There are many versions, but there is no definitive answer, who wrote Winnie the Pooh, a fairy tale about a funny little bear. The English original of the book was translated by many writers from different countries and everyone considered it an honor to help children and their fellow citizens learn more about the life of the hero of this fairy tale. For example, in Poland, one of the first was the translation of the sister of the great poet Julian Tuwim - Irene. There are also a large number of translations into Russian, but the translation by Boris Zakhoder, which was published in 1960, is still considered the most classic.
Birth story
Everyone's favorite main character has two birthdays. He celebrated the first in August 1921, when he was presented small child- Christopher Robin, on this day the baby celebrated his first birthday. At that moment, writer Alan Alexander Milne did not yet know that this plush miracle would eventually become the main character of his book. He celebrated his second (official) birthday in October 1926, when the first edition of the book about a cheerful bear and his friends was published, which written by Allan Alexander Milne.
The mystery of the name
Many have read the book and watched cartoons about this cheerful and funny bear, but most people do not know that he got his name in honor of the Winnipeg she-bear. The bear was kept at the London Zoo back in the early 20s of the twentieth century. She got there from the Canadian Army Corps; in those days, the bear was a symbol of the army. After the end of the war, the bear remained to live in the capital of England, delighting children and adults at the zoo.
In 1924, the writer Milne took his son to the zoo for the first time to see a bear. He liked her madly and on the same day Christopher Robin named his favorite teddy bear Winnie. Over time, Christopher Robin, already aged, in 1981, will unveil a monument to the bear at the London Zoo.
First illustration
The very first to illustrate the funny Winnie the Pooh was a former army colleague, in the First world war, and Alan Milne’s colleague in one of the magazines, artist E. Shepard. The artist depicted one of the characters from the writer's real son, and Winnie the Pooh from the child's favorite toy, a bear. The artist became very famous and popular; at first he was terribly happy, but then he was disappointed, since the popularity of this illustration eclipsed all his other works. One of the first images, the Russian version of the book, was made by the artist Alisa Poret, but the illustration by Eduard Nazarov, who portrayed Winnie the Pooh in everyone’s favorite animated film, gained great popularity and fame.
After Boris Zakhoder translated the book from the original version, our Soviet Winnie the Pooh was much different from Milne the bear. The author of the new version of the book, Boris Zakhoder, when translating the book, made what seemed to him the best changes to the original text and they were very significant. All Soviet children liked the screams and chants that Winnie the Pooh said and they also repeated them in unison.
The film adaptations of the book remain a separate story. The well-known film studio Disney, in the West, made a number of animated films about the bear cub, but Christopher Robin did not like them very much. But the animated version of Fyodor Khitruk, which was made back in the Soviet Union, with incredible dubbing, where the main characters speak in the voices of E. Leonov, I. Savina and E. Garin, became not only popular, but is also in demand among children to this day throughout the former Soviet Union.
Unfortunately, creative team The scriptwriters and directors did not have a whole and unified opinion on what the image of the main character should be, and after the creation of three episodes the project was closed. Now, even in the West there is an opinion that our version animated film turned out much better than the American creation.
Babelyan Sophia
Research work in Russian and English languages“The history of the creation of “Winnie the Pooh.” Completed by a 5th grade student from secondary school No. 65, Krasnodar
"...We all know that children love to watch cartoons. You can always meet funny characters and learn some interesting stories. But it’s no secret that adults love the same thing. Our parents especially love the cartoons of their childhood. Of course Our tastes may vary, but there are cartoons that can be interesting to people. different ages. They do not lose their popularity even today. My favorite character is Winnie the Pooh. And just the same, this cartoon can be classified as “immortal”.
I'm glad that I could choose the topic of my essay myself. Because I would really like to find more interesting information about my favorite hero. After all, not everyone knows that “Winnie the Pooh” is not just a cartoon...."
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We all know that children love to watch cartoons. You can always meet funny characters and learn some interesting stories. But it’s no secret that adults love the same things. Our parents especially love the cartoons of their childhood. Of course, our tastes may differ. But there are cartoons that can be interesting for people of different ages. They do not lose their popularity even today. My favorite character is Winnie the Pooh. And just the same, this cartoon can be classified as “immortal”. Personally, I have seen two versions of it: “The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” by Fyodor Khitruk and “Winnie-the-Pooh” produced by Disney. My mom likes the first option. And I, of course, will choose the one with more episodes.
I'm glad that I could choose the topic of my essay myself. Because I would really like to find more interesting information about my favorite hero. After all, not everyone knows that “Winnie the Pooh” is not just a cartoon.
The author of the stories is the famous English writer Alan Alexander Milne. He lived in London with his family many years ago. His only son was named Christopher Robin. Yes, it was a real boy!
For his first birthday, he received a teddy bear from his dad. Which he later named after a female bear who lived in the London Zoo.
Milne dedicated many poems to his son.
In his books, the writer talks about the friendship between a six-year-old boy and his beloved bear cub. He wanted to show that the little boy's love was so strong that in his eyes the toy could come to life.
Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh go on different adventures. They have to solve complex problems and make their own choices. But throughout all the stories, Christopher Robin helps his friend solve all his problems.
Milne's books are full of Pooh's thoughts. The little bear thinks that his head is full of sawdust. But he manages to find the most unusual solutions in all cases. Therefore, it seems to me that he is quite smart.
He is also kind, friendly and responsive.
The place where the events take place is not only the baby’s room, but also the forest where new characters appear. Such as Piglet, Eeyore and Rabbit.
And in fact, the Milne family had a farm near the forest. They went there on weekends. And, probably, it was those wonderful days spent with his family on the farm that inspired the writer to write new stories.
Alan Milne's original idea was to write something interesting for his son. He had no idea that his work would be so loved by readers from all over the world.
The books have been translated into different languages. The name of the bear cub was translated along with them. For example, in German his name sounds like "Pu der Bar", in French - "Winnie l"ourson." In some translations, his name is feminine.
In addition, cartoons were made based on the books. As I already said, I managed to watch two of them. But, of course, they have their differences from the original work. For example, Christopher Robin is missing from Khitruk’s cartoon. And in the work of the Disney company, more main characters appear.
I really love Winnie the Pooh and his funny adventures. I think books like this teach us something very important. For example, the need to be kind and a good friend.
What happened to the main character in the end? All the toys were kept under glass in the Milnes' house. And later, since there was a war, they were transported to America. Now they belong to one of the American tourist houses.
Preview:
As everyone knows children love watching cartoons. You may always meet funny characters and learn some interesting stories. Cartoons always teach us something useful. But it "s not a secret that grown-ups also like all these things. Especially our parents love cartoons of their childhood. Surely our tastes may differ. But there are such cartoons which can be interesting for people of all ages. They do not lose their popularity till nowadays. My favorite character is Winnie-the-Pooh. And just this cartoon may be called ""immortal"". I myself watched two of its versions: ""Winnie-the-Pooh"" by Fyodor Khitruk the one produced by Disney Company. My mum prefers the first variant. But I certainly choose more series.
I'm glad that the topic of the essay isn't fixed. So I may find some interesting information about this theme. Because not everyone knows that "Winnie-the-Pooh"" isn't just a cartoon.
The author of the stories is Alan Alexander Milne, a famous English writer. He lived with his family in London many years ago and had the only child. His son's name was Christopher Robin. Yes, he was a real boy!
For his first birthday father gave the boy a teddy bear. Who was called "Winnie" after a real-life bear that lived in London Zoo.
Alan Milne wrote a lot of poems for Christopher Robin and about him.
In his books the writer tells us about a friendship between a six-year-old boy and his favorite teddy bear. He wanted to show that one little boy so loved his toy friend that - for him - the toy animal became alive.
Christopher Robin and Winnie get into different adventures. They have to make their own decisions. Through mostly all the stories Christopher helps his friend to solve the problems.
Milne's texts are full of Winnie's thoughts. The bear thinks that he only has sawdust in his head. But he always finds the most creative ways of solving. So he"s rather clever, I think.
The bear is also kind, friendly and responsive.
