Author's Note: In Which The Author Has Something To Say
Please note that this story is loosely based on the Pooh works of A. A. Milne, the classic and modern Disney films (like The Tigger Movie and Piglet's Big Movie, as well as a few other Pooh films that before the 2011 one), the 2011 Disney film (which I almost mostly inspired this story out of), a few of the Disney TV shows, and the 2021 Off-Broadway musical.
So, who are all in this new story? Well...here they are now!
Our Cast of Characters (some actors will be return to their roles from the actual 2021 Pooh musical, others will be reprising from other Pooh works, a few new faces will be joining the franchise, all the animal characters as well as the Backson will be puppets, and everyone else other than them will be humans):
Mr. Narrator (John Cleese, reprising his role from 2011's Winnie the Pooh): An fancy-dresssed fellow that interacts with the characters. He can be quite handy as sometimes the citizens of the wood may get into a sticky situation or two that may require his help. He's quite friendly to everyone, and as he tells the story, we even get to explore a nice bond between him and all the friendly faces that live in the Hundred Acre Wood.
Winnie the Pooh (Jake Bazel): A willy, nilly, silly old bear who (while looking for honey mostly) often finds himself in the middle of an adventure, or even just in the most simplest of situations. He's quite helpful to his friends, and he loves them just as much as he likes eating smackerel after smackerel of honey.
Queen Bee (Tara Strong): A royal bee queen who often tries to protect her hive, only for Pooh to inadvertently destroy it due to his love of honey. She soon becomes best friends with Pooh once she apologizes, and he shows her all around the Hundred-Acre Wood, making the 3 plot points somehow collide with each other in the process.
Tigger (Chris Palmeri): A bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy tiger (or a Tigger, as he calls himself) who always loves to have fun, fun, fun, fun, fun! Wherever he goes, you'll find him bouncing all over the woods. He thinks the most wonderful thing about himself is that he's the only one of his kind, and he's mostly right.
Piglet (Kirsty Moon): A little pig who's often a little shy or timid, but she'll eventually warm up to whoever she may meet. Her best friends are Pooh, Tigger, Kessie, and Kanga. Pooh often teaches Piglet about being brave (something she keeps having trouble with), and he'll even show her what being a true friend really means.
Kessie (Stephanie D'Abruzzo, reprising her role from 2001's The Book of Pooh): A sweet, small, friendly bluebird who loves exploring with her friends and flying around the woods. She's even quite imaginative as she also loves playing pretend with Pooh.
Kanga (Kristina Dixon): A motherly kangaroo who loves exploring the world around her with Pooh and his friends. Aside from caring for her son Roo, she still can be just as innocent and childlike as her friends.
Roo (Emilie Rose Danno): A young little kangaroo who's always up for fun, and maybe even a little adventure. He's best friends with Tigger, Pooh, Kessie, and Piglet. He idolizes Tigger, and wants to be just like him when he's older.
Eeyore (Brad Garrett, reprising his role from 2018's Christopher Robin and Ralph Breaks The Internet): A emotionless donkey who (despite his deep monotone) expresses his feelings by what he says. He's a very loyal friend to everyone, and always takes pride in what he does. Even though he may sound sad or even quite grumpy, his words speak louder than his actions.
Rabbit (Tom Kenny, reprising his role from 2011's Winnie the Pooh): A perfectionist hare who is usually seen gardening (at least until Tigger bounces in and ruins his growing veggies). Even how he plans things are to the point. Nevertheless, he's a very helpful friend to all in the woods, and he does whatever he can to solve any problem he or his pals come across.
Owl (Emanuel Elpenord): A smart, know-it-all of an owl who writes memoirs, can decipher notes (not quite easily), and who gives great advice to anyone who needs it. Whenever he's not found doing any of that, he can be seen reading, or even telling a story to his friends about his great Uncle Waldo.
Gopher (Brian Hull): A small brown mole who's often digging tunnels all around the woods. In this version of the Winnie the Pooh musical, he's added to the story because he wasn't in the 2011 movie or in Christopher Robin, so this at least makes up for him as for Kessie. Unlike the Disney shorts, he does frequently interact with Pooh and the rest of the gang during all 3 stories, and he even does believe Rabbit's Backson plan later in the third story, and participates in said plan (as does everyone else).
