If you think it was a little odd that a portion of horror movie Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was shown to a group of fourth graders, well, you’re not alone. Even the film’s director agrees.
“It’s mad, isn’t it? I think it’s crazy,” Blood and Honey director/co-writer Rhys Waterfield told Variety in a recent interview. “Because when you watch the film there is no way you can mistake it for a child’s film, literally in the first 10 minutes, crazy stuff’s happening. And [the characters] look scary.”
As reported by CBS Miami earlier this week, young students in a math class at The Academy of Innovative Education in Miami Springs “were exposed 20 to 30 minutes” of Blood and Honey, one parent reported. The students apparently picked the low-budget viral sensation themselves, although Waterfield (and, well, most people) aren’t sure how the teacher didn’t notice sooner that something was amiss.
“I don’t know how it went on that long,” he said. “I don’t know if the teacher put it on and just walked out and left them or if the kids tricked them or something. Hopefully we haven’t ruined these kids’ childhoods.”
Hopefully is right, although it’s very likely those kids will never look at Winnie the Pooh the same way ever again.
As CBS Miami previously reported, the students were “distraught” over the what was shown in the violent film, which puts a gory, murderous spin on Winnie the Pooh and other characters within the Hundred Acre Wood.
"He didn't stop the movie, even though there were kids saying, 'Hey, stop the movie, we don't want to want this'," parent Michelle Diaz said.
For its part, The Academy for Innovative Education said in a statement that the administration “promptly addressed this issue directly with the teacher and has taken appropriate action to ensure the safety and well-being of students.”
More Blood and Honey to Come
While Blood and Honey may not be popular with the kids, it proved successful enough to get a sequel greenlit, which we hope won’t somehow make its way into elementary schools. It’s set to debut on Feb. 14, and Waterfield said later in the Variety interview that it’s still on track for next year’s release date, aided by a budget “10 times” the size of the original’s.
“In comparison to the first film everything’s stepped up massively,” he added. “It’s a horror film. A lot of the times people are going there for the death scenes and for those elements and we’ve really upped the ante. I think the last time I did a count there was over 30 deaths in the movie, which is quite substantial compared to most movies.”
This sequel will also feature Winnie the Pooh’s beloved friend Tigger, who wasn’t in the first Blood and Honey because he wasn’t in the public domain yet, Waterfield previously explained to IGN. Producer Scott Jeffrey also told us that Tigger is “incredibly violent. He loves to torture his victims before killing them.”
So, again, can’t stress this enough: probably not for the kiddos.
For more on Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, check out our review, which said it unfortunately “wastes an immediate-draw title on an underbaked, low-budget horror blunder that’s rougher than sandpaper.”
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
