He’s been frolicking through Hundred Acre Wood with Christopher Robin for the past 100 years in search of honey and friendships with such characters as Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, and Roo. Truly, Winnie-the-Pooh is one very old bear!

Generations of youths have grown up with Pooh Bear, forming fanciful childhood memories from the books authored by A.A. Milne. And, as unchangeable as the storylines are, today’s audience continues to embrace this cuddly bear in both book and film form. “Parents who grew up with those stories can introduce their children to the love and imagination that Winnie-the-Pooh brings, thus showing it will continue to impact children today,” shares Senior Alyssa Aguilar.

First appearing in a newspaper on Dec. 24, 1925, the original story–“The Wrong Sort of Bees”–finds Winnie-the-Pooh covered in mud and floating up to a beehive while holding onto a balloon. Attempting to pass himself off as a rain cloud, he is in search of honey. As in most instances, his attempts fail miserably: “Oh, bother!” But, this moment cemented his iconic image of holding a blue balloon. However, the red shirt didn’t materialize until 1932.

Behind all the trappings are valuable life lessons shared through each Pooh adventure. As Sophomore Ashly Lopez points out, “Winnie-the-Pooh, from the stories and movies, teaches children about joy, kindness, happiness, and friendship. Thus,” she adds, “this [100th anniversary] celebration brings nostalgia in remembering the enchanted world it brought to everyone.”

The inspiration behind these stories is as colorful as the stories themselves. At bedtime, Milne would create tales to share with his own son, Christopher Robin. While his son’s teddy was named Edward Bear, Milne drew from another source for his loveable character: the London Zoo. Frequenting the zoo, Christopher Robin Milne was fascinated with a Black Bear that was on loan from Winnipeg, Canada. Yes, his name was Winnie. Additionally, a swan living on a nearby pond was affectionately named Pooh by Christopher Robin. All of the other characters were simply a lineup of the boy’s own stuffed animals…brought to life in the bedtime stories. Hundred Acre Wood is a compilation of Ashdown Forest in Sussex, England, where the Milne country home–Cotchford Farm–was also located. “We had the Forest almost entirely to ourselves,” Christopher Robin Milne noted publicly. “And this, in turn, made us feel that it was our Forest and so made it possible for an imaginary world – Pooh’s world – to be born within the real world. Pooh could never have stumped a Forest that was littered with picnic parties playing their transistor radios.”

In its 100th year now, the actual book titled Winnie-the-Pooh–in which the story of “The Wrong Sort of Bees” is featured–was published, followed by Now We Are Six in 1927. The last of the Pooh stories was The House at Pooh Corner, which came out in 1928 and introduced Tigger: “T-I-double-guh-ER! That spells Tigger!” For 30 years, Winnie-the-Pooh thrived solely within the pages of these books.

However, when Disney purchased most of the rights to Winnie-the-Pooh in 1961, the lovable bear and his adventures experienced a rebirth. Disney’s first short–”Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Tree”–was released in 1966. Audiences were captivated. Almost four decades later (2001), Disney acquired all remaining rights to this franchise and continues to create new storylines for Pooh and friends. “I prefer watching the films,” notes Senior Yesha Granados. “I love seeing characters from a book being brought to life.” 

In honor of this centennial anniversary, Disney theme parks are featuring a year-long celebration: honey foods galore, character clothing and memorabilia, character meet-and-greets…even offering unlimited plush toys and featuring films to embrace the magic and celebration this year.

What began as a father’s way to share bedtime stories with his son has blossomed into a honey pot for the whole world to enjoy. Hopefully, Disney will take that responsibility seriously so that children 100 years from now are still walking hand-in-hand with Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh through Hundred Acre Wood.

As Winnie-the-Pooh himself said, “We didn’t realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun.”