'Silly old bear': New exhibition celebrates Winnie-the-Pooh

‘Silly old bear’: New exhibition celebrates Winnie-the-Pooh

Winnie the Pooh poses for a photo during a ceremony Tuesday, April 11, 2006, celebrating his 80th anniversary with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. Pooh, created in the 1920’s by British author A.A. Milne, debuted as a cartoon character in the 1966 Disney featurette “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree,” and went on to star in dozens of films, specials and several cartoon series. | AP Photo/Nick Ut

BOSTON — Winnie-the-Pooh, that silly old bear, is the star of a new exhibition at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.

“Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic” explores how the beloved teddy bear dreamed up by author A.A. Milne and illustrator E.H. Shepard became a global phenomenon — along with his sidekick, Christopher Robin, and companions Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore and Rabbit.

The original Pooh books have been around for nearly a century, but they’re still wildly popular and have been translated into 50 languages. Disney released the movie “Christopher Robin” this summer.

Curator Meghan Melvin says many people are unfamiliar with the origins of the iconic story. The exhibition opening Saturday comprises nearly 200 original drawings, letters, photographs and early editions.

In this Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018 photo, a gallery craftsman hangs vintage drawings of Winnie the Pooh while preparing the “Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic” exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The show opening Saturday, Sept. 22, explores how the beloved teddy bear dreamed up by author A.A. Milne and illustrator E.H. Shepard became a global phenomenon, along with his sidekick, Christopher Robin, and companions Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore and Rabbit. AP Photo/Charles Krupa

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