The world where the story goes isn't only Christopher Robin's room. It"s also a forest where other new characters appear. Such as Piglet, Eeyore the donkey and Rabbit.
Really Milne's family had a farm near a wonderful forest. They traveled there at the weekends. I suppose that those happy days near the forest helped Alan Milne to create new stories.
At first Alan Alexander Milne just wanted to write something interesting for his son. He didn't think that his readers would love his work so much. And now people nearly all over the world know these invaluable books.
"Winnie-the-Pooh" was translated into different languages. And the bear"s name was also translated. For example, in German it sounds like "Pu der Bar", in French he is "Winnie l"ourson". In some translations he has feminine gender.
Besides there were made some cartoons about Winnie-the-Pooh. I know two of them as I mentioned before. But they certainly differ from the original. The cartoon by Khitruk doesn't include Christopher Robin. Disney's version has more characters and more stories.
I like Winnie-the-Pooh and his merry adventures. I think such books teach us very necessary things. For example, to be kind and be a good friend.
And what happened to the main hero after all? Well, the bear and all the other animals were put into a glass case at the Milne's house in London. Later they were "evacuated" to America because of the war. Now they belong to some American publishing houses.
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Winnie the Pooh
Author of the story. Alan Alexander Milne was born on January 18, 1882. English writer, author of stories about the “bear with sawdust in his head” - Winnie the Pooh. Alan Milne was born in Kilburn, London. Took part in the First World War. Milne began writing the story of Winn the Pooh for his son Christopher Robin.
Name "Winnie the Pooh" Alan Milne gave a teddy bear to his son for his first birthday. In turn, the teddy bear Winnie the Pooh was named after a bear named Winnipeg.
Winnipeg Bear
Various film adaptations. Russian film adaptation Film adaptation by Disney.
Disney film adaptation.
In 1929, Milne sold the rights to commercially exploit the image of Winnie the Pooh to American producer Stephen Slesinger. During this period, in particular, several performance records based on Milne’s books were released, which were very popular in the USA. In 1961, the rights to the character were purchased from Slesinger's widow by Disney Studios. Based on the plot of some chapters of the first book, the studio released short cartoons. Note that in Disney films and publications, the character's name, unlike Milne's books, is written without hyphens (Winnie the Pooh), which may reflect American punctuation as opposed to British. Since the 1970s, the Disney studio has been producing cartoons based on newly invented plots that are no longer related to Milne's books. The second Winnie the Pooh cartoon, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, won the 1968 Oscar for Best Animated Short Subject.
Russian film adaptation.
The script was written by Khitruk in collaboration with Zakhoder; The work of the co-authors did not always go smoothly, which ultimately became the reason for the cessation of the release of cartoons (it was originally planned to release a series based on the entire book). The cartoon series gained enormous popularity. Quotes from it became the common property of Soviet children and adults and served as the basis for creating the image of Winnie the Pooh in Soviet humorous folklore. In total, 21 quotes from the film were included in the colloquial speech of townspeople, half of which were from the film Winnie the Pooh and the Day of Worries. A-list actors were hired to dub the series. Winnie the Pooh was voiced by Evgeny Leonov, Piglet by Iya Savvina, Eeyore by Erast Garin.
Dmitry Galkovsky 25.04.2016
Dmitry Galkovsky 25.04.2016
Like many children's writers, Alan Milne, the author of the famous "Winnie the Pooh", did not consider himself a children's writer. During his life, he wrote a lot of “adult” novels, novellas, short stories and plays - mostly love stories, detective stories and humorous works. Like other English writers of the era of imperialism, Milne was a service man, that is, he was a member of the local writers' organization, where state agitators read reports, adopted resolutions and elected each other to all kinds of commissions and committees. Well, they snitched on each other - all writers' unions and clubs in the United Kingdom were closely supervised by the security authorities. Like the Soviet Union of Writers - created in the image of English writers' organizations.
