'Winnie the Pooh' becomes a box office hit and killer
The British serial murder film 'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey' received the worst reviews and was a box office failure. This movie, which turned Winnie the Pooh into a murderer, seems to be the worst example of the creator's low-level self-interest in the face of the disappeared regulation of 'copyright expiration'.

'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey' (directed by Rhys Frakes-Waterfield), which was released domestically on the 5th, attracted only 7,718 viewers as of the 24th. Looking at the number of viewers per day for the past week, the highest number of viewers was 28, and the lowest number was 5. CGV's actual viewing rating 'Golden Egg' index, which allows you to know the actual ratings of visitors, is at a very low level of 30%. Among the critics' scores for this work, there is also a score of 0, which is the first rating waiver in 13 years.

Such a miserable score is due to the low level of the work itself. Most of the elements that make up the film, including directing, story, and actors' acting, are being evaluated as 'poor'. Moviegoers poured out harsh criticism of this movie, saying, “It's not even third-rate,” “The director who made this movie should be kicked out permanently,” “Don't introduce movies like this in Korea,” and “It's surprising.” that such crappy horror movies are being mass-produced.” “He poured out negative reviews such as “

'Winnie the Pooh' becomes a box office hit and killer
'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey' attracted a lot of attention even before its release because it twisted the warm and lovable 'Winnie the Pooh' into a murderer. The reason why Winnie the Pooh was able to become a murderer was because he was not protected by Disney, the copyright holder, due to 'copyright expiration'. The copyright for British author AA Milne's fairy tale 'Winnie the Pooh', published in 1926, expired in January 2022, and in the case of characters whose US copyright protection period of 95 years has passed, anyone can use them commercially without seeking permission from the copyright holder.

No matter what the situation is, the global debate over 'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey' is heated. There are conflicting claims, such as concerns about damage to the original work and variations to expand the character.

However, the majority opinion is that 'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey' is closer to the former. The setting itself of turning Winnie the Pooh into a murderer can be acknowledged within the scope of creation, and rather gives the impression of being novel. However, this work is only focused on making Winnie the Pooh a murderer without any respect for the original work. They only focus on noise marketing with the theme of 'Winnie the Pooh kills people' and stimulate people.

'Winnie the Pooh' becomes a box office hit and killer
When presenting Winnie the Pooh as a murderer, there had to be narrative persuasion, but in the movie, Winnie the Pooh only targets and kills women, omitting the narrative of the vague reason for killing, called 'revenge'. Moreover, during this process, it is pointed out that unnecessarily provocative and sensational productions are frowned upon.

In relation to this, a movie official told Ten Asia, "This phenomenon may continue in the future as characters from Disney and other companies that have gained worldwide popularity are facing copyright expiration issues," and "If variations are attempted by twisting the characters, the completeness of the story will decrease and the original work will be lost." He expressed his opinion, saying, “If it doesn't provide the level of fun and emotion, it will inevitably be completely ignored by the audience.”

As the copyright for the character Bambi, a baby deer born in 1928 following Winnie the Pooh, is about to expire, a movie about the story of Bambi suffering from rabies is said to be being planned. It is nice to see characters who have given warm and pure innocence to many people expand their image by wearing various settings, but the atrocities of creators who undermine the value of the original work based on low-level commercial logic must be regulated. For this purpose, crackdown by the institutional authorities is urgently needed.

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr