Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh, known to his friends as Pooh Bear, is the main character of the 100 Acre Wood world of Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II. He is based on his appearance in Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise. Pooh's role is unique to the Kingdom Hearts universe, as he lives in a world within a world, whose inhabitants are blissfully unaware of the battles waged outside of their peaceful forest.
Story
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Winnie the Pooh appears as a Command Board character, with him and Tigger playing with Terra, Ventus, or Aqua.
Kingdom Hearts
In Traverse Town, Cid asked Sora to deliver a very special book that he had repaired to his friend, Merlin. After Sora did so, Merlin revealed that the book has special properties, and suggested that Sora take a closer look at it. Upon doing so, Sora found himself standing on the pages of the book, considerably smaller than his usual size. Walking over to one of the book's drawings, Sora ended up in a meadow, where Pooh sat on a log talking to himself. Once Sora introduced himself to Pooh, the bear detailed his sad news to Sora that all of his forest friends had disappeared, nor that Sora had so much in common with Ven who he hadn't seen in a decade. Along with his favorite honey tree (among other locations), and that he had been left all alone (and very hungry) in the Hundred-Acre Wood. As Sora journeyed to other worlds, he found additional pages of Pooh's book, which the Heartless (for unknown reasons) had torn out of the book. When Sora added the last page to the book, the book was complete once again, reuniting Pooh with all of his friends. As Sora departs the book, Pooh declares that he'll always be in the 100 Acre Wood if he ever comes to visit.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
A facsimile of Pooh created by Naminé was featured in this game as a memory to Sora.
Kingdom Hearts II
Upon Sora's arrival in Hollow Bastion, Merlin apparently lost Pooh's book, but found it in one of the districts of Hollow Bastion. Sora eagerly jumped in to visit Pooh while Merlin was away, leaving Goofy and Donald Duck to watch over the book from the outside world. As Pooh asked Sora to join him in his exercises, he suddenly froze in mid-action, leaving Sora momentarily confused before he was forced out of Pooh's book. It was soon revealed that Donald and Goofy had summoned Sora out of the book, needing his help as they were under attack by the Heartless. As Sora exited Merlin's house to assist his friends, a group of Soldier Heartless made to steal Pooh's book, ripping pages out in the process and leaving slash marks on the book's cover. However, Sora managed to take the damaged book back from the Heartless. When Sora returned to the Hundred-Acre Wood to check on Pooh, he discovered that the traumatic forces that had been imposed on the book had given Pooh amnesia. To remedy this, Sora once again collected the scattered pages of the book and assisted Pooh's friends in helping Pooh regain his memories of them. Certain actions in each area triggered Pooh's memories, but he did not remember Sora until nearly all the pages were recollected. After his memories were returned, Pooh begged Sora to stay with him, and Sora explained that he had to leave but that he and Pooh would always have a special connection through their hearts.
Personality
Pooh is extremely innocent, having never been exposed to the harsher realities of life outside of his world in the Hundred-Acre Wood, and also due to being a product of Christopher Robin's imagination. He is very forgetful, being "a bear of very little brain", and can often be found at his "thinking spot" muttering "Think, think, think!" in an attempt to remember what he's forgotten. Pooh often allows his stomach to guide him, letting his hunger for honey (spelled as "hunny" by the forest's residents) get the best of him in many situations. Despite some of his more uncomplimentary qualities, Pooh is extremely well-liked by his friends, who seem to consider him their leader; the closest and best of his friends is the little Piglet. Pooh is very loyal to all of his comrades, and forms very close attachments to almost anyone he comes across, including Sora, who he treats as a sort of Christopher Robin character in the Kingdom Hearts series.
Appearance
Winnie the Pooh is a small, rotund bear with golden fur. He has a black nose, beady black eyes, and black eyebrows. His feet lack visible toes, and the only distinct digits on his hands are his thumbs. Pooh's only article of clothing is a small, red shirt.
Abilities
Pooh has no apparent abilities, which is probably a result of the Heartless' inability to invade his world. However, he seems to have some level of "invulnerability", as he can take a fall from several stories up and be unharmed (which is probably a result of his being stuffed with fluff).
Origin
The version of Pooh used in the Kingdom Hearts series is based on his appearance in the 1966 film Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree and all of the Pooh adventures that followed. Pooh was originally voiced by Sterling Holloway (who also voiced the Cheshire Cat in Disney's Alice in Wonderland and also Kaa the Python in The Jungle Book). Pooh was originally a character created by the real life Christopher Robin; the character was expanded upon by Christopher's father, A. A. Milne, and Pooh made his first appearance in London's "Evening Post" in 1925, going on to appear in the books Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.
Trivia
- Pooh's voice actor, Jim Cummings, also performs the voices of Tigger, Ed and Pete, as well as many background characters for Disney and the Kingdom Hearts series.