During the First World War, Milne was mobilized to the front, but then, through the efforts of friends in the literary workshop, he was transferred to Mi-7, a unit of the English secret police involved in propaganda, censorship and surveillance of foreigners. What he did there is not entirely clear. Probably, the matter was limited to writing anti-German propaganda (Milne was on the editorial board of the British Crocodile - Punch magazine). In a series of similar notes, for example, it was proven that the Germans made soap from people - however, not Jews at that time, but their own soldiers who died on the battlefield. What to do - military propaganda. Such service gave Milne an officer rank and, at the same time, “reservation” from the front line.
Milne established himself as an open scoundrel and paid informer much later - during the Second World War. In 1940, after the occupation of France by the Germans, the English writer Pelham Grenville Woodhouse, who lived there, was interned. Wodehouse was sent to a displaced persons camp, where he made a series of radio broadcasts about local life in a tone as skeptical of the Nazis as censorship allowed. The Germans allowed these broadcasts to show how gentle and tolerant the Nazi regime was compared to the regime of the English monarchy. The Nazi plan was a complete success. The broadcasts caused a storm of hatred in the ruling circles of Great Britain, and hired writers were ordered to portray Wodehouse as a traitor, a liar and a “Goebbels puppet.” The campaign of persecution was headed by British intelligence captain Alan Milne. Woodhouse was soon released by the Germans and went to France, from where he moved to the United States after the war. The English authorities gradually abandoned their accusations, and then actually apologized to the undeservedly insulted writer. In 1975, 93-year-old Woodhouse was awarded the Order of the British Empire.
Wodehouse, unlike Milne, was truly good writer. Let me remind you that he is the author of the famous series of novels about Jeeves and Wooster. But the main role in his rehabilitation was not played by this, and not by the fact that he enjoyed extraordinary popularity in America (of which he became a citizen in 1955), but by the fact that Wodehouse was a British aristocrat. Therefore, they entrusted the petty servant Milne, the neat son of the school principal, to poison him. At the same time, many writers were allowed to withdraw from the campaign and even come out with a moderate defense of Wodehouse.
As a result, by the end of the war, Milne's reputation among his colleagues was greatly tarnished, and Wodehouse himself made the author of Winnie the Pooh the target of caustic literary parodies.
He had every reason to do this. Milne is a slightly below average writer, and Winnie the Pooh is a self-destructive book.
For a children's book it is very complex compositionally, for an adult - this complexity is not justified, not explained, and not agreed upon. As a result, adults do not read it, and for children, reading, despite the interesting scenes, causes general bewilderment and headaches. Let me remind you that in “Winnie the Pooh” the narrative is told on behalf of the boy’s father, who tells his son stories with his toys; at the same time, these toys, turned into characters, interact with the boy directly, and, finally, live outside of this communication in a special toy world. And to top it all off, Milne claims that it's all a dream. Creating something so complex literary space good task for adult books, written by a master. But Winnie the Pooh is written for children and written by an English literary clerk. Milne did not even realize the scale of the task he had set himself, and all the “literary Babylons” of the story are due to the elementary pettiness of the author.
This is not entirely clear to the Russian reader, since we are familiar with the talented translation of Boris Zakhoder, who shortened the book, removing absurdities and lengthiness, and also introducing a number of successful jokes and puns. For example, Winnipukhov’s “puff-sniffles” are not Milne, but Zakhoder, Piglet’s famous question “HOW does the heffalump like piglets?” - Same.
However, Milne himself has many such puns - this is the basis of the tiresome humor of the British. Which has one drawback - the British joke constantly, so their humor often looks inappropriate. Or, to use a more precise word - worthless.
In general, for a foreign reader there are many discouraging details in the English-language Winnie the Pooh. For example, Vinny in the author’s transcription (“Winnie ») This female name, like the Russian “Vicky”. Then the author constantly characterizes Winnie as “a little bear with a very small brain.” For a child, this is an insult to his favorite character. And there are a lot of such blunders in Milne’s tale.
Such flaws are caused by the author's deafness as a writer, leading to primitive realism.
Why is Winnie the Pooh called Winnie? But because this is the name of a bear (or rather a she-bear) in the London Zoo, which Milne’s son named a teddy bear. Why is the boy (completely UNNEEDED in the book) named Christopher Robin? But because this is again the real name of Milne’s only son.
