'The Testing of a Patriot' (Punch, 1915).
E. H. Shepard was a British children's book illustrator and cartoonist. Between 1907 and 1953, he contributed political cartoons and occasional comics to Punch magazine. He was particularly renowned for his skills in portraying anthropomorphic animals in rustic forest settings. This gift came to great use when livening up the pages of A. A. Milne's children's book 'Winnie-the-Pooh' (1926). Shepard designed all the major characters; Winnie, Piglet, Christopher Robin, Eeyore, Rabbit, Tigger, Owl, Kanga and Roo, as well as their favorite habitat, the Hundred Acre Wood. The book became a global bestseller, and its stories were adapted into various media. Thanks to the efforts of Stephen Slesinger and the Walt Disney Studios, 'Winnie-the-Pooh' even became one of the most lucrative franchises on the planet. Comics could not stay behind. E. H. Shepard is additionally widely regarded as the best of all the illustrators of Kenneth Grahame's classic children's book 'The Wind in the Willows' (1908).
Early life and career
Ernest Howard Shepard was born in 1879 in St. John's Wood, London. His father was an architect and his mother a watercolor painter. Between 1897 and 1902, Shepard studied at the Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea, London, and afterwards at the Royal Academy. His main graphic influence was John Tenniel. After graduation, Shepard was initially active as a painter. Two of his paintings were accepted by the Royal Academy exhibition and the Paris Salon. But Shepard felt very insecure about his painting skills, so instead he became a book illustrator and cartoonist. In the mid-1900s, Shepard started contributing humorous cartoons to various magazines and newspapers, like The Illustrated London News, the London Opinion and Punch. During the First World War, Shepard served as Second Lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery. By 1917, he was promoted to Captain and Major. Stationed in France and Flanders, Belgium, he saw combat during the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Passchendaele. In 1917-1918, the military officer was also sent to Italy, fighting at Montello Hill and Vittorio Veneto. Shepard's drawing talent came to practical use when he sketched the combat fields for the Intelligence Department. Although he survived the war and was honored with a Military Cross, his elder brother perished during the Battle of the Somme.
'Hunting the Bug Bear', political cartoon by E. H. Shepard (Punch, 25 November 1936). Benito Mussolini, a Japanese man and Adolf Hitler go hunting after Soviet Russia.
Punch
In 1907, Ernest Shepard's first drawings appeared in Punch. His cartoons had been noted by veteran cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne, who helped him get published in this magazine's pages. Shepard's wife, Florence Chaplin, was the grandchild of Punch founder Ebenezer Landells. Even during his military service in 1915-1919, Shepard kept sending illustrations to this magazine. Back in civilian life, Shepard moved up the ladder. In 1921, he became a permanent member of Punch's editorial cartoonist staff, and twelve years later, he was promoted to political cartoonist. Although Shepard drew dozens of cartoons about national and international politics, he always felt caricaturing wasn't his thing. His comedy was too gentle to make his political satire bite. Nevertheless, by 1935 Shepard's importance within Punch's pages was such that he succeeded Leonard Raven Hill as "Second Cartoonist" and, in 1945, Bernard Partridge as "Senior Cartoonist".
'Beginner's Luck' (Punch, 29 August 1928).
While most of Shepard's work for Punch consists of one-panel cartoons, he occasionally drew some multi-panel sequential gags. Most are presented in pantomime. 'The Testing of a Patriot' (1915), for instance, shows how the average citizen is delighted with the military victories of the national army. His concerns and enthusiasm are depicted in several successive panels. However, in the final image, he melts down when a "heavy new taxation" to pay for the military costs is announced. 'A Venetian Glas-Blower's Tragedy' (date unknown) shows how a Venetian glas-blower takes tremendous care at making a Venetian glass, only for an over-enthusiastic lady to grab the object and accidentally crush it in her arms. Another comic mocking women is 'Beginner's Luck' (1928), in which a young female driver gushes over the road, eventually crashing into a fire alarm, summonning all the firemen in the vicinity to the place of accident.