Christopher Robin (Jack Boulter, reprising his role from 2011's Winnie the Pooh): A young boy who's been playing with Pooh and the gang as long as he could remember. When he has to leave for school on the last day of summer, he tells Pooh that he'll always be with him, and that Pooh is more than just a Pooh bear. But after a day of finding and befriending the mysterious Backson, he promises he'll never leave Pooh's side until he's all grown up.
Darby (Chloe Grace Moretz, reprising her role from 2007's My Friends Tigger and Pooh): Christopher Robin's sister who also loves playing with Pooh and all his friends. Once Rabbit plans to trap the Backson and enlists her help, she pretends that she, Pooh, Tigger, and Queen Bee are the Super Sleuths, a team of brave heroes who can solve any mystery.
The Backson (Blake Shelton): A strange creature that Owl's great Uncle Waldo has been hoping to catch, but he never did. He first appears at the climax of the third story becoming friends with everyone, and he joins Pooh and his friends as a permanent resident of the Hundred Acre Wood.
That's the whole cast! Here are the many classic songs that'll be in the show:
Winnie the Pooh Theme
Up, Down, Touch The Ground
The Tummy Song
Rumbly In My Tumbly
Think Heavy Thoughts
The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers
The Whoop-Dee-Dooper Loopty-Looper Alley-Ooper Bounce
The Backson Song
Think, Think, Think A Little Harder
That's Just What We Do
Winnie the Pooh (Reprise)
By the way, for all of the songs (including Winnie the Pooh Theme, The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers, and Winnie the Pooh Theme Reprise.), they will have their lyrics written so you get the gist of what they'll sound like in the show. As for that "new adventure" I teased in the description, here it is in full detail:
The narrator takes us through Christopher's Robin's room and into the pages of the Hundred Acre Wood, where Winnie the Pooh introduces himself and his friends to the audience.
When Christopher Robin has to leave for school on the last day of summer, he tells Pooh that he'll always be with him, and that Pooh is more than just a Pooh bear. The next morning, as much as he misses Christopher Robin, Pooh just can't help but to look for honey to calm himself down. He takes flight on a red balloon Chris had left him, and tries to get some from the honey tree (his usual honey hunting spot). But unbeknownst to him, a small but fierce bee queen ruins his chances. This turns the story of the show into not just one, but 3 original Pooh stories that have never been seen before:
1. Pooh tries to get honey from the Honey Tree, only to stumble upon the fiesty Queen Bee, who thinks he's destroying her hive. Queen Bee gets her chance to shoo him away, but once he leaves, Pooh realizes that she may have been lonely in the honey tree all those years ago. So Pooh decides to be friends with Queen Bee, and he shows her all around the Hundred-Acre Wood. (Her tour all around the woods becomes a framing device for the show.) She eventually figures out that you can't just be in one spot all your life. Sometimes you have to explore what's around you, and you might just enjoy life for what it is.
2. Tigger teaches Pooh, Queen Bee, Roo, and Piglet all about being a Tigger at his "officially o-fish-sish-all" Class of Tiggers. Only problem is, everyone but Tigger himself can't do the Whoop-Dee-Dooper-Loopty-Looper-Alley-Ooper Bounce. Tigger tries to show them how with more than a few complicated steps. but they can't even do it right! Once Pooh tries doing the bounce his own way, Tigger comes to learn that you might not need to do every step at once, but if you just go with what you know, then anyone can play (or bounce) their own way.
3. Owl reads a story to everyone about his Great Uncle Waldo, and how he tried finding a lost creature called the Backson. Kessie sets off to search for it along with Pooh, Tigger, Queen Bee, Mr. Narrator, Eeyore, Kanga, Christopher Robin, Darby, Gopher, and Rabbit. Once they seem lost in their tracks, Rabbit devises a plan to trap it: they'll make a trail leading to a pit. When their pit's all finished though, Pooh's thoughts of honey overtake him, and they all fall in. Luckily, Pooh gets some letters from the pages of the book they're in, and builds a staircase back up to land. But once they all escape, someone rumbly hits the woods. Pooh walks over, and discovers that this "rumbly someone" is a new friend: The Backson! They've found him! And once he shows everyone how nice and friendly he is, everyone accepts him as a resident of the Hundred-Acre Wood.
With the 3 stories all wrapped up, the narrator closes the book, everyone comes together, takes their final bows, and Pooh and all his friends say goodbye to the audience.
So, with that all out of the way, I invite everyone here today to sit back relax, and enjoy the first (and only) Wattpad performance of...Disney's Winnie the Pooh: A Brand New Story! Here we go!