🐻 POOH BEAR 🐻

Pooh Bear.

Winnie the Pooh.

So many of us grew up with him and his fellow inhabitants of

the 100 Acre Wood.
I'd spend hours playing with my bear and watching the show on telly.

I was 8 years old when Pooh's Grand Adventure came out on VHS.

Now, I'd loved Pooh Bear as a child and my nan knew how much I loved the 

characters so she got me the VHS tape for either my birthday or Christmas of that

year, I'm not sure which. (I asked and it was my birthday.) 

I still remember the first time I watched the film.

The cold tiles of our mud-room thing, my Lion King duvet wrapped 

around me, the rabbit ears on the old telly.
I was home sick that day with a sore throat.
It was overcast and rainy.
My mum had gone to her room for a lie-down and told me to watch some VHS tapes

while she slept. I'd watched a bunch of Disney films throughout the morning and early afternoon. Then I remembered my Pooh Bear one! I opened the case popped it into the VHS player. I was excited to see Pooh's newest adventure and this one was a GRAND adventure! I remember my nan telling me that it meant it was great, amazing, wonderful. What I didn't know is that I should have been terrified. 

It started out innocent enough. Pooh eating honey that he got as a gift from Christopher Robin. He makes a mess with it and needs his friends to help him out. Enter Owl. He informs them that Christopher Robin has been kidnapped and taken to a place called the Skull. 'What the hell is the skull?' Skulls were symbols of death...spooky, something I knew from Halloween. Owl goes on to inform them that they have to save Christopher Robin from the skull before it's too late. <Looking back I still can't believe they marketed this shit as a kid's film. Skulls. Kidnapping. Possible murder.>
Armed with Owl's shitty map, Pooh and the gang head out into the "Unknown" to rescue their beloved chum.
I slowly watched in horror as the group became dismantled by their arguments, lack of knowledge and morinity. Then Tigger fell to his death in a gorge. I remember panicking that could happen to me if I went out deep enough in woods.  Then it's revealed that he's not dead and the gang wander around in this icy cave or mirrored cave, I can't remember which and are terrified by a "Skullasarus" which was actually just Pooh.
In the end, Christopher Robin reveals that the note said "School" not "Skull" and that he wasn't in any danger and that he would have to return there every day, but would be home later to play with everyone. He brings Pooh and his friend's comfort and reminds them that they will always be friends no matter what happens. 

I was terrified.
The dark colour scheme of the film only seemed to deepen the mystery 

and danger of the entire thing. It sparked fear into my little child heart.
I began to wonder if my friends would be brave enough to save me if I was kidnapped.

I'd heard about kidnaps on telly and that so many kids turn up murdered or never return home

at all. That night I laid awake, watching and waiting. I didn't know if the Skull was real or who 

he was or even what he looked like. It was haunting. What was even scarier is that Halloween was right around the corner and I knew that dead things and ghosts would be coming out of the trees

and could get me in my sleep. It was their special time of the year, as I'd been told by a teacher.
After Halloween, the magic of Christmas took over and the fear lessened. I was distracted by holiday songs, treats and presents. When I was alone on dark, stormy nights that fear that gripped me that afternoon would return and it would take me ages to fall asleep. I don't really remember when I was able to make it go away. Now, I really love stormy weather. Tucking in with a hot mug of tea and a book or a film. Listening to the rain brings such comfort. And watching lightening create heart-stopping patterns in the sky is one of my favourite things to do.

Still, to this day the film upsets me and I have trouble watching it.
I have no idea why, especially since I fall asleep watching serial killer documentaries,

autopsies and true crime stories. The memories of the cold day, the rain and the terror that I would be hurt by a stranger still send shivers up and down me. I don't know what to call this experience, but it wasn't the only one that was scary...We'll save the story of "The Woods" for another day.

What about you guys? Were you terrified of this Pooh Bear film or something else? Share your stories in the comments below or via my social medias! I'd love to hear from you!

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