New Winnie the Pooh Musical will Delight and Inspire You

Who doesn’t love a musical? If you have ever wanted to see your favorite Hundred Acre Wood friends in song form here is your chance! This new musical will delight and inspire you.

Musical Adaptation

Featuring songs by the Sherman Brothers’ and by A.A. Milne, this beautifully crafted musical stage adaptation is set deep in the Hundred Acre Wood and told with stunning life-size puppetry through the eyes of the Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, and their best friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit and Owl (and Tigger too!). 

Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation is developed and presented by renowned family entertainment creator Jonathan Rockefeller (whose spectacular puppetry is omnipresent in the acclaimed productions of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show and Paddington Gets in a Jam).

Performances will take place at Times Square’s Theatre Row (410 West 42^nd Street) beginning October 21, 2021. Tickets are now available by visiting www.WinnieThePoohShow.com

Curious to learn more about the history of Winnie the Pooh and the musical show? Read about Walt Disney’s involvement in Winnie the Pooh along with the amazing songs produced by the Sherman brothers below. There is also some great information about award-winning Rockefeller Productions as well!

Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh has been enjoyed by millions of readers and viewers ever since English author A.A. Milne first chronicled the adventures of Christopher Robin’s friends in the Hundred Acre Wood in 1926. The books, featuring illustrations by English illustrator E.H. Shephard, have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

The theatrical rights to the Pooh stories were acquired by Disney in 1961, with an original intent to produce a feature film. However, after production began, Walt Disney decided to make short featurettes instead. The three featurettes were subsequently incorporated into the feature The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

This was the last film in the Disney canon in which Walt Disney had personal involvement. The first featurette, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, was released during his lifetime; while Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day was still in development. Disney’s Winnie the Pooh has since become one of the best-loved and most successful franchises in history. 

Sherman Brothers

The Sherman Brothers are the multi-talented Oscar and Grammy Award-winning American songwriting duo of Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman. The Sherman Brothers wrote more motion-picture musical scores than any other songwriting team in film history.  Among these are the Disney classics Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and The Aristocats.

The Sherman Brothers worked directly with Walt Disney on two of the first Winnie the Pooh featurettes: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (which garnered a Grammy Award nomination) and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.

The brothers won a Grammy Award for the third featurette: Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too. All three featurettes were incorporated into the 1977 musical film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

The duo also wrote songs for Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore and The Tigger Movie, with their music also featured in the movie Christopher Robin. 

Production

Jonathan Rockefeller and Rockefeller Productions embraced the challenge of re-imaging Disney’s Winnie the Pooh for a new audience by bringing it to life on stage in puppet form.

The company has garnered global accolades, from critics and audiences alike, for their production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, with 14 productions playing on 4 continents. An extended run of the show in New York City culminated in Drama Desk and Off-Broadway Alliance nominations, as did their production of Paddington Gets in a Jam, which tours China and the US later this year.

Other projects include Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, which plays on three continents, Mr. Men and Little Miss Show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the award-winning short film, 10 Little Rubber Ducks, written by preeminent author/illustrator Eric Carle.

Are you planning to watch the musical adaptation of Winnie the Pooh? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook!