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Winnie-the-Pooh & Co have been in New York for 80 years. Let's bring them home, says GYLES BRANDRETH | Daily Mail Online
Aug 2, 2020
Just once in my life, very briefly, I was tempted to commit a heinous crime. I contemplated a Pooh-napping.
I was visiting the children's branch of the New York Public Library in downtown Manhattan, and there in a quiet corner was an amazing display — five elderly stuffed toys.
And these were not just any stuffed toys. There was a depressed-looking donkey, a wide-eyed tiger, a sweetly smiling kangaroo, a small and rather tubby little pig ... and, sitting magisterially on a plinth above them all, a grand teddy bear with wonky ears.
These were the most famous toys in all literature, and cinema too: Winnie-the-Pooh and friends. They are part of our national heritage. And I am launching a campaign to bring them back home ... if not permanently, then at least for a holiday.
[..]
I have long abandoned any wicked ideas of bear-snatching, of course. I now favour a diplomatic approach ... and I believe I have a solution that will benefit the Americans at least as much as it pleases Britain.
In fact, apolitical Winnie-the-Pooh is about to be pressed into action as a post-Brexit ambassador for Anglo-U.S. relations, as I shall explain.
But first, how was it that the priceless symbols of a much-loved childhood classic ended up in the Big Apple rather than the Big Smoke anyway? It dates back to the Forties when Winnie-the-Pooh started to become a superstar in the States.
A.A. Milne permitted his son's toys to go on an American tour — from which they never came back. Milne gave them to his agent, who gave them to his publisher, who eventually (in the early Seventies) gave them to the New York Public Library. There they have remained ever since, delighting generations of young American bookworms.
Like practically everyone in Britain, I count Winnie as an important part of my childhood.
[..]
This month would be Christopher Robin's 100th birthday. And in 2024, Winnie-the-Pooh will celebrate his own centenary, 100 years since the publication of the book of poems, When We Were Very Young — including a verse simply called Teddy Bear — which featured the first illustrations by E.H. Shepard.
There could never be a better time for Winnie and his friends to take a holiday in Britain. And I have an idea that Fozzie Bear might enjoy a trip to the States too (you can take the bear out of New York, after all, but never New York out of the bear).
So I would like to propose a swap. Later this year, I will visit the Big Apple and I hope to meet New York's mayor, Bill de Blasio.
'You can borrow Fozzie,' I shall suggest. 'We would love to play host to Winnie-the-Pooh. I promise we'll give him back at the end of his holiday. But please let him come and play.'
Aug 2, 2020
Just once in my life, very briefly, I was tempted to commit a heinous crime. I contemplated a Pooh-napping.
I was visiting the children's branch of the New York Public Library in downtown Manhattan, and there in a quiet corner was an amazing display — five elderly stuffed toys.
And these were not just any stuffed toys. There was a depressed-looking donkey, a wide-eyed tiger, a sweetly smiling kangaroo, a small and rather tubby little pig ... and, sitting magisterially on a plinth above them all, a grand teddy bear with wonky ears.
These were the most famous toys in all literature, and cinema too: Winnie-the-Pooh and friends. They are part of our national heritage. And I am launching a campaign to bring them back home ... if not permanently, then at least for a holiday.
[..]
I have long abandoned any wicked ideas of bear-snatching, of course. I now favour a diplomatic approach ... and I believe I have a solution that will benefit the Americans at least as much as it pleases Britain.
In fact, apolitical Winnie-the-Pooh is about to be pressed into action as a post-Brexit ambassador for Anglo-U.S. relations, as I shall explain.
But first, how was it that the priceless symbols of a much-loved childhood classic ended up in the Big Apple rather than the Big Smoke anyway? It dates back to the Forties when Winnie-the-Pooh started to become a superstar in the States.
A.A. Milne permitted his son's toys to go on an American tour — from which they never came back. Milne gave them to his agent, who gave them to his publisher, who eventually (in the early Seventies) gave them to the New York Public Library. There they have remained ever since, delighting generations of young American bookworms.
Like practically everyone in Britain, I count Winnie as an important part of my childhood.
[..]
This month would be Christopher Robin's 100th birthday. And in 2024, Winnie-the-Pooh will celebrate his own centenary, 100 years since the publication of the book of poems, When We Were Very Young — including a verse simply called Teddy Bear — which featured the first illustrations by E.H. Shepard.
There could never be a better time for Winnie and his friends to take a holiday in Britain. And I have an idea that Fozzie Bear might enjoy a trip to the States too (you can take the bear out of New York, after all, but never New York out of the bear).
So I would like to propose a swap. Later this year, I will visit the Big Apple and I hope to meet New York's mayor, Bill de Blasio.
'You can borrow Fozzie,' I shall suggest. 'We would love to play host to Winnie-the-Pooh. I promise we'll give him back at the end of his holiday. But please let him come and play.'
