The lovable bear from the Hundred Acre Woods could be saying goodbye to Shanghai Disney due to political disputes, according to Josh Young from Theme Park University.
The current Chinese President, Xi Jinping, had been compared to Winnie the Pooh in an attempt to mock him. The saying “chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff” didn’t help when the association from Pooh transferred to Jinping after a photo of Barack Obama and Jinping was compared to one of Pooh and Tigger. Although it seems like an innocent joke, communist China has censored any mention of Pooh from social media due to it being used to make fun of Jinping.
With Shanghai Disneyland having two attractions dedicated to Winnie the Pooh, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Pooh’s Hunny Pot Spin could be rethemed or removed completely in order to comply with the strict censorship in the country. This censorship would also remove character meet and greets as well as merchandise from the Hundred Acre Woods.
The Chinese government and Shanghai Shendi, the company that owns Shanghai Disneyland, has apparently already been working on making attempts to remove Pooh for awhile and it is possible that they will be successful. Although it’s uncertain how much Winnie the Pooh will be removed, you can expect to see less of him in the park in the future.
China has already been censoring other forms of media featuring Pooh and friends. Christopher Robin was banned from cinemas in China. China does have a limit on how many films can be released there from foreign countries, but a film based around Winnie the Pooh would have certainly been banned regardless.
Winnie the Pooh was also censored from the latest Kingdom Hearts game. Now when Sora returns to the Hundred Acre Woods, a world in which the main character has visited in many other versions of the game, Pooh will simply be portrayed as a white orb, as shown above. The characters can still interact with Pooh as if he was there, but the bear will not visually be present.
Wouldn’t ignoring it be better? Removing something good usually bring GSM more attention to the situation. What’s next? If someone compares him to an egg, for example, or a tire, will all of them dissappear as well?
So to play the speculation game, what IP could they most easily overlay on these two rides? And better yet which would best fit the Chinese Culture and would be most desired?
Nothing says “fun” like a paranoid communist dictatorship.
God bless America.
China sucks.
Cool story Bro.
China would dry up and die if the rest of the world didn’t buy their products. It’s time to start a boycott that lasts until they introduce democracy.
Sadly, this makes me not want to visit a Disney park in a country that would do this kind of thing.
I wasn’t excited about it being in China due to all the problems and China owning the park. I guess Disney fumbled on this one. They’d do better to withdraw and improve their parks elsewhere.
A respectable character who drives drunk and gets sent to hell could replace that despicable bear named after feces
The white orb censorship in Kingdom Hearts was done by a Chinese website. The game itself, as of now, simply won’t be (legally) sold in China. There won’t be any modifications (by Square Enix, the developer) to un-Pooh the game for the Chinese market (yet).
This is why Communism or Socialism should never com to the United States. But what could replace it? Maybe Mr. Toad or Roger Rabbit ? Knowing Disney it will probably be Duffy or Avatar.
Deal with Communists and socialists at your own peril. Choose your friends wisely. Systematic censorship is very real. I know Disney probably has to close it, but too bad they can’t just leave it shuttered to subtly send a message to the Chinese people that their leaders are petty and dangerous. Instead Disney will give them a new and better experience and they’ll all be none the wiser.
It’s actually a really nice park but things are different there. Where as Main street usually stays open for an hour or so after the park is closed, in Shanghai literally all the stores closed as the park closed. As well did there tiny version of downtown Disney, only thing open (of course) was Starbucks. The rides were cool though, Pirates is amazing there and Tron is really cool but way to short, only like a minute and change. The country itself has so many restrictions and stuff but as a visitor, I have to say you don’t see or experience it much except for the regulation of the internet. God Bless VPN’s for bypassing that.
Let this be a warning to those who ignorantly support Socialists now running (and winning) offices here in the US.
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” Churchill
Oh, brother.
Why are we supporting a totalitarian country with our money? We need to move our manufacturing to another country, one that doesn’t censor the Internet, or ban characters simply because they were used as part of a harmless joke.
There are a lot of other countries that would welcome our business. It’s time to make the move.
If they do close the Pooh ride in Shanghai, then Disney could bring the attraction to Disneyland Paris, since it doesn’t have a Pooh attraction. It could go in the spot where the Mickey Meet and Greet is, the same where the former Pooh Show in Disneyland Paris was.