Rhys Frake-Waterfield’s “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey” took advantage of A.A. Milne’s beloved 1926 children’s novel lapsing into the public domain, wresting control of the titular character from the claw-like clutches of the Disney corporation. Frake-Waterfield, to squeeze out any sense of treacly sentimentality that Winnie-the-Pooh possessed, elected to re-imagine the silly ol’ bear as a vicious mute murderer picking off hapless 20-somethings in a remote manse in the English countryside. It seems that when Christopher Robin grew up, he left Pooh and his pals in the woods without the means to feed themselves. Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, and the others quickly resorted to cannibalism, went feral, and swore to kill any humans who crossed their path.
While one might appreciate the legal temerity Frake-Waterfield took, transforming kiddie corporate IP into publicly-owned bloody mayhem, “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey” was a pretty forthrightly terrible film. The film only cost $100,000 to make and its cheapness is evident. Winnie-the-Pooh himself is realized with a barely-moving Halloween mask, the characters are shrill, and the plot (such as it is) makes little sense. The novelty behind “Blood and Honey,” however, drew enough gawking audiences to net $6 million at the box office. After the film opened, Frake-Waterfield announced not only a “Blood and Honey 2” but an entire string of horror movies based on kiddie IP previously associated with Disney that is now in the public domain. Horror films based on “Bambi” and “Peter Pan” are also in the works.
As of today, however, we can now watch the trailer for “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2.”
The wonderful thing about Tiggers is Tiggers are bloodthirsty thingsJagged Edge Productions / ITN StudiosOne might immediately note Tigger’s presence in “Blood and Honey 2.” Tigger is a Milne character who couldn’t be included in the original film since he wasn’t introduced until “The House on Pooh Corner” (a book that was published in 1928). It seems that Tigger (Lewis Santer) is now also fair game and can join the overalls-sporting bear on his grisly quest to murder humans. It also looks like Frake-Waterfield is working with a bigger budget this time around, as the makeup on Pooh (Ryan Oliva, previously Craig David Dowsett) is noticeably better, allowing audiences to see his eyes and mouth; this is more than a mere Halloween mask. Piglet (Eddy MacKenzie, previously Chris Cordell) also returns, and audiences will also get to see a very humanoid, vulture-like Owl (Marcus Massey).
From the studio’s description, posted alongside their YouTube video, the plot description for “Blood and Honey 2” reads:
“Deep within the 100-Acre-Wood, a destructive rage grows as Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Owl, and Tigger find their home and their lives endangered after Christopher Robin revealed their existence. Not wanting to live in the shadows any longer, the group decides to take the fight to the town of Ashdown, home of Christopher Robin, leaving a bloody trail of death and mayhem in their wake. Winnie and his savage friends will show everyone that they are deadlier, stronger and smarter than anyone could ever imagine and get their revenge on Christopher Robin, once and for all.”
Scott Chambers plays Christopher Robin, taking over from Nikolai Leon.
The concept is still tongue-in-cheek, and “Honey 2” seems to be having a little more fun with the premise than the dour, humorless original.
Are there still enough lookie-loos to make the sequel a hit? Time will tell.
