s Winnie-ther-Pooh. Don’t you know what ‘ther’ means?”
“Ah, yes, now I do.” I said quickly…

As always, Scout, you have made my day just a little bit brighter!

Very cool and interesting as usual.

I guess I’m one of the few who disagrees about Lottie. (Full disclosure: I used to be the Contracts Director for Pooh’s U.S. publishing house, and spent many years untangling the web of conflicting rights to the original books and art. I have not held that position, or been employed by that company, since 1994.)

I don’t see the inclusiono of Lottie as a case of the NYPL doing product placement. The goal of the display is to let Pooh and his friends be visited by their readers. Lottie may not be from the original books (and I’ll admit, she’s not my favorite part of the recent sequel), but she is one of Pooh’s friends. In the new book, the welcoming of Lottie-the-newcomer by the classic characters is sends an important message to children. It is good to include others in our groups, and not close ourselves off from making new friends, no matter how tight the original group may be.

If you want an example of poorly considered Pooh merchandising, consider the character of Darby from the CGI series My Friends Tigger & Pooh. Disney released toys and other merch featuring her before a single episode of the show had aired. I seem to recall that the producers of Barney did the same thing with Baby Bop before she appeared on-air. That’s a bit much, to my mind.

In the grand scheme of things, more parents and children will buy Pooh, Tigger and Piglet dolls than they will Lottie dolls. Lottie joining her new friends at the NYPL is not about merchandising. It’s about the entire spirit of the Hundred Acre Wood. That’s how I’ll explain it to my kids when we visit the display next week during Easter break (if they even make any reference to her being there).

Greg:

The problem is that the dolls are very fragile. I touched Pooh when he came out of the display case at Dutton before the move to the NYPL. They would never stand up to the rigors of any sort of tour. Even shipping them to England once would probably damage them badly.

The sad thing is that Milne divided up his Pooh property with little consideration for other people. His own son, Christopher (Robin) was left with only a token ownership percentage of the property on his father’s death, and he had to sell his share off in his own old age in order to provide for his child.

The dolls were gifted by Milne to his long-time editor at Dutton, rather than his editor in the U.K. for some reason, and his wishes must still be respected. Just be glad that the dolls are on respectful, no cost, display in a very public, landmark location in a major city, rather than still in their dingy, private display case at the publisher’s office in an obscure Manhattan office building.

I have an original Winnie the pooh doll. Spitting image of the one in the case. Not as pristine condition but none the less and original. I can find no information as to how rare it is or how much it’s worth. I guarantee it is real as it was my grandfathers, but would like to know how to prove it original. If anyone has information direct me to it.

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