See why Winnie the Pooh cannot have his image broadcast in the country where Xi Jinping is head of state
Part of the childhood of several generations, Winnie the Pooh appeared as the protagonist of several books written by the authorA.A. Milne almost a century ago, and more recently, he was in Disney productions, where he starred in animations such as “Winnie the Pooh and the Rainy Day” (1968), “Pooh” (1997), “Winnie the Pooh” (2011) and many others.
In the stories, the public discovers that this little yellow being who wears a red shirt and loves honey lives in the Hundred Acre Wood in a house built in a tree, and there he shares many moments with his friends: Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, Christopher Robin, Can, Roo, Owl, Roque-Roque, Acorn and Darby.
Still, what many may not imagine is that this charismatic character was banned indefinitely in one of the East Asian countries: CHINA!
Why is Winnie the Pooh banned in China?
It turns out that, in 2017, as pointed out by the BBC, the president of the country whose capital is Beijing, Xi Jinpingbanned the use of the bear’s image after a movement on social media in which he, who has held the most important position in China since 2013, began to be compared to Pooh at several important moments after being elected.
At the time, one of the most used messaging services in China, WeChat, removed the Winnie the Pooh images from its photo gallery, and comments on the Chinese social network Weibo were blocked with a message that said: “This content is illegal”, as reported by G1.
The comparisons began in the year of the inauguration of Jinpingwhen, while visiting the United States, he was photographed walking with the now former President of the United States, Barack Obamaand montages began to circulate on the web pointing out similarities between the photo and an image of Pooh and Tigger together in an animation.
Other images that became popular showed the meeting of Jinping with the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abewhere Jinping is related to Pooh and Abe to Ió, and the president’s speech from the top of the presidential limousine during a military ceremony, where a photo of Pooh in a vehicle also appeared online to illustrate the moment that received the title of “most censored image of the year in China”, according to the political analysis page Risco Global Insights (via G1).
As a result, seven years ago, censorship was applied on social media to try to protect the image of the head of state, since, in addition to memes, political activists and part of the population that disagrees with the current government, began to use Pooh’s image to complain about the management of Jinping.
One of the most recent cases that expressed the discontent of dissidents occurred when the Chinese Constitution was modified to eliminate the maximum limit of two consecutive terms for a president, since, at the time, an image of the character hugging a huge pot of honey accompanied by the phrase: “Find what you love and never let go”, was spread on social media, as explained by the newspaper El País.
Today, not only are web publications in the spotlight of censorship, but everything indicates that cinema is too, since, although the real reason has not been confirmed by China, the most recent films starring Pooh have not been shown on Chinese screens.
Two of the cases among the productions blocked in local cinemas are the live-action “Christopher Robin: An Unforgettable Reunion”, from 2018 and “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” (2023). According to The Guardian (via Rolling Stone), the horror film directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield It was even included in the Chinese cinema schedule, but was removed from the billboard without the reason being explained to the media.
Source: Recreio
