Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey darkened theatre screens this month. Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield discussed making the horror film, which was almost a Sherlock Holmes horror movie instead.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey went viral last year. Following the lapse of the original story into the public domain, news broke that Winnie the Pooh would be reimagined as a horror film about the cuddly, nostalgic bear. Here, Winnie the Pooh (Craig David Dowsett) and Piglet (Chris Cordell) have turned into serial killers following Christopher Robin's (Nikolai Leon) departure from the Hundred Acre Wood. Driven to madness, the duo picks up a bloody pastime after developing a hatred for all things human.
Speaking to Variety, Frake-Waterfield detailed his creative process for the film. The idea was brought to Frake-Waterfield's attention by ITN president Stuart Alson, who had sent him an article about Winnie the Pooh lapsing into the public domain. The two had been kicking around the idea of another public domain horror story about Sherlock Holmes. For Frake-Waterfield, who pledged to make and sell 100 movies by the time he turned 30, the idea was perfect, and ITN seemingly agreed. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is their first theatrical release and has already secured a sequel.
Frake-Waterfield also revealed that Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was intended to be seen as a satirical horror comedy. "He’s got a mix of human organs and blood, but also there’s fluff [inside] him," Frake-Waterfield said of the Pooh in his film. “To me, the whole tone of the movie is just fun and a bit [of] satire. You’re supposed to laugh at it.” Interestingly, there was talk of making Winnie the Pooh an out-and-out teddy bear. “That was a very early conversation,” Frake-Waterfield admits. Unfortunately, the budget would not allow for the CGI needed to bring that to life.
The decision to switch to a man in a suit is probably more suitable for the film's intended campy tone. For a film in which Winnie the Pooh and Piglet eat Eeyore, a more obviously physically threatening Pooh pushes the film into that satirical zone while preserving the budget. It also harkens back to some classic horror comedies from years gone by. These films often relished in making their effects over-the-top or plastic-looking.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey isn't the only horror film based on a beloved children's franchise that Frake-Waterfield is working on. A Bambi horror remake is currently in the works at ITN, with Frake-Waterfield also set to direct. There, Frake-Waterfield will be reimagining the lovable deer as a guardian of the forest that's hellbent on protecting it from human hunters.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is currently in theaters in Mexico, the US, Canada, and the UK.
Source: Variety