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Winnie the Pooh: A Heartwarming Tale for All Generations
Kids Series
Winnie the Pooh
A Heartwarming Tale for All Generations
Disney’s Winnie the Pooh is a new musical stage adaption created and directed by Jonathan Rockefeller that will transform Walton Arts Center’s stage into the Hundred Acre Wood for four shows only on Friday, Oct . 21 and Saturday, Oct . 22 . The celebrated show for kids of all ages will bring Pooh, Christopher Robin, and their best friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Owl and Tigger to life on stage . Inspired by the beloved books by A . A . Milne and the classic Disney features, this new theatrical production debuted in New York in October 2021 with rave reviews calling it “A perfect introduction to live theater . It’s a captivating adventure with spectacular puppetry,” (MommyPoppins. com), and “an hour of bountiful joy,” (New York Theatre Guide) . In a new story from the Hundred Acre Wood, this fresh stage adaptation is told with impressive life-size puppetry, featuring characters that have played iconic roles in the lives of children for generations . Accompanying the magical, modern narrative is an original score from Nate Edmondson, which features some of the songs written for the animated feature from The Sherman Brothers,
including “Winnie the Pooh,” “The 4 SHOWS / Blustery Day,” “The Oct. Wonderful Thing About Tiggers,” “Whoop21-22 De-Dooper Bounce” and A .A Milne’s “The More It Snows . ” . “The music, the spectacular life-size puppets, and the charming performances are the perfect way to introduce (or re-introduce) audiences to live theater, and this is a must-see show for Winnie the Pooh fans of all ages . We are excited to bring the Hundred Acre Wood to Northwest Arkansas so that audiences can join us for this heartwarming production” said director Jonathan Rockefeller . All the puppets featured in the show were designed and constructed within the walls of Rockefeller Productions by a talented team of artists, designers, patternmakers, builders, welders and fabricators . Inspired by Disney’s original character designs, and Christopher Robin’s real-life counterparts, each larger-than-life size character is ”full of fluff,” covered in fur (or feathers) and built lovingly many times over to get their look and movement just right .
– Theatre Pizzazz
– Toy Insider
Sherman Brothers tunes, the beautiful new Winnie the Pooh musical is must-see.”
– Theatrely Show Underwriter: Cynthia Jones
The History of Pooh
Winnie the Pooh has been enjoyed by millions of readers and viewers ever since English author A.A. Milne first chronicled the adventures of Christopher Robin’s friends in the Hundred Acre Wood in 1926 . The books, featuring illustrations by English illustrator E .H . Shephard, have sold more than 50 million copies worldwide .
The theatrical rights to the Pooh stories were acquired by Disney in 1961, with an original intent to produce a feature film. After production began, Walt Disney decided to make short featurettes instead. The first featurette, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, was released during his lifetime, while Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day was still in development . The three featurettes including new bridging material and a new ending were subsequently incorporated into the full-length film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh . This was the last film in the Disney canon in which Walt Disney had personal involvement . Disney’s Winnie the Pooh has since become one of the bestloved and most successful franchises in history .
