We have all heard of (and probably loved) the adorable animated movies about a bear, Winnie-the-Pooh. I can definitely remember sitting in front of my TV for hours watching him have adventures with Tigger and Piglet, and I’m sure all of you can too. That’s why this bit of news sort of freaked me out.
In the mid-1920s, A.A. Milne wrote the books when he was inspired by trips to the London Zoo with his son to see Winnipeg, the celebrity bear who inhabited the zoo after being brought there during World War 1. His son loved the animal, so much so that he named his own teddy bear Winnie.
Sadly, Winnipeg died in the 1930s. However, when she passed away, her body was donated to the Royal College of Surgeons’ Odontological Museum, and she has remained in that collection ever since. Her body even survived a bombing in 1941 that destroyed most of the collection.
Recently, her skull has been put on display for the first time at the Hunterian Museum in London. The Hunterian’s director, Sam Alberti, believes that this will be of particular interest for visitors from all walks of life–especially those who grew up with the messages of family and friendship after reading the books and watching the movies. It is in a display about items added to the 18th century collection, and Mr. Alberti hopes that it will serve as an entry point for people who others wouldn’t go into the museum. On top of all that, apparently Winnipeg’s skull offered an interesting case study: she had pretty severe gum disease. This, Mr. Alberti says, was probably because of the honey on the sticky buns she was being fed by the visitor’s of the zoo out of love. This drew an interesting parallel with the real-life bear and the animated movies. It’s interesting to see the inspiration behind an artist’s work. I think it really helps the audience connect with the works even more than they originally did.
This honestly sort of creeped me out a little, even though when asked if the exhibition ran the risk of scaring children, Alberti said that it is a happy message. They certainly didn’t want the message to be “Come to the museum and see Winnie-the-Pooh”, because that certainly isn’t what it is. It’s a skull nonetheless, but it gives the children the message that Winnipeg, the bear who inspired their favorite fluffy, cute, animated character, “has had this afterlife”.
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