Baboon Animation, IQI developing Winnie-the-Pooh series as Disney exclusivity ends

Winnie-the-Pooh was created by AA Milne

US-based Baboon Animation and IQI Media are working together on a series spin-off from a planned animated feature film that will tell the origin story of classic children’s character Winnie-the-Pooh.

The feature film prequel to AA Milne’s classic book Winnie-the-Pooh will be directed by Baboon founder Mike de Seve (Madagascar), who will co-write with his fellow DreamWorks alumnus John Reynolds (The Mr Peabody & Sherman Show).

Baboon and IQI have set a planned release date of 2024 for the feature, which will be followed immediately by the series.

Another DreamWorks alum, Charlene Kelly, who is now chief intellectual property officer at IQI owner at Winvest, and Khiow Hui Lim, the founder of IQI and chief strategic officer at Winvest, will executive produce the projects.

Baboon said it is hoping to replicate the success of recent reboots of classic children’s IP such as Peter Rabbit and Paddington.

The Walt Disney Company had held exclusivity on the IP since the 1960s, but since AA Milne’s US copyright to the character expired at the end of 2021, 95 years since publication of the first story, the IP has entered the public domain in the US.

As a result, an unrelated horror film titled Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood & Honey is in the works, while the UK copyright is due to expire on January 1, 2027.

Disney still owns the copyright to its version of Winnie-the-Pooh and characters it created based on Milne’s original stories, such as Tigger. In May, the Mouse House announced a musical shortform project featuring Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends as it looks to continue its association with the brand.

“We’re telling the surprising origin story of the ‘silly young bear’ and his friends, when they were still kids, in a way designed to connect with 21st-century kids,” said Reynolds.

Kelly added: “AA Milne’s bear has aged gracefully in the last 100 years. But what happened, back when, that made him and his pals who they are in the book? A heck of a big adventure, that’s what – one that needs a big screen. Audiences will be transported to somewhere they never expected.”