This name, by the way, is wild to the English ear, sounding the same as the Russian names “Menelay” or “Sysoy”. Did Milne love his son? (Which at least humanly explained the introduction of an extra character into the fairy tale.) Good question, which I will try to answer a little later.
Let's ask another question first:
- Why did England become the country of CHILDREN'S classical literature?
Most likely, because England is a bone-crushing, repressive, prison country, and the child reader reads what was chosen for him. He does not have his own opinion or it is not articulated. What a child should read is determined by adults - and if children receive interesting children's books, it is only thanks to the tact and understanding of child psychology on the part of adults. The nation of zoologists and travelers certainly has both. But there are also many other things about the English: for example, a tendency to torment and coercion, emotional coldness, idiotism, intellectual charlatanism.
It is quite easy to sell a children's book into bestsellers - children, as captive creatures, will diligently read anything, without really thinking about the true level of the author “brought to their attention.” Therefore, in the world's adult literature, the British have 10% of outstanding authors, but in children's literature, 50%.
For the same reason, English children's books benefit greatly when moved to a different cultural context and when translated into other languages. Errors and inconsistencies are leveled out by high-quality translation, and in addition, foreign readers forgive a lot or take it personally:“we probably misunderstood something”, “English specifics should be taken into account” . In the case of adult literature, low quality can be verified by the degree of reader interest. But in the case of children's literature, adult writers decide for unintelligent readers. And they make this decision, especially in the case of foreign literature, guided by criteria that are far from objective. For example, making allowances for the special “childishness” of his texts allegedly imitated by the author. Or, mistakenly considering the popularity of a CHILDREN'S book in its homeland as a reliable sign of a high artistic level.
If you look at it, the extraordinary success of “Winnie the Pooh” is caused not so much by the properties of the text, but by three “accompanying circumstances.”
Firstly, immediately after publication, Milne managed, through connections in the “writers’ union,” to organize a reading of the book on the radio. Radio was to 1925 what television was to 1965—the book received wild advertising.
Secondly, Milne sold the book, already promoted in England, five years later for commercial use to the Americans, and they released it for a colossal American market a series of performance records voiced by professional actors. (It must be said that Milne’s book, which is replete with dialogue, is a big winner in the audio play format).
Finally, thirdly, in the early 60s, Disney bought the rights to “Winnie the Pooh” and turned the fairy tale into a popular animated series - like “Tom and Jerry”. Although little remained of Milne’s book (down to the introduction of new characters), this finally introduced the English bear cub into the pantheon of heroes of the world’s children’s classics.
As for Russia, the popularity of Winnie the Pooh in our country, even greater than in the West, is caused by other reasons (although essentially the same).
Due to the natural Anglophilia of Soviet children's literature, coming from Chukovsky and Marshak, translations of fragments of “Winnie the Pooh” appeared under Stalin. And in the late 50s, following the wave of popularity of Milne’s book in Eastern Europe, Zakhoder’s translation began to be published in mass editions in the USSR.
But “Winnie the Pooh” became a popular favorite after a series of short cartoons released by Fyodor Khitruk in 1969-1972. Khitruk threw out the ridiculous Christopher Robin and other nonsense from the book, and for 40 minutes did for Milne what he tried to write on 400 pages, but never wrote: a series of funny, ironic and at the same time not so simple stories, designed for children and adults. Milne's humor, undoubtedly present in the book, was preserved and enhanced by Khitruk, and the characters were clearly drawn. It was Khitruk who created the finished image of the Russian Winnie the Pooh, which is much better and more interesting than both the English and American versions. Khitruk himself described his character as follows:
“Winnie the Pooh is constantly filled with some kind of grandiose plans, too complex and cumbersome for the trifling things that he is going to undertake, so the plans collapse when they come into contact with reality. He constantly gets into trouble, but not out of stupidity, but because his world does not coincide with reality. In this I see the comedy of his character and actions. Of course, he loves to eat, but that’s not the main thing.”
