The recent trend of public domain children’s stories being turned into horror movies was bound to cause some confusion. Well, the inevitable happened and a class of 4th graders was shown “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.”
Despite it containing a beloved character from many of our childhoods, this is not a family-oriented film. Directed by Rhys Waterfield, it follows Winnie and Piglet as they go on a blood-thirsty rampage. Sparked by Christopher Robin abandoning them to go to college.
“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” was shown to fourth graders at the Academy of Innovative Education on October 2nd. “I feel completely abandoned by the school,” Michelle Diaz, a parent of twins in the class, told CBS News. Referring to the incident as the result of a “careless teacher.”
According to Diaz, the film played for “20 to 30 minutes” before the teacher turned it off. Even though the slasher was selected by the students to watch in class. As the mother points out “it’s not for them to decide what they want… It’s up to the professor to look at the content.”
The alarming part, aside from missing the word “blood” in the title, is how long the film ran. “He didn’t stop the movie, even though there were kids saying, ‘Hey, stop the movie, we don’t want to watch this,’” said Diaz. It also should have been pretty obvious after just a few minutes that the film is not intended for children.
“The Academy for Innovative Education has become aware that a segment of a horror movie was shown to fourth graders, Monday, October 2, 2023, that was not suitable for the age group. Our administration promptly addressed this issue directly with the teacher and has taken appropriate action to ensure the safety and well-being of students,” wrote Ms. Vera Hirsh, the head of the school, in a statement.
“We are actively monitoring the students and our mental health counselor and principal have already met with those students who have expressed concerns,” she added.
Part of the mixup is also being blamed on the fact that “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” was released unrated. But again, the word “blood” in the title and a quick scan of the synopsis should have given some indication. Not to mention the cover having a blood soaked hammer and genre it is placed under. It looks like Waterfield and the film’s distributors went out of their way to give every possible indication that this was a horror movie.
“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” is currently streaming on Peacock, with a sequeal on the way. You can check out the trailer below:
