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Winnie Their Pooh
A Brit wrote the book, not us. So why do we keep flogging a dead bear?
The Manitoba government is holding a contest to come up with a new slogan to replace “Friendly Manitoba” on provincial license plates. My suggestion: “Hello from Vancouver.”
It’s a fine province, really. But many of us ex-Manitobans prefer to indulge in our fond reminisces from elsewhere. Thus “Friendly Manitoba” often grabs its reflected glory from the likes of Neil Young, people who did the formative years thing in Manitoba before moving on. While no one is likely to nominate “Home of Neil” for a spot on the license, I’ll bet more than a few people will suggest a reference to Winnie the Pooh. It’s embarrassing, and it’s a bad habit that is by no means limited to my former province. Last night’s CBC telefilm on the origins of the original bear named Winnie underscored our national and yet oh-so-provincial tendency to attach ourselves to glory by tenuous threads.
Oh bother
CBC’s A Bear Named Winnie proved to be solid family fare. Based on the most skeletal of historical records, it was frothed up into a two-hour (!) telefilm about First World War Canadian army vets—as in veterinarians—burdened with a loopy general and a mischievous bear cub. A Bear Named Winnie managed to provide some background on the Canadian Great War experience while proving once more the enduring appeal of boy-and-his-dog stories. It wasn’t the show itself that set me off.
What irks me is our tedious Canadian habit of scrounging for credit in the historical dumpsters of other nations. It is the same tendency that allowed Alexander Graham Bell to be included in the top 10 of the CBC’s recent Greatest Canadians series despite his highly debatable Canadian provenance. Insecure about our status on the world stage, we grasp at these sad straws and weave them into Sunday night TV specials.
Over the years Winnie the Pooh has become an increasingly pathetic vessel for our national inferiority complex. Canadian glory-hounds love to trumpet our connection to A.A. Milne’s classic children’s tales—namely, that Milne’s son Christopher Robin saw a bear at the London zoo, a bear who may or may not have been named Winnie after the town of Winnipeg, and that this encounter subsequently inspired Milne to create the Bear of Very Little Brain and his pals in the Hundred Acre Wood. And then Kenny Loggins wrote a song about it, so I guess he’s Canadian too if anybody still wants to claim him. Maybe JACK-FM will be allowed to count “Danger Zone” as Canadian content.
Bad angles
This unseemly grubbing for Canadian connections infests our media. The tiresome search for a Canadian hook frequently dooms our national journalism to mediocrity. Particularly egregious examples have surfaced in CanWest Global newspapers over the past year, boasting of B.C. connections for popular reality TV shows. The boardroom chairs on ‘The Apprentice’ were made in Vancouver! A guy from Parksville helps design the ‘Survivor’ challenges! Bachelor Byron boinked in local hotels! Let your chest swell with parochial pride!
One of the small pleasures of overseas travel is picking up the International Herald Tribune newspaper to keep up on current events. It’s published by the New York Times and thus displays an American emphasis, but as it is aimed at overseas readers this emphasis is greatly diminished from that of most American papers. And for a Canadian it is a refreshing escape from the tyranny of homeland editors who vet so much content by asking, “Is there a Canadian angle? Can we find one?”
We are used to reflected glory, as any small nation positioned next to a world power must be. Talented Canadians are justly celebrated for their success, but Canadians know that this success generally depends on outside forces.
Unbearable
I don’t really have a problem with efforts like the CTV’s recent Shania Twain homecoming special, wherein we watched the former Timmins girl wander about her hometown tribute museum and then take a car ride with Ben Mulroney. If that’s your idea of entertainment, knock yourself out. At least Twain was willing to acknowledge and celebrate her roots. The fact that CTV was forced to spin a lengthy Shania photo op with the toothsome Ben into an hour-long special tells you something about the table scraps Canadian television must sometimes dine on, but never mind. Shania played along, and we must take what we can get. But there’s a limit, or ought to be.