'The Modern Struwwelpeter'.
In 1935, Jan Struther (pseudonym of Joyce Maxton Graham, author of 'Mrs. Miniver') wrote a parody of Heinrich Hoffmann's infamous 19th-century children's book 'Der Struwwelpeter'. Hoffmann's original featured cautionary tales set to rhyme, usually with disobedient children dying horrific deaths. Struther's version, 'The Modern Struwwelpeter', isn't a direct parody, but a pastiche. It features modernized "scare 'em straight" stories, but with a witty, satirical undertone. Struther's 'Modern Struwwelpeter' was first serialized in Punch, with black-and-white illustrations by E. H. Shepard. In 1936, the stories were colorized and released in book format by Long Meadow, Guildford.
Shepard's cartoons and illustrations were a staple of Punch for half a century. R. G. G. Price, author of 'A History of Punch' (1957), praised Shepard's work for its "distinguished use of movement" that made the work of his colleagues in Punch "look static" in comparison. In 1949, Shepard handed his position as "Senior Cartoonist" over to Leslie Illingworth, but kept drawing cartoons for Punch until 1953. That year, Punch received a new editor, Malcolm Muggeridge, who, as part of his new management, let Shepard go.
Illustrations for 'Corsican Rhapsody For Pipes' by P.M. Hubbard (Punch, 22 November 1950).
A. A. Milne
E. H. Shepard is often named in one breath with author A. A. Milne. Both debuted in Punch roughly around the same time: Milne in 1906 and Shepard in 1907. Milne was assistant-editor and contributor of essays, humorous poems and short stories. It only seemed natural that both men would once collaborate together. Yet initially, Milne didn't regard Shepard as a good choice to illustrate his writings. When he eventually gave him a chance, he quickly took back his initial criticism. He was impressed with Shepard's graphic interpretations of his poems about childhood nostalgia, serialized in Punch between 1923 and 1924. These poems were later collected in book format under the titles 'When We Were Very Young' (1924), 'Now We Are Six' (1927) and 'Year In, Year Out' (1952). They also laid the foundations of what would become Milne and Shepard's signature work: 'Winnie-the-Pooh' (1926).
'Winnie-the-Pooh' (1926).
Winnie-the-Pooh
In 1923-1924, A. A. Milne wrote a series of poems about childhood nostalgia, illustrated by Shepard and published in Punch. They were woven around a young boy, Christopher Robin, whose name, character and physical appearance were directly modeled after Milne's own son. Shepard made several sketches of the child, so the resemblance would be perfect. Although publishers were skeptical whether a juvenile poetry book would sell, Milne and Shepard's 'When We Were Very Young' (1924) turned out to be an unexpected success. It motivated Milne to write sequels. 'Now We Are Six' (1927) was another poetry volume, but 'Winnie-the-Pooh' (1926) and 'The House at Pooh Corner' (1928) are short story collections, with each chapter following a self-contained narrative. The books introduced several new characters, most based on the stuffed toy animals of Milne's son. Milne kept the names his child gave them, with incorrect spelling intact. The real-life Christopher Robin had a teddy bear, Winnie, named after a real-life Canadian black bear he had seen in the London Zoo. Although this zoo bear was female, Winnie-the-Pooh is male. The addition "pooh" was lifted from a pet swan owned by a friend of Milne's family.
The first official 'Winnie-the-Pooh' story, 'The Wrong Sort of Bees', was printed in The London Evening News of 24 December 1925. For this Christmas special, Milne hired a different illustrator, J. H. Dowd, but afterwards, E.H. Shepard became the exclusive illustrator for all Winnie-the-Pooh stories. It is often mistakenly claimed that Shepard modeled Winnie on the teddy bear owned by Milne's son, but in reality, the design was based on the teddy of Shepard's son. This bear, Growler, had a cuddlier look, more fitting of the personality Milne wanted to give the character. Winnie-the-Pooh is Christopher Robin's favorite toy and thus his best friend and confidant. Overall, the bear is nice, polite and loyal. His only vices are his naïveté and gluttony. Winnie always finds excuses to eat "a little something", even if he already had breakfast, lunch or dinner. He is not above asking friends for food, and sometimes even takes it. But Winnie is like a toddler. He is such a charming dumb innocent that one simply cannot be angry with him. Other characters (and the reader) easily forgive him for his misdeeds. Winnie also has a sense of ethics. If he realizes he made a mistake, he apologizes and tries to fix it. And whenever his friends are in need, he helps them.
