Most of us grew up with the stories of Winnie the Pooh, but the story behind it is actually kind of sad. This weekend at the movies, that story hits the big screen in “Goodbye Christopher Robin.”
And we say hello to Deco’s Christopher Van Vliet who flew to London to chat with the cast.
When you think of Winnie the Pooh, you think of a lovable bear with his friends Eeyore, Tigger and Kanga. What you don’t think about is the ugly relationship between the man who wrote the books and his son. That’s at the center of “Goodbye Christopher Robin.”
Domhnall Gleeson (as Alan Milne): “Ernest and I are putting your bear in a book, we’re putting you in it too.”
Will Tilston (as Christopher Robin): “What will you call me in the book?”
Domhnall Gleeson (as Alan Milne): “Your real name, Christopher Robin.”
It all started with a father writing a book for his son.
Will Tilston (as Christopher Robin): “I’d really like if you wrote a book for me. I’d definitely read it.”
Author A. A. Milne had just returned to England after World War I and was looking for a way to deal with his post-traumatic stress.
Domhnall Gleeson: “He saw the worst things that humanity does to itself. I think it killed part of him and then I think that this child, this innocent child, when he allowed himself to connect with him, sparked that back into life, it gave him love again.”
That love inspired him to start writing stories about his son’s stuffed animals. Margot Robbie plays his wife Daphne.
Margot Robbie (as Daphne Milne): “Do you have room for one very small Piglet?”
Will Tilston (as Christopher Robin): “Yes.”
Margot Robbie (as Daphne Milne): “I have some very quiet friends, they’ll be no trouble.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Margot, did you create the animal voices yourself?”
Margot Robbie: “I did, and I felt like such an idiot practicing. I was at home trying them out or at the hotel we were staying at. I remember being like, ‘This is a weird question, but does this voice is OK?’ because I don’t know.”
Chris Van Vliet: “What was the hardest one to nail?”
Margot Robbie: “Piglet.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Why’s that?”
Margot Robbie: “I was trying to differentiate between Piglet and Kanga and Pooh, so Piglet was going to be very high and I just felt like an idiot.”
Margot Robbie (as Daphne Milne): “You do know it was me talking and not the bear. I was just playing, you see.”
Winnie the Pooh became a huge success, and it thrust a very reluctant Christopher Robin into the spotlight — something that caused a major rift between him and his parents.
Kelly Macdonald (as Olive): “He has to be allowed to grow up. He has to know he’s important.”
Will Tilston: “His relationship with his father gets very confused with all this fame and how he wants his son to become a celebrity, but Christopher doesn’t want a single bit of it.”
Will Tilston (as Christopher Robin): “Why does everyone love Winnie the Pooh so much?”
Kelly Macdonald (as Olive): “After the war, there was so much sadness. Then Winnie the Pooh came along.”
The movie shows the fame the books bring to the family, but the hardship that follows behind closed doors.
This idea of making a story about the person who created the story has been happening a lot lately. We saw it with Wonder Woman, Mary Poppins and now Winnie the Pooh. I feel like it’s just a matter of time before we see the Deco Drive origin story.
“Goodbye Christopher Robin” is currently in theaters.
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