There are Canadian stories to be told and Canadian history to be taught. A show like CBC’s epic series ‘Canada: A People’s History,’ or the various documentary reminders of our efforts in global conflicts, are valuable tools to remind us of our own past. But let’s skip the stuff about bears that inspired Brits. Winnie the Pooh did not spring from Canadian soil anymore than did the Buffalo Springfield. Canadians have a country that most of the world would give their eyeteeth, and more, to live in. So let’s knock off the straw-grasping.
Steve Burgess reviews TV and other stuff regularly for The Tyee.
![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
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Guy (not verified)
7 years ago
Steve! Ease up on Winnie, will ya! He was a legitimately Canadian bear who just happened to end up in England. His story is a little piece of pop culture which I think we can reasonably claim as our own without being pathetically parochial. I do agree with your basic premise,however. The two cases which really get me are Heart and Superman. Heart was an American group that hung out in Vancouver for awhile, but some people claim them for Canada on that meagre basis. Gimme a break!! And don't get me started on that Superman Heritage Minute...truly the nadir of desperation!!!... ...But ease up on Winnie, okay? Your cruel rejection of the Canuck Cub is totally uncalled for....
Anonymous
7 years ago
Steve - ease up easing up on Winnie - you've got that bear bang to rights, I'm a Brit and I've never even heard of a Canadian connection. Me and my partner were in hysterics when we saw that ad as it was pretty desperate... not to mention vomit inducingly saccharine. I have a friend that grew up around the original Hundred Acre Wood and is used to a fair bit of AA Milne schmaltz but a reciprocal plug for Winnepeg isn't exactly a prominent feature of the local tourist board. Oh yeah and we'll take back Bell to the other side of the Atlantic too thank you!
taylor (not verified)
7 years ago
I basically agree with Steve's opinion. Still, I'll take the pathetic Canadian media view over the totally self-regarding U.S. media view, where the U.S. angle is the only angle, since the rest of the world simply doesn't exist. ("And now, more American news from Iraq...") The U.S. is probably the most parochial society on earth, though the British aren't far behind. (Okay, they are far behind, but they're more parochial than Canada, which in turn is more parochial than the Netherlands. Other things being equal, the smaller the influence on the world stage, the more open and cosmopolitan a society tends to be.) Oh, and by the way, did you know that Art Linkletter was born in Moose Jaw?
Elli Kohnert (not verified)
7 years ago
Stop your griping already - the film "A Bear Named Winnie" was a wonderful relief from the US crap we are subjected to incessently. Do you have to dig around and find a negative aspect to everything that shows itself in the media? What does it matter if and where the Bear comes from - and who has created/found him? The show was 'jolly good' in any case. I for one watch all the British shows on Knowledge Network - in fact it is almost the only thing I watch for entertainment - the rest I pick through very carefully - so that I will not be bombarded by 'overdone everything' served up on TV mostly by our neighbors to the south. As amatter of fact, why are there so few All Canadian movies made - and shown? That would be such a wellcome change - from all the US - well - crap. Elli Kohnert
Eli Kohnert (not verified)
7 years ago
The above - 2:13:21 PM Well well - having insomia while working up that bit of drivel. Who cares about WHERE Winnie comes from? But then one characteristic of the 'Brits' is that they are as pompos as no other nation - in that particular "Very British Nose In The Air Way" Go to sleep please and don't dream up any more of that stuff you put forth. And by the way - where is you name? Scared to put it out there? Elli Kohnert
Eli Kohnert (not verified)
7 years ago
The above - 2:13:21 PM Well well - having insomia while working up that bit of drivel. Who cares about WHERE Winnie comes from? But then one characteristic of the 'Brits' is that they are as pompos as no other nation - in that particular "Very British Nose In The Air Way" Go to sleep please and don't dream up any more of that stuff you put forth. And by the way - where is you name? Scared to put it out there? Elli Kohnert
Guy (not verified)
7 years ago
Steve, ease up on easing up on easing up on Winnie! Disregard Comma or Nigel or whatever his name is and his impudent remarks. I propose that conflicting opinions on Winnie's nationality can be reconciled. It goes as follows: Winnie the bear--Canadian. Winnie the Pooh (Milne)--British. Winnie the Disney cartoon character--American. Oops! I fear that last bit may not go over so well Commanigel -so sorry old chap- but such are the wages of cultural imperialism! Maybe its easier to say that our homeland's native Bruin has become a citizen of the world, lamentably in keeping with the zeitgeist of our times...
Nini-pooh (not verified)
7 years ago
As a child who was quasi-nicknamed with Winnie in mind..I am in hysterics over this discussion. Thanks everyone..you made me chuckle over this most amusing discussion! I agree with the last submission from Guy...Winnie is Can-Brit-Yank...maybe he should be called "Bear of the World" instead...
allan (not verified)
7 years ago
Steve, you nicely raised a lot of Canadianisms into the light in that piece, but Shania as "table scraps"? She may not be your or my cup of tea, but record numbers of fans have bought some of her music. She can draw a crowd anywhere in the world. She also has a bio that suggests her upbringing and early family responsibilities were pretty tough for a teenager. She's a working class girl who, not without some large hills to climb, made it bigtime, hasn't evolved into a prima donna and, quite frankly, as a representative or musical ambassador for Canada, she's quite a show piece. Table scraps? No. Grade A, #1 Canadian.
anne cameron (not verified)
7 years ago
Ah, did you have to include the "toothsome" Ben Mulroney. GIMME A FEKKIN' BREAK!!!! He's where he is because his dad is what he is..and then there's the infinately precious justin trudeau who is just dying my dear for the chance to be asked to assume his dead dad's dusty mantle... yeek! I don't care WHERE PoohBear is from or who wrote it or anything else..my grand daughter Emily is madly in love with him. She's two and a half. She thinks he is "my own PoohBear" so that means he's from Tahsis, got it?
Frank (not verified)
7 years ago
I missed the pooh-bear show, anyone got it on tape? Gotta be better than the avalanche of US crud Mr Burgess prefers.
kent (not verified)
7 years ago
No matter his origins Winnie thePooh was my favorite 75 years ago and is still as popular with youngsters today. And by the way did any of you catch "Don't Shoot the Teacher" on Knowledge Network last night? You can't get more Canadian than that. Also note Corner Gas, another good Canadian show, so while they may be few they do exist.
Robson (not verified)
7 years ago
A schmultzy premise for a two-hour show, I agree. But the ratings were surprising. From the Winnipeg Free Press: "A Bear Named Winnie -- the made-in-Manitoba TV movie that aired on CBC Sunday night, scored some of the highest ratings of the public broadcaster's fall season. The family drama pulled in 1.168 million Canadian viewers in a competitive timeslot where it aired against hit American shows Desperate Housewives and Survivor."
Stephen Burgess (not verified)
7 years ago
Coupla quick notes--Re: Shania as table scraps, certainly not. She is a popular and hard-working entertainer, infinitely preferable to Celine Dion as a candidate for Canada's official ambassador to the mega-mainstream of popular music. The "table scraps" reference was to the rather thin gruel CTV was force to work with--an extended phto op transformed into an hour long special. Likewise with Bear Named Winnie, the program itself was quite reasonable family stuff. It's the premise that irks me.
Ruby (not verified)
7 years ago
I grew up in Winnipeg and I find that it's desperate to claim ownership to anything reasonably interesting or famous. It's unfortunate that the city continues to claim people or animals who have limited connections to it, such as actress Anna Paquin or Neil Young. That's what happens when you have a city lacking in anything or anyone who is above average.
Truman Green (not verified)
7 years ago
I loved the title, "Winnie THEIR Pooh." Perfect! I really like this stuff. I've been thinking about the British link with Pooh for most of my life--not continually, though. Good one, Mr. Burgess.