The Bizarre Reason Why China Has Banned ‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey’
The past several years have seen several buzzworthy horror films released — but none has been more controversial than the 2023 flick, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey.
The slasher retelling of the beloved children’s stories made the rounds on social media well before it was released, drumming up significant fan interest. When the movie was released, it became a surprise hit. It prompted a sequel order and many positive responses from horror fans.
While many are already making plans to see the sequel, citizens of China shouldn’t expect to catch it in theaters. The country banned Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey for a rather interesting reason.
‘Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey’ became an unexpected hit
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey uses characters from the classic children’s stories by A.A. Milne. The slasher film was released in the United States on Feb. 15, 2013, to surprise box office success. According to IMDb, the film was made on a shoestring budget of just $100,000. It was reportedly filmed on location in the Ashdown Forest in England, the original inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood.
The film ended up making over $4 million worldwide, as reported by IMDb, shocking critics and those who expected the unexpected movie to bomb. Rather, fans loved the gory take on the classic story. Online discussion furthered the wave of interest in new horror film.
A sequel has already been greenlit
Writer/director Rhys Frake-Waterfield was more than ready to continue the story that he started in Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. In fact, in light of the film’s surprising success at the box office, it has already been greenlit for a sequel. Frake-Waterfield recently admitted that the sequel will have a budget that is five times higher than the first film.
“A lot of people are loving the first one,” Frake-Waterfield said. “But I know what we can really do with the second, and how we can make it even more fun and goofy.”
He has already embarked on the writing process for the sequel, and has set an ambitious target release date of February 2024. If fans are lucky, they could get to see even more gory goodness well before next summer.
Why was ‘Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey’ banned in China?
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey isn’t the only Disney-themed horror film in the works. Reportedly, Frake-Waterfield is working on horror versions of Disney classics like Bambi and Peter Pan. However, those living in China might not get to see any of those projects, if the release of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey is any indication.
As reported by the Guardian, the film was abruptly pulled from screening schedules recently without any explanation given. However, the publication reports that some Chinese citizens see the character of Winnie-the-Pooh as a taunt of China’s President Xi Jinping. In fact, Chinese censors have reportedly banned searches for the character in the past. No one in the Chinese government has directly confirmed this, though.
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey isn’t the only film China banned in recent years. According to CNN, the 2020 film Monster Hunter was banned in China after a particular scene was perceived as racist.
The 2006 film The Da Vinci Code was also reportedly banned in China, getting pulled from cinemas only 20 days after it was released, according to The Things. The controversial storyline had many religious leaders taking aim at the project. Several countries took action to pull it from distribution entirely.