Sequential illustrations from 'Eeyore loses a Tail' (1926).
The real-life Christopher Robin also had a toy pig (Piglet), tiger (Tigger), donkey (Eeyore) and two kangaroos (Kanga and Roo). In Milne's stories, Piglet is Winnie's timid sidekick. Tigger is the complete opposite in personality. The wild, overenthusiastic tiger is full of energy and often brags about his abilities. He is especially fond of jumping, which he calls "bouncing". Many young readers have named Tigger their favorite character. Eeyore the donkey is a gloomy cynic, almost always in a depressed state. Milne made him this way because Christopher Robin's toy donkey had a saggy head, giving him a sad look. Contrary to the Walt Disney version most people are familiar with, the original Eeyore in Milne's stories is not as pitiful. He is arrogant and considers himself smarter than the rest. But in reality, Eeyore's spelling abilities and overall intelligence don't surpass the others. Finally, Kanga is the mother of little Roo.
Winnie and a Heffalump.
Two other major characters, Rabbit and Owl, weren't based on Christopher Robin's plush friends, but came from Milne's imagination. They are also not toys, but real-life animals. Shepard deliberately gave them a more naturalistic look as opposed to the fluffy appearance of the other cast members. Rabbit often takes initiative whenever a problem has to be solved. The others accept his authority, since he is the only one able to read and write without spelling errors. Nevertheless, he can be bossy and often doesn't think his plans through, with dire results. Owl is also self-important. He deliberately uses "difficult" words and tries to present himself as wise and all-knowing. Yet he is a bad speller and often holds long-winded speeches that deviate from the subject. Milne additionally created fictional creations within the books themselves. Winnie, Piglet and other animals are afraid of strange, ill-defined animals they call "Heffalumps" and "Woozles". They assume these creatures are always lurking somewhere, planning to steal Winnie's honey. In reality, these elephant-like monsters are pure figments of their overactive imagination.
Milne developed a small but believable universe around his characters. All action is centered in or close to the Hundred Acre Forest. The location was based on the 500 Acre Forest in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, where Milne and his son often spent their holidays. Various locations in the stories have a real-life equivalent there, though understandably not as colorful as in the books. One of these is the bridge where Winnie and his friends play their "poohsticks" game - throwing sticks on the upstream side of a bridge, to see which one first appears on the downstream side. From time to time, Shepard and Milne visited Ashdown Forest to made picturesque nature sketches. Milne showed him the spots that were important to the story. He also let Shepard design a map of the Hundred Acre Wood, to give readers an idea where all the recurring locations in 'Winnie-the-Pooh' are situated, making the characters' world more real.
'The House At Pooh Corner' (1928).
Over time, generations of readers have been touched by 'Winnie-the-Pooh'. Children can relate to Winnie and his animal friends because they express similar child-like behavior. They too have difficulty with spelling and frequently mispronounce or misinterpret things. Winnie and Piglet's irrational fear of Heffalumps and Woozles is also very recognizable. Young readers can enjoy the fact that a child protagonist, Christopher Robin, is the voice of reason. He is smarter than all the animals together, but still to a believable level of a boy of his age. Like Christopher Robin, young readers often pretend their toys are real personalities. In their vivid imagination, any atmospheric location becomes far larger and epic than it actually is. The Hundred Acre Wood is a comparable example. It's like any other forest, but to Christopher Robin and his friends it's the only world they know. A common theme in 'Winnie-the-Pooh' is friendship. The characters sometimes squabble, but their arguments rarely last long. All in all, they enjoy each other's company. The characters also frequently discuss their feelings, an example of their trust in one another. The strongest bond is found between Christopher Robin and Winnie. In the final chapter of 'The House of Pooh', Christopher is growing up and says goodbye to Winnie, since he can no longer play with him in the Hundred Acre Wood, like they did before. Winnie promises him that he'll always be waiting if he should ever return. This melancholic ending delves into a common fear of children about becoming an adult. A dreadful day when they can "no longer have fun".
'Winnie-the-Pooh'.
While children are the target audience, the books are also remarkably popular with adults. The stories feature jokes and allusions they will understand better than children. One example is the broken sign over Piglet's door that reads: "Trespassers W", which Piglet misinterprets as being the name of his grandfather. This adult bonus is largely absent from the Disney adaptations, which explains why many fans of 'Winnie-the-Pooh' prefer Milne's original books. Shepard's artwork also has an old-fashioned charm, typical for early 20th-century children's literature. The combination of Milne's writing style and Shepard's imagery makes the Hundred Acre Wood inviting to revisit over and over. Shepard's beautiful drawings evoke an idyllic, secluded world near the English countryside. A simple, magical place where a child (or grown-up reader) can escape into fantasy, far from dreary, everyday reality. In this sense, the Hundred Acre Wood is comparable to Neverland from James Barrie's earlier play 'Peter Pan'. Christopher Robin often returns to this world, but he remains an outsider. As he grows up, he is forced to say farewell to all those hours of uncomplicated fun and games. For some adults, it is a heartbreaking reminder of the childhood innocence they left behind once they entered their teen years. But Christopher Robin and Winnie's departure also feels like the end of a real friendship. Shepard could relate to these feelings. As a child, he felt very attached to a wooden toy horse. But at age 10, when his mother died, he suddenly had to move in with his aunts. The toy was then thrown away, much to his grief.
Success and merchandising
The 'Winnie-the-Pooh' series was a hit from the start. Within the first year of its publication, the books were read on BBC radio during the children's hour, 'For the Children' (1926). They became global bestsellers, translated in every conceivable language, including French ('Winnie l'Ourson'), German ('Pu der Bär', 'Winnie Puuh'), Dutch ('Winnie de Poeh'), Danish ('Peter Plys'), Norwegian ('Ole Brumm'), Swedish, Finnish (both as 'Nalle Puh'), Spanish ('Winny de Puh'), Portuguese ('Ursinho Pooh), Polish ('Kubuś Puchatek'), Hungarian ('Micmackó'), Czech ('Medvídek Pú'), Romanian ('Winnie de Pluș'), Czech, Greek, Slovenian ('Medved Pu'), Russian, Turkish ('Ayı Vinniy'), Yiddish, Arab, Chinese and Japanese. A translation in Latin by Alexander Lenard, 'Winnie ille Pu' (1958), was an unexpected success, even making it to The New York Times Best Seller List and spawning many other Latin translations of children's books in the process. All editions have kept Shepard's original illustrations intact.
'Winnie-the-Pooh'.
Slesinger and Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh
In 1930, U.S. radio, film and comic producer Stephen Slesinger acquired the merchandising rights to 'Winnie-the-Pooh'. He produced various dolls, board games, puzzles, audio plays and theatrical plays based on Milne and Shepard's characters. In the mid-1940s, he tried to launch an animated TV show based on 'Winnie-the-Pooh', intended for broadcast on Sunday mornings. Since TV was still in its infancy and far from the mass medium it would become a decade later, the project didn't get off the ground. But Slesinger did give Winnie-the-Pooh enough global exposure to increase the character's fame. He was also the first to portray the bear in a red-colored shirt. Shepard usually drew Winnie nude or with a blue shirt. In 1953, after Slesinger's death, his widow Shirley Slesinger became owner of the merchandising rights. In 1956, she remarried with comic artist Fred Lasswell, with whom she continued to release Winnie-the-Pooh-themed products. In 1955, Peter Woolcock drew a comic strip starring Winnie-the-Pooh for the British children's magazine Playhour.
