Winnie the Pooh is a bear of very little brain who lives in the Hundred Acre Wood with a small group of friends. He loves honey, writes hums, and wanders into minor disasters that someone, usually Christopher Robin, gently sorts out. Not much happens in these stories, and that's part of the appeal. They're about friendship, patience and the comfort of being with people who know you well.
The characters began with the English writer A. A. Milne, who based them on his son's stuffed animals, and the illustrator E. H. Shepard, who drew them. Disney adapted them in 1966 and has kept them in near-constant use since, so most people know Pooh's red shirt and Tigger's stripes better than Shepard's pencil lines. This guide covers every main friend, the characters Disney added, the differences between the two versions, the Disney voice cast, and what Pooh entering the public domain does and doesn't mean.
- Created by
- A. A. Milne (writer), E. H. Shepard (illustrator)
- First book
- Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)
- Second book
- The House at Pooh Corner (1928), which introduces Tigger
- Poetry
- When We Were Very Young (1924), Now We Are Six (1927)
- Disney debut
- Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966)
- Real setting
- Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, England
The Hundred Acre Wood friends
These are the characters from Milne's two story collections. Each has a single, clear personality. Part of the books' gentle comedy comes from watching them stay exactly who they are. The cards are tagged by origin: "Toy" for characters based on Christopher Robin Milne's real stuffed animals, "Milne invention" for the two who weren't.
Winnie the Pooh
Bear of very little brain
Pooh is a kind, slow-thinking teddy bear whose main concern is when he'll next have "a little something", preferably honey. He makes up hums, gets stuck in Rabbit's front door after eating too much, and once tracks his own footprints in a circle, believing he's following a Woozle. What makes him lovable is that his simplicity often turns out to be a kind of wisdom. He's loyal, unhurried and always pleased to see a friend.
- Disney voice
- Sterling Holloway (1966–1977); Jim Cummings (late 1980s onward)
Piglet
Pooh's best friend · A Very Small Animal
Piglet is tiny and nervous about almost everything, from Heffalumps to wind. He lives in a beech tree beside a broken sign reading "TRESPASSERS W," which he believes belonged to his grandfather. The books keep giving him chances to be brave in spite of his fear, and his best moments come when he does the frightening thing anyway for a friend.
- Disney voice
- John Fiedler (1968–2005); Travis Oates (2005 onward)
Eeyore
The gloomy old donkey
Eeyore is an old grey donkey who expects nothing and is quietly pleased to be proved right. His tail is pinned on with a nail and keeps going missing, and his stick house in a corner of the Forest is forever falling down. His friends keep including him anyway: a birthday celebration built from a burst balloon and an empty honey pot is one of the books' most touching scenes. For many readers he's a gentle portrait of depression, and of friends who accept it without trying to fix it.
- Disney voice
- Ralph Wright (1966–1983); Peter Cullen (1988–2010); Bud Luckey (2011); Brad Garrett (Christopher Robin, 2018)
Tigger
Bouncy tiger
Tigger arrives in The House at Pooh Corner and immediately tries every food in the Forest to find out what Tiggers like. It turns out to be Roo's extract of malt. He's boastful, bouncy and sure he's the only one of his kind. Disney made him a co-lead, gave him his signature song and catchphrase, and turned his loneliness into the story of The Tigger Movie (2000).
- Disney voice
- Paul Winchell (1968–1999); Jim Cummings (shared the role in the 1990s, then took it over)
Rabbit
The organiser
Rabbit is clever, bossy and fond of plans, which rarely go the way he means. He keeps a careful garden and enjoys feeling important, especially when he gets to lead an Expotition. He has a large crowd of "friends-and-relations," mostly small animals. Rabbit was not one of Christopher Robin's toys; Milne invented him.
- Disney voice
- Junius Matthews (1966–1977); Ken Sansom (1983–2010); Tom Kenny (2011); Peter Capaldi (Christopher Robin, 2018)
Owl
The Forest's self-appointed scholar
Owl is the one the others go to when they need something read or written, which is a problem because his spelling is shaky: he writes his own name "Wol." He tells long stories about his relatives and enjoys sounding wise more than being useful. Like Rabbit, he was invented for the books rather than based on a toy.
- Disney voice
- Hal Smith (1966–1994); Craig Ferguson (2011); Toby Jones (Christopher Robin, 2018)
Kanga
Roo's mother
Kanga is the only grown-up mother in the Forest. When she first arrives, Rabbit is suspicious of her and plots to kidnap Roo, a plan she defeats by calmly treating Piglet, who has been swapped into her pouch, as if he were Roo, bath and medicine included. She's warm, practical and very hard to fluster.
