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A unexpected new character is coming to the Hundred Acre Wood. Disney is working on a new Winnie the Pooh TV series, to come out in 2007, that will replace Christopher Robin with a 6-year-old girl. Its new animated series, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, will have the same gentle spirit as the much-loved A.A. Milne classic, Disney says. But Disney hopes to attract an older audience by introducing a six-year-old tomboy as friend to Tigger, Pooh the bear and tiny Piglet. The Disneyfied characters also will have a new look. Though the stories will still emphasize trust, friendship and...

Last month, the Dudley City Council approved a completely idiotic policy banning their employees from displaying anything with a pig on it in their work environment. This was done in an effort to avoid offending Muslim employees. (See “Winnie the Pooh and Piglet Banned in the Name of Religious Tolerance” ) Well it looks like uncommon sense may eventually rule the day in Dudley. Read More... Craig DeLuz Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense... www.craigdeluz.com

In order to avoid offending Muslim co-workers, those who work in Dudley Council, West Midlands are prohibited from displaying toy pigs; including the popular Winnie the Pooh and Piglet dolls. At least they are also banning muslim extremists... Read More... Craig DeLuz Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense... www.craigdeluz.com

ON THE MORNING of July 7, I watched a commuter, who had just emerged dazed and smoke-grimed from an Underground station, being asked whether he would like to see a trauma counsellor. Politely, but firmly, he declined, and staggered off. The counsellor looked disappointed and mildly disapproving.I cite this episode not as further evidence of British sang-froid in the face of terrorism (there are so many stiff upper lips in the media at the moment it is surprising any of us can still speak), but of something more profound. There is a widespread assumption that most people, and particularly those...

Monday, June 27, 2005; Posted: 8:02 a.m. EDT (12:02 RELATED • Paul Winchell, voice of Tigger, dies YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS Obituaries (Entertainment) Bob Newhart or Create Your Own Manage Alerts | What Is This? NEW YORK (AP) -- John Fiedler, a stage actor who won fame as the voice of Piglet in Walt Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh films, died Saturday, The New York Times reported in Monday editions. He was 80. Fiedler served in the Navy during World War II before beginning a stage career in New York. He performed in supporting roles alongside Sidney Poitier on Broadway, John Wayne in Hollywood...

California Company Asks for New Trial in Winnie the Pooh Flap With Disney The Associated Press May 14, 2004 LOS ANGELES (AP) - The family that owns merchandising rights for Winnie the Pooh characters has asked for a new trial in its long-running royalty dispute with The Walt Disney Co. In March, a Superior Court judge threw out the lawsuit, ruling the merchandising rights owner unlawfully obtained confidential documents from a dumpster and the Disney office. The decision meant Stephen Slesinger Inc. could not sue again on the claim. Late Thursday, however, Slesinger asked Judge Charles W. McCoy Jr. for...

Disney foes in Pooh case want new Calif. trial. By Peter Henderson 14 May 2004 Reuters News LOS ANGELES, May 14 (Reuters) - The family firm suing Walt Disney Co. (DIS.N) over merchandising rights to Winnie the Pooh has asked the Los Angeles court that threw out the 13-year-old suit to grant a new trial. The motion by Stephen Slesinger Inc. responds to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles McCoy's March 29 ruling that the firm was guilty of misconduct and stealing evidence. McCoy then threw out the case, a move the Slesingers challenged as too harsh a sanction in...

A Los Angeles judge on Monday delivered the first good news Walt Disney has had this year when he dismissed a 13-year-old multimillion-dollar lawsuit over its rights to exploit Winnie the Pooh and his 100-Aker Wood associates. "It is all over," said Disney lawyer Daniel Petrocelli. The ruling appeared to end a colourful struggle over a group of Disney's most profitable film, merchandise and theme park characters that had stirred allegations of skullduggery on both sides. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the entertainment group warned that losing the case would have cost it hundreds of millions...

U.S. judge rules against Milne heir in Pooh case Friday May 9, 8:06 pm ET By Gina Keating LOS ANGELES, May 9 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday denied a bid by the granddaughter of Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne to reclaim the copyright to the classic children's books, dealing a setback to her partner, The Walt Disney Co. Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles said that Clare Milne could not use changes in U.S. copyright law to reclaim rights to the honey-loving bear that her grandfather sold to literary agent Stephen Slesinger...

Sure, kids love him. But he's made everyone close to him miserable. Just ask Disney, which is locked in a billion-dollar battle over his rights FORTUNE Monday, January 6, 2003 By Devin Leonard Nobody loves Winnie the Pooh more than Shirley Slesinger Lasswell. The 79-year-old widow wears Pooh pajamas, Pooh watches, and Pooh polo shirts. A Pooh waves at other drivers from the rear window of her Mercedes as she is chauffeured around Beverly Hills. But these days, some of her most treasured Pooh merchandise languishes in boxes in her lawyer's office. It breaks Shirley's heart. "I never wanted Winnie...