Winnie-the-Pooh, the beloved honey-loving bear created by A.A. Milne, marked his 100th anniversary this week, celebrated with a range of events including special programming on the BBC’s Radio 4, a Royal Mail stamp collection, and a commemorative Google doodle. Since its publication on October 14, 1926, the original Winnie-the-Pooh book, illustrated by E.H. Shepard, quickly found success, selling 150,000 copies in the United States by the end of that year.

Despite the character’s popularity with children around the world, the creator and his son had ambivalent feelings towards Pooh. Milne reportedly resented the bear’s overwhelming fame overshadowing his other literary works, while Christopher Robin Milne lamented that the character’s success had, in effect, stolen his childhood. Pooh's tone and style have also drawn criticism from some literary figures. Dorothy Parker, writing under her pseudonym Constant Reader, and authors like P.G. Wodehouse and Evelyn Waugh, expressed disdain for the bear’s sweet, innocent nature. Nevertheless, generations of readers embraced Pooh, who was ranked seventh in the BBC’s Big Read poll in 2003.

Winnie-the-Pooh’s status as Britain’s quintessential bear is now being challenged by Michael Bond’s Paddington Bear, whose first book was published almost 32 years later, on October 13, 1958. Both characters emerged from the shadow of war—Pooh as an escape from the trauma of World War I’s Somme battlefield, and Paddington shaped by the experiences of evacuees during World War II. Their origins differ: Pooh was based on a Harrods toy bear, while Paddington came from a lonely teddy Bond found in a London toyshop on Christmas Eve. Their settings contrast as well—Pooh inhabits the pastoral Hundred Acre Wood, whereas Paddington arrives in bustling postwar London.

While both bears enjoy royal patronage, Paddington has been regarded as reflecting contemporary Britain. The character featured prominently at Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee, and recent film adaptations, alongside a new musical, have refreshed Paddington’s image. In contrast, Pooh’s adaptations have been more varied in reception, ranging from Disney’s 1966 animated film, which Shepard criticized as a misrepresentation, to the recent independently produced horror film "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey," created after the copyright in the United States expired in 2022.

Additionally, the character of Winnie-the-Pooh has taken on unexpected cultural symbolism. In China, where President Xi Jinping was compared visually to Pooh starting in 2013, the bear became a subtle emblem of political dissent, used notably by protesters in Hong Kong in 2019. An article in a Canadian medical journal suggested that Pooh and his friends might represent different forms of neurodivergence or mental health conditions, with characters like Tigger embodying ADHD and Piglet representing anxiety. Author Matt Haig has described Pooh as “the ultimate self-help book,” noting that Milne’s creation offers a sense of comfort and innocence amid the fast pace of modern life, where children spend increasing time with screens rather than outdoors. In Milne’s words, the world of Pooh remains "an enchanted place" where a boy and his bear can forever play.