- Disney voice
- Barbara Luddy (1966–1977); Kath Soucie (1990s–2000s); Kristen Anderson-Lopez (2011)
Roo
Kanga's son
Roo is a small, excitable joey who wants to do everything the older animals do and is adored by Tigger. He falls in a river during the North Pole Expotition and is fished out, and he's the one who shares his extract of malt with Tigger. The real toy Roo was lost in the 1930s, so he's the only original missing from the New York Public Library display.
- Disney voice
- Clint Howard (1968–1974); Nikita Hopkins (2000s); Wyatt Hall (2011)
Christopher Robin
The boy at the heart of the Wood
Christopher Robin is the only human in the Forest, a boy the animals treat as the wisest person they know. He's based on Milne's son, Christopher Robin Milne, who later wrote about his complicated feelings at being famous as a fictional child. The last chapter of The House at Pooh Corner has him leaving for school and saying goodbye, one of the best-known endings in children's literature. Disney's 2018 film Christopher Robin imagines him as an overworked grown-up, played by Ewan McGregor.
- Disney voice
- Bruce Reitherman (1966); Jon Walmsley (1968); Timothy Turner (1974); Jack Boulter (2011)
Characters Disney added
Milne's cast is small, and Disney has needed more characters for decades of films and television. These are the best known; none appear in Milne's books.
Gopher
Whistling digger · First appeared 1966
Gopher is a hard-working gopher with a whistling lisp, created for Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. He's mainly there to dig, usually with more enthusiasm than the job needs. The films even joke that he isn't in the book.
Lumpy
Young Heffalump · Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005)
In Milne, Heffalumps are imaginary monsters the friends worry about but never meet. Disney turned one into a friendly, purple, elephant-like child who becomes friends with Roo. Lumpy's film is about how fears of the unknown fall apart when you actually meet "the monster."
Kessie
Bluebird
Kessie is a little bluebird whom Rabbit raises from an egg. She appears in a few Disney episodes and specials. Her story about Rabbit learning to let her fly away is one of the gentler Disney-era additions.
Darby
Lead of My Friends Tigger & Pooh (2007)
Darby is a red-haired girl who takes Christopher Robin's place as the main human in this preschool CGI series. She and her dog Buster lead Pooh and Tigger as "Super Sleuths" solving small mysteries around the Wood.
Milne's Pooh vs Disney's Pooh
The two versions are close enough to share a name and different enough to feel distinct.
A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard
- Written as bedtime stories for a particular child, with a narrator who talks to Christopher Robin directly.
- Shepard's ink drawings show a small, plain teddy bear with no clothes; Pooh only wears a shirt in a few illustrations.
- Wordplay carries the humour: misspelt signs, Owl's "Wol," Pooh's hums and capitalised Important Things.
- Tigger is just one friend among several, and there is no Gopher.
- Ends with Christopher Robin growing up and leaving the Forest.
Disney
- Starts with featurettes in 1966, 1968 and 1974, collected as The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977).
- Gives Pooh his red shirt, brighter colours and the Sherman Brothers' songs.
- Keeps the storybook framing: characters walk across the pages and talk to the narrator.
- Makes Tigger a co-lead and adds Gopher, Lumpy, Kessie and others.
- Keeps the Forest going indefinitely through films, TV series and the 2018 live-action Christopher Robin.
Disney licensed the rights in 1961. Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. The 2011 film Winnie the Pooh, narrated by John Cleese, returned to hand-drawn animation and to stories adapted from the books.
Disney voice cast
| Character | Classic era (1966–1977) | Winnie the Pooh (2011) | Christopher Robin (2018) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winnie the Pooh | Sterling Holloway | Jim Cummings | Jim Cummings |
| Tigger | Paul Winchell | Jim Cummings | Jim Cummings |
| Piglet | John Fiedler | Travis Oates | Nick Mohammed |
| Eeyore | Ralph Wright | Bud Luckey | Brad Garrett |
| Rabbit | Junius Matthews | Tom Kenny | Peter Capaldi |
| Owl | Hal Smith | Craig Ferguson | Toby Jones |
| Kanga | Barbara Luddy | Kristen Anderson-Lopez | Sophie Okonedo |
| Roo | Clint Howard | Wyatt Hall | Sara Sheen |
| Christopher Robin | Bruce Reitherman, Jon Walmsley, Timothy Turner | Jack Boulter | Ewan McGregor (live action) |
Jim Cummings is the voice most people under 40 grew up with for both Pooh and Tigger. For more on long-running voice roles, see our voice actors guide.