Since the late 1930s, Walt Disney had been interested in adapting 'Winnie-the-Pooh' into an animated film. But it took until June 1961 before copyright holders Fred Lasswell and Shirley Slesinger signed a licensing agreement with his studio. Disney's animators followed Shepard's character designs slightly, but still "Disneyfied" the characters. They also added a new recurring cast member, Gopher the gopher. The grouchy ground animal with the whistling speech impediment serves as a comic relief. As a running gag, he usually falls into his own burrows. While the Disney Company has been criticized by fans of Milne's work for introducing an animal that is native to North America into the English countryside setting of 'Winnie-the-Pooh', Milne had once actually considered a ground squirrel for the novels himself, but didn't go through with the idea. The Disney adaptation of Milne's 'Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree' (1966) was eventually not released as a feature-length picture, but as a short film. It was incidentally one of the last projects released during Walt Disney 's lifetime, as he died in December of that same year. Shepard wasn't too pleased with the Disneyfication of his characters. He regarded the film as a "complete travesty" and particularly disliked the American accents for several of the main cast members.
Disney's 'Winnie the Pooh' was popular enough to spawn sequels: 'Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day' (1968) and 'Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too' (1974). In 1977, all three films were compiled into the anthology feature 'The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' (1977). Two extra pictures followed, 'Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons' (1981) and 'Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore' (1983). In the 1980s, the characters made their TV debut in the live-action/puppet TV series 'Welcome to Pooh Corner' (1983-1984) and the massively successful animated show 'The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' (1988-1991). For the latter program, Jan Green was scriptwriter and storyboard artist. In the 21st century, another live-action puppet show, 'The Book of Pooh' (2001-2003), and a CGI-animated series 'My Friends Tigger & Pooh' (2007-2010) followed. Meanwhile, Winnie the Pooh also returned to the big screen with the feature-length films 'The Tigger Movie' (2000), 'Piglet's Big Movie' (2003), 'Pooh's Heffalump Movie' (2005) and 'Winnie the Pooh' (2011).
In 2022, Winnie-the-Pooh, as created by Milne and Shepard, entered public domain in the United States, though in the U.K. it is still copyright-protected until late 2026. For the Disney Company, this only brings about a minor change. Anyone can use Milne's characters, as designed by Shepard, but the Disneyfied versions remain trademarked. An important distinction is Winnie's red shirt, which only the Disney Company can legally portray him with. For some creative spirits, Winnie the Pooh's public domain status is already a signal to use him in their own daft narratives, like Rhys Frake-Waterfields horror film 'Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey' (2023), which reimagines the characters in a slasher movie narrative, actually shot in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex.
Disney's Winnie the Pooh comics
Like all major Disney-owned characters, Winnie the Pooh was also adapted in various comic stories, both for comic book and newspaper syndication. During the 1970s, Vic Lockman scripted stories, which were drawn by John N. Carey. In the British Disney magazine Disneyland, Roland Davies drew picture stories with the character. Between 19 June 1978 and 2 April 1988, a 'Winnie the Pooh' newspaper comic was syndicated by King Features. The plots were written by Don Ferguson and occasionally Don Dougherty. Willie Ito made the preliminary designs, while Richard Moore provided artwork and Larry Mayer did inking. Contrary to Milne's original books and Disney's animated version of 'Winnie-the-Pooh', this particular comic series features two additional cast members, namely the knight Sir Brian and his dragon, both derived from poems by Milne. In general, the tone is also remarkably different. Ferguson turned Winnie into a more malicious, self-centered character who often says very harsh things to his friends.
Since the 1980s, Disney license holders from Denmark, The Netherlands and France have produced their own comics and picture stories with the 'Winnie the Pooh' characters for their own magazines. Among the many artists and writers who have created comics with the Disney version of Winnie the Pooh have been Marc Alberich, Pete Alvarado, Wilma van den Bosch, Laurent David, A.K.A. Mig, Pepe Ferré, Miguel Fernandez Martínez, Carlos Grangel, Fernando Güell, Frans Hasselaar, Judith Hunt, Daan Jippes, Frank Jonker, Anne Merli, Daniel Pérez, Pablo Reche, Mike Royer, Simone Ruitenbeek, Joaquín Cañizares Sanchez, Jordi Sanchis, Jeroen Steehouwer, Ruud Straatman, Stuart Trotter, John Ushler and Wallu.
