The Popcorn Stand: He’s the Grand Poohbah

With all the hoopla surrounding the Trump inauguration this week, I can’t believe I missed Winnie the Pooh Day, which was Wednesday.

Winnie the Pooh Day is celebrated in honor of the author who inspired what eventually became the Disney franchise, Alexander Alan Milne, who was born in January 1882. Milne wrote two books “Winnie-The-Pooh” and “The House at Pooh Corner” in the 1920s that eventually led to the Winnie the Pooh we know today.

Never been much of a Disney fan even before my disdain for the Disney-owned ESPN. (Man, I’ll use any excuse to take a cheap shot at ESPN).

Not that I ever disliked Disney, but for some reason as a kid, I could take or leave Disney. My parents took me to Disneyland when I was 6 and all I can remember about that trip was I balled like a baby during the “Alice in Wonderland” ride.

But I’ve always liked Winnie The Pooh. He’s a pretty cool guy. (Although the original black bear Milne’s books were based on was actually female).

He never took himself too seriously. He was always a good friend. He always had his priorities straight. And who wouldn’t want to live like Winnie The Pooh?

Winnie could always sleep in and somehow he always had all the honey he could eat. And as a kid, I always wondered how even though he was a bear and lived and hibernated in a cave, he still had a bed.

Anyway, you’ll never hear me pooh-pooh The Pooh and Tigger Too.

— Charles Whisnand