Pooh and the public domain
In the United States, Milne's 1926 book Winnie-the-Pooh entered the public domain on 1 January 2022, and The House at Pooh Corner, with Tigger's first appearance, followed on 1 January 2024. Anyone can now publish, adapt or remix those stories and Shepard's original illustrations from those books in the US. That's why the low-budget horror film Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey appeared in 2023.
What isn't free is Disney's own version. The red shirt, the Disney character designs, the voices, the songs and the newer Disney characters such as Gopher remain protected, along with Disney's trademarks. In countries where copyright lasts for the author's life plus 70 years, Milne's text runs until the end of 2026, because he died in 1956. Shepard died in 1976, so his drawings stay protected there for longer. Rules differ from country to country, so check local law before using the characters commercially.
Where to start
- For young children — The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977). It collects the three classic shorts and is gentle enough for any age.
- For reading aloud — Milne's two story books, Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, ideally with Shepard's illustrations. The jokes land better read aloud.
- For a modern film — Winnie the Pooh (2011), which is short, hand-drawn and faithful in spirit.
- For grown-ups — Christopher Robin (2018), or the 2017 biographical drama Goodbye Christopher Robin about the Milne family.
Why the Hundred Acre Wood lasts
Every friend in the Wood is a recognisable personality type: the anxious one, the gloomy one, the bouncy one, the bossy one, the know-it-all. The stories never try to fix them. Piglet stays scared, Eeyore stays glum, and Tigger stays too much. The friends simply make room for each other, and that acceptance is why the books have lasted. It's the same quality that makes Peanuts and Bluey work for both children and the adults reading along.
There's also the ending. Milne knew his son would grow out of the Forest, and he wrote that into the last chapter. The gentle sadness under the jokes is what makes adults cry over a children's book. For more characters who started on the page, see our literature characters hub, or browse the wider Disney roster.
All Winnie the Pooh character names, A–Z
A–C
- Alexander Beetle — one of Rabbit's friends-and-relations (books)
- Buster — Darby's dog (Disney)
- Christopher Robin — the boy
D–G
- Darby — My Friends Tigger & Pooh (Disney)
- Eeyore — gloomy donkey
- Gopher — Disney original
H–K
- Heffalumps — imagined monsters (books)
- Kanga — Roo's mother
- Kessie — bluebird (Disney)
L–P
- Lumpy — Heffalump (Disney)
- Owl — the scholar
- Piglet — Pooh's best friend
R–Z
- Rabbit — the organiser
- Roo — Kanga's son
- Tigger — bouncy tiger
- Winnie the Pooh — the bear
- Woozles — imagined creatures (books)
Frequently asked questions
What are the names of all the Winnie the Pooh characters?
The core friends are Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, Roo and the boy Christopher Robin. Disney added Gopher, Lumpy the Heffalump, Kessie and Darby, among others.
Were the Winnie the Pooh characters real toys?
Most of them were. Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo and Tigger were stuffed toys belonging to Christopher Robin Milne, A. A. Milne's son. Owl and Rabbit were invented for the books. Five of the original toys are on display at the New York Public Library; Roo was lost long ago.
Is Winnie the Pooh a boy or a girl?
Pooh is a boy. The name came from Winnipeg, a female black bear at London Zoo whom Christopher Robin Milne loved visiting, combined with "Pooh," a name he had given to a swan. The character himself has always been written as male.
Is Gopher in the original books?
No. Gopher was created by Disney for Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966). Disney leaned into this with a running joke where Gopher points out that he isn't in the book.
Is Winnie the Pooh in the public domain?
In the United States, A. A. Milne's 1926 book Winnie-the-Pooh entered the public domain in 2022, and The House at Pooh Corner (1928), which introduces Tigger, followed in 2024. Disney's own versions, including Pooh's red shirt and the studio's specific designs, are still protected, so the characters are free to use only as Milne and E. H. Shepard drew them.
Who voices Winnie the Pooh?
Sterling Holloway was the original Disney voice, from 1966 to 1977. Jim Cummings has voiced Pooh since the late 1980s, and he also took over Tigger from Paul Winchell, so he has played both characters for decades.
What is Eeyore's personality?
Eeyore is a gloomy old grey donkey who expects the worst, from losing his tail to having his house blown away. He's not unkind, and the others always include him. Modern readers often see him as a gentle portrait of depression and of friends who accept it without trying to fix it.