Russian cartoons have made an excellent children's work out of Milnov's remnant - with a clear plot, memorable characters and even excellent verses.
Zakhoder’s poems, written for the cartoon and beautifully performed by Evgeny Leonov, are much better than Milson’s stupid nonsense, which is impossible to read in Russian under any circumstances.
Compare the perky:
Winnie the Pooh lives well in the world!
That is why he sings these Songs out loud!
And it doesn't matter what he's doing,
If he doesn't get fat,
But he won’t get fat,
And, on the contrary,
By-
xy-
works!
And this is Milnesian sloppiness:
King,
His Majesty,
Her Majesty asked
So that Her Majesty
I asked the thrush:
Is it possible to deliver oil?
For breakfast for the king.
Court thrush
She said: - Of course,
I'll go and tell the Cow,
As long as I'm awake!
It is difficult to imagine a child (and especially an adult) who would, of his own free will, without protective recommendations, memorize and then recite by heart the cutesy, loyal nonsense of the captain of the British literary troops.
However, let's talk about Milne's son, for whom the fairy tale about Winnie the Pooh was allegedly written.
The English torment of Christopher Robin (the man, not the character) began with the fact that he had the audacity to be born a boy, which caused the indignation of his selfish parents. Both father and mother did not pay any attention to their son, going about their business; raising the child was the responsibility of the maid. In the end, the mother abandoned the family altogether. There are a number of staged photographs of little Christopher with loving parents and toys. In all these photographs the boy looks sad or confused.
Christopher Robin was given a double name because his parents could not agree. At the same time, the egoistic father believed that his name was more important, and the egoistic mother believed that the situation was exactly the opposite. Therefore, among themselves they called the child “Billy,” but only at home, so that at school they would not think that someone had argued with someone else.
Already from this “philosophy of a name” it is clear that the English parents did not care about the boy. Christopher-Robin was bullied by his classmates just for being Christopher-Robin, and “Winnie the Pooh” turned his stay in an English school (essentially a military school with teasing of youngsters and legalized beatings) into hell. Milne Sr. did not read his fairy tales to his son; Christopher Robin himself hated them, and read them (listened to them on record) at the age of 60.
Among other things, Father Milne was a devout Freemason and forbade his son to be baptized. At the same time, the nanny, who cared for the child alone, was religious and taught Christopher to pray. The little boy’s religiosity became another reason for bullying from his classmates. Later, due to the lack of a normal upbringing, a mess formed in the head of poor Christopher, and he married his cousin. The consequence of this marriage was the birth of a daughter with serious genetic abnormalities.
Interestingly, his wife also hated Winnie the Pooh, and the bookstore they ran together did not sell the book. Although it was in great demand and, due to natural advertising, could bring great profit to the family.
In his declining years, Christopher Robin wrote memoirs in which he bitterly complained about his father’s insensitivity and the fact that he turned him into a character in his ridiculous book.
Although the main character of Milne's fairy tale is the resilient, sanguine Winnie the Pooh, the character of Christopher Robin, a neurotic child who was raised as a girl, is most similar to Piglet.
True, Piglets are growing up in a fabulous life. It seems that Christopher Robin has grown into a decent pig, and his literary complaints about his father are largely dictated by envy of the writer, who was accidentally warmed up by fame from a naturally insignificant writer.
The Russian-language Wikipedia is touched by the cultural hipster fairy tale “Made in England”:
“The book recreates the atmosphere of universal love and care, “normal”, protected childhood, without pretensions to solving adult problems, which largely contributed to the later popularity of this book in the USSR, including influencing Boris Zakhoder’s decision to translate this book. "Winnie the Pooh depicts middle-class British family life in the 1920s, later resurrected by Christopher Robin in his memoirs to understand the context in which the fairy tale originated."
This is the beautiful chatter of the weak-minded children of perestroika. In reality, in accordance with the traditions of “family life of the British middle class,” 35-year-old Christopher Robin approached his 65-year-old mother, who came from America, at his father’s funeral and hissed:“When will you die, old b...” . She, again in the spirit of tradition, did not reach into her pocket for an answer, and gave her son a nickel with her fist. An ugly scene ensued. Currently, the heirs of the deceased Christopher Robin are trying to sue billions from the Disney studio, using his paralyzed daughter as a battering ram. All this "Anglo-American cultural dialogue" takes place against the backdrop of teddy bears, runaways and museums of Christopher Robin's childhood.
Speaking of runaways.
Winnie the bear, who gave the name to Christopher Robin's teddy bear, was a prominent element of British chauvinistic propaganda. According to the official legend, the bear was brought to England in 1914 by Canadian “volunteers” who named her after the Canadian state of Winnipeg. The “volunteers” themselves went to die on western front, and the bear was left to the London Zoo - to the delight of local children. What children were talking about for 20 years in the local October and Pioneer press (let's not forget that England is the birthplace of the scout movement).
No less remarkable is the story of the teddy bear. The Teddy bear, which served as the prototype for the classic illustrations for Winnie the Pooh, was created in America and named after President Theodore Roosevelt, who, according to the loyal legend of imperialist agitprop, allegedly refused to shoot a little bear cub while hunting. (In fact, on the contrary, he ordered the death of a half-dead bear tied to a tree).
We already know about the true biography of the great children's writer Milne.
To complete the picture, it is worth adding that with Khitruk, not everything is simple either. During the war he worked for the NKVD as a radio interceptor, and after the war he served as a military translator in occupied Germany. And the mother of the merry fellow Zakhoder, when her son was 14 years old, committed suicide by drinking acetic acid.
In this context, “Winnipuhiada” certainly has its charm. Considering WHAT was the adult alternative to children's literary nonsense.
“Winnie the Pooh” is a fairy tale of the militaristic era with rationed margarine and “trench truth.” Yes, written by an informer who does not love his son and is trying to hide in children’s “children’s literature” from the disgusting and vile reality: with the howling of sirens and bombings. Therefore, if you look closely, there is a hysterical strain in Winnie the Pooh nonsense - when they close their ears and don’t want to know what everyone knows. So the fairy tale sprouted on the meager Soviet soil, where this pan-European problem was elevated to an absolute level. In this sense, the Russian-language encyclopedia is, in general, right. You just need to edit the wording a little:
“Winnie the Pooh reflects fantasies about the illusory family life neurotic middle class of Europeans of the 10-50s of the twentieth century"
In general, as stated in a Soviet poem from the era of stagnation, quite worthy of Wodehouse’s pen:
Winnie the Pooh lives well in the world
He has a wife and children - he is a mug.
Books read in childhood remain with us throughout our lives. These are our most faithful and best friends. They make up that necessary cozy atmosphere of memories, where it is so pleasant to dive from the worry-filled adult bustle. One of the most bright characters this virtual world- Winnie the Pooh. Books and films about him have been translated into 29 languages, but the two most famous characters Soviet and American Winnie the Pooh remain.
Original source
Alan Alexander Milne was a well-known playwright and writer, and the book about Winnie the Pooh is neither the first nor the last in his work. Today, only literary scholars can name a list of his works, but everyone knows the stories about the toy bear and his friends. The prototypes of the heroes were the toys of the writer’s son. Now they are all in the New York public library. was given to Robin for his first birthday, and he received the name Winnie in honor of the Winnipeg bear with whom the boy became very friendly. The second half of the name - Pooh - was given to the hero from a swan that lived on a pond not far from the Milnes' house.
Winnie the Pooh translated by Zakhoder
In Russian, the story about a funny bear cub first appeared in 1958 in Lithuania. However, Boris Zakhoder’s translation received wide popularity and popular love. While looking through an English children's encyclopedia in the library, the writer came across a picture of a nice teddy bear. The story delighted him so much that he sat down to translate Milne’s book. In 1960, a Soviet reader first picked up the book “Winnie the Pooh and the rest.”
Zakhoder always emphasized that he did not strive to literally translate the text of the English writer; his Winnie the Pooh is, rather, a free retelling, a rethinking of the original book. The translator is responsible for a number of finds, without which we now cannot imagine Pooh. Nozzles, Pyhtelok, Shumelok, Shouters and Vopelok were not in English text. Just like the famous sawdust in the bear’s head - Milne’s Winnie the Pooh modestly characterized himself as a bear with “small brains.”
