By KEVIN HOOVER
Critically divisive yet indisputably commercially successful, 2023’s Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey capitalized on the 1926 version of the beloved children’s character slipping into the public domain. Despite catcalls from those decrying the film merely for existing, horror’s predilection for bloodying up all that is sacred should’ve left no doubt in anyone’s mind that such a project would happen. While initially scheduled to bypass cinemas, fever-pitched curiosity led to a worldwide theatrical release for Pooh and Piglet’s rampage across Hundred Acre Wood. Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield’s twisted new take on the teddy bear proved to be a money maker, and in the moviemaking business, cash supersedes criticism. WINNIE-THE-POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY II was given the go-ahead while the first was still the talk of befuddled genre fans. The sequel, fueled by a bigger bankroll and benefiting from a longer production schedule, finds Pooh flanked by a few familiar names. Most notable is Tigger, recently freed from copyright confinement, and the sagely yet manipulative Owl.
Spearheading several cast interviews for RUE MORGUE in advance of the film’s upcoming theatrical run from March 26 to 28, Frake-Waterfield discusses his latest bid to further fracture childhood memories.
The original Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey was a commercial success that surprised many, with outlets reporting box office receipts totaling somewhere in the millions. Not bad for a film made for a few grand. What lessons did you learn from that first shoot that helped shape BLOOD AND HONEY II?
Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield, destroyer of childhoods…
The actual budget was even less than what was reported. The principal photography was only $20,000, and then we did reshoots and stuff on top of that, but it made approximately something like $6 million. That paved the way for us to go into a sequel with a higher budget. There were constraints on the first film, working on such a limited budget and not knowing the scale. Initially, it was just going into a streaming or DVD market, and then suddenly, it’s getting shown to the world. With the sequel, I knew from the outset what scope it was going to have, so this has definitely gone more in the direction I wanted the original to go. I didn’t want to be massively constrained by the limitations of the first film for the sequel, so I decided to make the first a film-within-a-film. When you watch the sequel, that first film exists within that universe, which is how we’re able to justify and explain a lot of changes in terms of the actors and the looks of the creatures. Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet look completely different. Pooh, for example, his gloves are literally cleaning gloves I got from the store downstairs. In the sequel, we have a studio that worked on the looks of their hands and faces. They’ve worked on big stuff like Voldemort and Captain America, so they look way better. Matt Leslie (Summer of ’84) and I cultivated the story over about four months before we went into principal photography – significantly longer than the first film – and we’re happy with the direction it went and what the end product is. There’s way more story involved. We’ve got a lot of the back story of the creatures and how they came to be, and Christopher Robin is now the central protagonist. We tried to keep it to a tight 90 minutes as well. It’s a dramatically focused film, but ultimately, it’s still horror, and you have to give the fans what they want – crazy death scenes, and that’s what we have. I think there’s about 50 or 60 deaths in this one.
Last year’s film was all about Winnie-the-Pooh and, to a lesser degree, Piglet, but this project sees the addition of Tigger and Owl. What are their individual personalities like, and how do they complement one another?
I’d love to introduce everyone – Kanga and Roo, for example – but the more of these characters you have, the more the quality would drop because of trying to take on too much. I thought four was the right number. Tigger is a fan favorite; He went into the public domain in January, so we could bring him in, but the fourth character was a bit more open. I decided to go with Owl because I thought he had something unique compared to all the other creatures. He flies, so it gives him this interesting aspect, and he’s also the wise one. Something me and Matt were chatting about for a while was that we didn’t want the characters to each feel like the same thing. They have different mannerisms and ways of killing people. Each drew from some of the horror greats and my personal favorite villains, and I tried to interject their elements. Pooh, I’d say he acts like Michael Myers or Jason – he’s the juggernaut. He likes to get in and kill as quickly as he can. Tigger is a lot more sadistic. He’s got elements of Freddy Krueger or Art the Clown in that he enjoys the suffering. Piglet has Texas Chain Saw Massacre vibes. He’s got the apron, and he’s a bit gross. Owl is interesting because he’s the one steering things. Winnie-the-Pooh is always linked to being the bear with no brain, but he’s also like the leader. Owl is the one who influences him. He guides where the group goes and the actions they’re going to be taking. He’s a little like Pinhead in that he loves to give out monologues.
For as much that horror fans love to express their weariness over constant remakes and reboots of dormant franchises, original works are frequently over-criticized for daring to try something new. Make your case to those who may thumb their nose at WINNIE-THE-POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY II for being too hokey.
We get a lot of criticism saying this is unoriginal just because it’s based on an IP. But that gives you a hook, and then you expand out and do something which hasn’t been done. There’s never been a version like this before. I purposely wanted to introduce elements of some of the characters I love the most and I know other horror fans loved growing up. Hopefully, people do see a little Freddy Krueger in Tigger, but even though you’ve got those aspects, this is still something completely different. This isn’t formulaic; It’s not a bunch of kids in a cabin, and then someone turns up and slaughters them. The structure is very atypical. It isn’t like your normal horror film. And the end is absolutely mad! there’s so much craziness happening there.
Tickets are now available for WINNIE-THE-POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY II, in theaters March 26th – 28th.