E.H. Shepard expresses his eventual disgust over Winnie-the-Pooh, Punch.
Milne and Shepard’s creator backlash over Winnie-the-Pooh
Although 'Winnie-the Pooh' was a huge success, A. A. Milne, his son Christopher Robin, and Ernest Shepard all started to regret it. Before the books hit print, Milne had been a famed poet, playwright and novelist. But once Winnie became a bestseller, he was pigeonholed as a children's writer. Technically, he had written less than four books in this genre. He also quit 'Winnie the Pooh' in 1928 and never wrote a children's book again. But the damage had been done, as literary critics didn't take him seriously anymore. Anything he wrote afterwards was overshadowed by the enduring popularity of that "silly old bear". Milne also had to live with the fact that his son felt exploited. As a child, Christopher Robin was instructed to answer fan letters, aided by his nanny. At age seven, he voiced his character in 'Winnie-the-Pooh' audioplay adaptations. He also recited the book at parties and played himself in a theatrical version. Being only a child, he was too young and naïve to object. To Milne's credit, he realized his son was unhappy and discontinued all commercial offers around the same time he published his final 'Winnie-the-Pooh' story. But again, it was too late. Much to the boy's irritation, people often confused him with his fictional alter ego. They thought they "knew" Christopher Robin, purely based on his portrayal in the books. The fact that Shepard's illustrations were directly modeled after Milne's son didn't help: other kids bullied him. In boarding school, Christopher Robin's next door neighbors deliberately played a Pooh song he once sang on to annoy him. Once they got tired of the joke, they gave him the gramophone record, which he then smashed to pieces. Christopher Robin felt that his father owed much of his success to him. Yet in the public mind, he wasn't seen as the book's co-creator, but merely as "the son of" and nothing more. And so, in a tragic irony, a book that Milne wrote as an ode to their father-son bond now destroyed their relationship, as the two were estranged for more than 30 years.
In Shepard's case, he wasn't pleased with his status as the "Winnie-the-Pooh artist". His nearly 50-year long career with the oldest and foremost British satirical magazine Punch was almost forgotten. Any other children's book he illustrated barely received the same attention. But while Milne and Christopher Robin could at least disassociate themselves from Winnie-the-Pooh, Shepard didn't have that luxury. For the rest of his career, he was forced to keep drawing and selling Pooh-related artwork, just to bring in money. Even at age 93, Shepard colorized all his original 240 black-and-white illustrations with water colors in less than four months' time! Understandably, he sometimes got sick of the characters. One time he made an illustration for Punch where Christopher Robin shockingly kicks Winnie away.
Sequential illustration from 'Wind in the Willows'.
Kenneth Grahame
Through A. A. Milne, Shepard was also introduced to Kenneth Grahame, the famous author of the short story 'The Reluctant Dragon' (1898) and the novel 'The Wind in the Willows' (1908). Ernest Shepard made the illustrations for two reprints of these stories. 'The Reluctant Dragon', about an apparently fierce dragon who turns out to be nice and friendly, had been graphically interpreted before, most notably by Maxfield Parrish. The same applied to Graham's signature novel 'The Wind in the Willows', for whom previously Paul Bransom, Nancy Barnhart and Wyndham Payne had livened up the pages with their illustrations. But Grahame wasn't satisfied with the previous illustrators, since they made his characters look like "puppets". He therefore asked Shepard to do the job, who later recalled: "I was more excited when they offered me that than Pooh." Grahame and Shepard often went out for walks in Pangbourne, near the banks of the river Thames. The setting inspired much of the atmosphere Grahame wanted Shepard to convey in the drawings. He was very pleased when he saw the first preliminary sketches and commented: "I'm glad you made them real." Sadly, Grahame didn't live to see the publication of the 1931 reprint, which contained Shepard's finished artwork. However, many readers regard this version the definitive visualization of the adventures of Mr. Toad, Badger and Mole. All later illustrators have taken cues from Shepard's idyllic artwork. Interestingly enough, much like Winnie-the-Pooh, the Walt Disney Company later also adapted 'The Reluctant Dragon' (1941) and 'The Wind in the Willows' (as 'The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad', 1949) into animated shorts. It has not been recorded how Shepard felt about these films, if he saw them at all.
Illustration from 'The Reluctant Dragon'.
Other children's book illustrations
Shepard livened up the pages of several other Milne books, and also made the drawings for Muriel Wace's 'Mary in the Country' (1955). He also took on the covers for reprints of literary classics, such as Charles Dickens' 'David Copperfield' (1909), Mary Louisa's 'The Cuckoo Clock' (1954), Frances Hodgson Burnett's 'The Secret Garden' (1956), Thomas Hughes' 'Tom Brown's School Days' (1959) and Hans Christian Andersen's 'Fairy Tales' (1961). Shepard additionally wrote two children's books of his own. 'Ben & Brock' (Methuen, 1965) follows a young boy who goes on an adventure with two badgers, while 'Betsy & Joe' (Methuen, 1966) centers on a squirrel who befriends an old tramp.
Recognition
In 1900, Ernest H. Shepard won the British Institute Prize. For his military service during World War I, he received the Military Cross. In 1969, his 'Winnie the Pooh' artwork was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 1972, he received an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) medal. In 1979, a memorial plaque was unveiled in Ashdown Forest, commemorating both Milne and Shepard. In 1997, the Sojourner Mars rover inspected various rocks on the planet Mars. Three rocks were named after Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Piglet. On 11 April 2006, Winnie the Pooh became one of a handful of Walt Disney characters and fictional characters in general to receive his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Original 'Winnie-the-Pooh' artwork by Shepard was auctioned on 18 December 2008 at Sotheby's, London, and sold for more than 1.2 million pounds.
Final years and death
Shepard published his autobiography 'Drawn from Memory' (1957), followed by a sequel, 'Drawn From Life' (1961). In 1969, he donated 300 of his preliminary 'Winnie-the-Pooh' sketches to the Victoria and Albert Museum, while in 1972 he donated his personal archives to the University of Surrey. Ernest Howard Shepard passed away in 1976 in Midhurst, at age 96. His children Graham Shepard (1907-1943) and Mary Shepard (1909-2000) became well-known illustrators in their own right. Graham was a cartoonist for The Illustrated London News, while Mary gained fame as the original illustrator of the P. L. Travers novel 'Mary Poppins' (1934). In the biopic 'Goodbye Christopher Robin' (2017), directed by Simon Curtis, E. H. Shepard was portrayed by Stephen Campbell Moore.
Watercolor drawing of 'Winnie-the-Pooh' made by E. H. Shepard in old age.
Legacy and influence
Despite their reservations, A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard are still predominantly remembered because of 'Winnie-the-Pooh'. The handful of books they collaborated on have never gone out of print. Since 2009, new official 'Winnie-the-Pooh' books have been published by various new authors. All are illustrated by Mark Burgess, whose artwork deliberately mimics the look and atmosphere of Shepard's original drawings. Long before these new releases, there had already been unofficial books that used the Pooh cast. Most are literary parodies that use Shepard's artwork to liven up the pages. Frederick Crews' 'The Pooh Perplex' (E.P. Dutton, 1963), for instance, humorously analyzes Milne's books from different psycho-analytical, ideological and social interpretations. Benjamin Hoff uses Winnie-the-Pooh as an introduction to Taoism in the guides 'The Tao of Pooh' (E.P. Dutton, 1982) and 'The Te of Piglet' (E.P. Dutton, 1992). John Tyerman Williams wrote a tongue-in-cheek philosophy book 'Pooh and the Philosophers' (Dutton, 1995), about how philosophers from the past are reflected in 'Winnie-the-Pooh'.
Winnie-the-Pooh has frequently been adapted into plays, films, TV series and video games. In 1976, British actor Peter Dennis developed a one-man show based on the books, 'Bother! The Brain of Pooh', which became a hit with audiences and won several awards. While Disney made the most famous animated adaptations of Milne and Shepard's books, they weren't the only studio to adapt 'Winnie-the-Pooh' into a series. Between 1969 and 1972, the Russian film company Soyuzmultfilm produced three feature-length animated films, directed by Fyodor Khitruk: 'Винни-Пух' ('Winnie-the-Pooh', 1969), 'Винни-Пух идёт в гости' ('Winnie-the-Pooh Pays a Visit', 1971) and 'Винни-Пух и день забот' ('Winnie-the-Pooh and a Busy Day', 1972). Khitruk was only familiar with the original books and had never seen Disney's interpretation. Disney director Wolfgang Reitherman paid him a great compliment by telling him that he preferred his versions of 'Winnie-the-Pooh' over Disney's.
Ernest Howard Shepard.
Over the course of a century, Winnie-the-Pooh inspired several songs, including 'The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil' (1967) by Jefferson Airplane and 'House at Pooh Corner' (1971) by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Kenny Loggins recorded two children's music albums, 'Return to Pooh Corner' (1994) and 'More Songs from Pooh Corner' (2000), directly based on the Milne books. Some musical groups have taken their name from Pooh characters, including the Italian pop band Pooh, the Welsh alternative rock band The Pooh Sticks and the Estonian punk/metal group Winny Puhh. The books had a considerable impact on people's pastimes too. Since 1963, the city of Austin, Texas, organizes an annual festival, named 'Eeyore's Birthday Party'. The "pooh sticks" game has gone official. Some clubs in England have organized actual competitions around throwing sticks in the river and seeing whose sticks floats upstream the fastest. The "Kubusia Puchatka" street in the Polish capital Warsaw and Micimackó Street in the Hungarian capital Budapast are both named after the iconic bear. A hill on the Argentine island Galindez was named Woozle Hill, after the Woozles.
Characters and concepts from 'Winnie-the-Pooh' have also entered our everyday language. Since 1966, the Swedish newspaper Expressen has handed out an annual literary award, the Heffaklump, named after the Heffalumps from Milne's books. A "heffalump trap" is sometimes used in English to describe the proverbial situation where somebody digs a hole for somebody else, only to fall in it himself. Similarly, journalists and fact researchers use the term "woozle effect" to describe badly researched info that gets accepted by fact, purely based on people repeating the statement without regarding its source. The term is derived from a scene in Milne's book where Winnie and Piglet misinterpret their foot tracks as being made by monstrous "woozle" characters. As they follow the tracks, they appear to increase, making their imagination fear for the worst. In reality, they are just walking in circles.
Winnie-the-Pooh has become such a larger-than-life figure that he has even been adopted as a rebellious mascot. In the late 2010s, Chinese citizens started to compare head of state Xi Jinping with Winnie-the-Pooh, based on his facial features. Countless jokers had a lot of fun creating memes, jokes, photoshopped images and (deepfake) videos around this running gag. It got to the point that the Chinese government censored the words "Winnie" and "Pooh" in combination with 'Xi Jinping' on Chinese social media. Contrary to popular thought, this doesn't mean that Winnie-the-Pooh itself is banned in China. In their original context, Milne and Shepard's books, as well as Disney's media, are still legal. Only online satirical or otherwise "offensive" depictions are banned.
E.H. Shepard was a strong graphic influence on Phiny Dick, Thorbjørn Egner and Gabrielle Vincent. For those interested in Shepard's life and career, James Campbell's 'Shepard's War' (LOM Art, 2015) collects the World War I drawings by the cartoonist. His 'Winnie-the-Pooh' drawings and preliminary sketches are discussed in James Campbell's 'The Art of Winnie-the-Pooh' (Harper-Collins, 2018). Both are highly recommended.
'Winnie the Pooh'.