The names of the characters in translation
Zakhoder also took a creative approach to translating into Russian the names of the main characters of the book. Winnie-the-pooh turned into Winnie-the-Pooh, although according to the rules of pronunciation he should have been called Winnie-Poo. For the Russian ear this is not so euphonious, so Zakhoder translated it as a transliteration. Piglet had to be Piglet, since that is what Alan Alexander Milne called him - Piglet. Eeyore's name is Eeyore. The Rabbit remained just a Rabbit, and all the other characters also did not undergo any changes in translation.
Disney released a film adaptation of the adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1966. Interpreted by Wolfgang Reitermann main character appeared to be such a bumpkin - good-natured, stupid, readily admitting his modest mental capabilities. It seems that the only thing he really cares about is honey. At the same time, he does not forget to periodically sing songs about friendship, mutual assistance and other virtues. Looking through all the Disney series in a row, one gets the impression that the American Winnie the Pooh is not at all the key hero of this story. Much more attention is drawn to Piglet with his eternal struggle with his fears, or Eeyore with thoughtful conclusions about the purposefulness of existence.
Khitruk's version
Even the Americans themselves admit that our Winnie the Pooh is better. Reiterman admitted to Khitruk that, despite the fact that he did not understand a word of Russian, he liked the Soviet cartoon more than his own. There is something psychedelic about the fact that our bear's paws are not attached to the body, about some of the clumsiness of the movements, which is actually the result of an animator's mistake in mixing up the phases of the movements of the legs and arms. In addition, our Pooh is more vital than its American counterpart. He is alien to excessive moralizing; with sweet frankness he offers to go on a visit when he discovers that there is nothing to eat at home. He is not averse to philosophizing and is not at all inclined to sacrifice himself to save a friend (remember the episode with the ball and the bees).
One last intrigue
Few people know that there is one secret that neither the Soviet nor the American Winnie the Pooh has revealed. What is his real name? After all, Christopher Robin the bear had a completely different name before the boy became friends with the Winnipeg bear. And his name was simply Edward. Now you know the little secret of your favorite hero.
Like this fiction gave us one of the most charismatic heroes of children's literature. And does it really matter which of them is better - ours or the American Winnie the Pooh, especially since both have enough fans.
Although the versions differ from each other, they have one thing in common - the friendship of a boy and a bear. This became the reason for writing the fairy tale.
Interesting Facts
Anyone who has ever read a book about Vinny or watched a cartoon knows that the bear loves honey. This is actually not true. The real Winnipeg didn't like honey, but she just loved condensed milk. Growing up, Christopher told how he constantly treated her to condensed milk.
No one knows why the author added Pooh to Winnie’s name. Opinions vary. Some say that the bear received this nickname thanks to a swan named Pooh, who lived with friends of the Milns. Others were sure that all this was thanks to the pen with which the author wrote. The company that produced the pen in which the author wrote the work was called Swan Pen, which in translation sounds like “Swan Pen”.
Forest life
The Milnes did not live in London all their lives. In 1925, the whole family successfully moved to an estate near Hartfield. The estate was located near Ashdown Forest, which became a favorite vacation spot for the whole family.
The emergence of Winnie the Pooh
Differing from other stories, shrouded in mysteries and myths, the history of the origin of Winnie the Pooh himself is simple and understandable. Christopher Robin had a toy teddy bear, which was nicknamed Winnie the Pooh. The child also had other toys, which later became prototypes for the characters. Among them were: a pig, a donkey whose tail was actually torn off, a tiger cub and a kangaroo with a baby kangaroo. Milne had already invented the owl and the rabbit himself.
Conclusion
Although the story of Winnie the Pooh himself sometimes seems a little gloomy, the fairy tale itself has been loved by many generations. The story of the friendship between a little boy and a bear cub with sawdust in his head has stuck in the hearts of millions of children around the world, and perhaps still survives us.
