Celebrating 90 Years of Two Much-loved British Icons in a Brand New Short Adventure: Winnie-the-Pooh and the Royal Birthday

Celebrating 90 Years of Two Much-loved British Icons in a Brand New Short Adventure: Winnie-the-Pooh and the Royal Birthday

LONDON, May 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --



Britain's best-loved bear meets Her Majesty The Queen for the first time in an


enchanting new illustrated adventure, narrated by Jim Broadbent 



Video featuring Jim Broadbent recording the story available
here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89zsCLfsmCY&feature=youtu.be



"Bear," announced Christopher Robin solemnly. "That hum is fit for a Queen. That hum
shall be The Queen's present. Owl shall write it out and you and I and Eeyore shall
deliver it to Buckingham Palace. And Piglet must come too because London is a very big
place indeed and even small animals, if they are very good friends, can make everything


alright." 



To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:
http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/7848651-winnie-the-pooh-and-the-royal-birthday



To celebrate 90 years of two much-loved British icons, Winnie-the-Pooh and the Royal
Birthday is released today as a brand new illustrated and audio adventure, narrated by
Oscar winning actor Jim Broadbent and available for free at
http://www.Disney.co.uk/WinnieRoyalBirthday.



This brand new story has been specially written to celebrate the upcoming official
90th birthday celebrations of Her Majesty The Queen, and also Winnie-the-Pooh's 90th
anniversary, with October 2016 marking 90 years since his first publication and arrival in
the Hundred Acre Wood.



Featuring Pooh's first ever meeting of the Royal Family, the tale beautifully presents
the loveable bear and his friends embarking on an unforgettable journey from the Hundred
Acre Wood to London with the wish of delivering their own thoughtful 90th birthday
presents to The Queen.  Illustrations drawn in the classic E.H. Shepard style by Mark
Burgess see the nation's favourite bear and friends travelling through London on an
open-top bus, taking in the sights including Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace guards,
before a chance meeting with The Queen, which allows Pooh to present their birthday
gifts.



Jim Broadbent, who narrated the audiobook of the new short adventure, says: "I have
been a fan of Winnie-the-Pooh since I was a boy, in fact I named my very first and much
loved teddy 'Pooh' and that can only have been after the A. A. Milne character.  I've
loved being part of this story to celebrate The Queen's 90th birthday and
Winnie-the-Pooh's 90th anniversary; it's been an honour to narrate such an iconic story
and I want to wish both Her Majesty The Queen and Winnie-the-Pooh a very Happy 90th!"



Winnie-the-Pooh has had previous links with Her Majesty The Queen, with The Duke and
The Duchess of York being presented with a Christopher Robin china nursery set with
hand-coloured pictures of Christopher Robin, Pooh and friends, as a gift for a young
Princess Elizabeth, who is believed to have loved the Winnie-the-Pooh stories as a child.
 The 1926 A. A. Milne book, Teddy Bear and the Other Songs from When We Were Very Young,
was also dedicated to Princess Elizabeth upon her birth when it was published - though the
new adventure is the first time the much-loved bear has 'met' Her Majesty in one of the
Winnie-the-Pooh stories.



Nicole Pearson, Creative Director at Egmont Publishing, comments, "We couldn't think
of a better way to celebrate The Queen's birthday in the same year that marks Pooh's 90th
year in Hundred Acre Wood but with this lovely royal adventure. This is a celebration of
two very British icons that have been part of our British heritage for 90 years."



Winnie-the-Pooh and the Royal Birthday: 



Narrated by Jim Broadbent



Written by Jane Riordan, Egmont Publishing



Illustrated by Mark Burgess, after the style of E. H. Shepherd



Download the illustrated ebook and watch the animated story for free


at http://www.Disney.co.uk/WinnieRoyalBirthday



Notes to Editors: 



About Winnie The-Pooh 



Winnie-the-Pooh is the world's most famous bear, and has been beloved by children
around the world for almost 90 years. He appears in two storybooks - Winnie-the-Pooh and
The House at Pooh Corner - and two poetry collections - When We Were Very Young and Now We
Are Six - written by A. A. Milne and definitively illustrated by E. H. Shepard. With a
rich storytelling heritage, the adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the
Hundred Acre Wood represent friendship, simple joys and the curious and gentle nature of a
child's imagination. For more information go to:
http://www.disney.co.uk/disney-baby/winnie-the-pooh.



Readers can look forward to The Best Bear in All the World, an anthology of four
stories, which will be published in October 2016 to mark the 90th anniversary of the first
publication of Winnie-the-Pooh. Mark Burgess will illustrate the text in the style of
original illustrator E H Shepard and four authors - Paul Bright, Jeanne Willis, Kate
Saunders and Brian Sibley - will write the stories. For more information about the
Winnie-the-Pooh books visit: egmont.co.uk/pooh
[http://www.egmont.co.uk/character.asp?charid=26 ].



About Egmont Publishing 



In the UK, Egmont is the leading specialist children's publisher for babies to teens,
inspiring children to read through more than 30 million award-winning books, magazines,
ebooks and apps each year. We're proud to be home to many of the world's favourite stories
and best-loved authors, illustrators and characters such as Michael Morpurgo (War Horse),
Andy Stanton (Mr Gum), Enid Blyton, Julia Donaldson, Lemony Snicket, Michael Grant (Gone
series and BZRK), Winnie-the-Pooh, Tintin, Mr. Men, Thomas & Friends, Fireman Sam, Angry
Birds, Minecraft and Star Wars. Egmont Publishing is part of the Egmont Group which was
founded in 1878 and owned by the Egmont Foundation, a charitable trust dedicated to
supporting children and young people. It is Scandinavia's leading media group and Europe's
largest children's publisher telling stories through books, magazines, film, TV, music,
games and mobile in 30 countries throughout the world.



http://www.egmont.co.uk



About Mark Burgess 



Illustrator Mark Burgess has illustrated countless classic children's characters
including Paddington Bear and Winnie-the-Pooh. Mark provided illustrations in the style of
E. H. Shepard for the first authorised sequel to Winnie-the-Pooh, Return to the Hundred
Acre Wood, with stories by David Benedictus, published in October 2009. Additionally,
Burgess has coloured and adapted the newer editions of various classic children's books
that were drawn by the late E. H. Shepard and Peggy Fortnum. Mark also works as a computer
programmer, designs greetings cards, web sites, animations and special warm places for his
cat to sleep.



(Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372317 )








Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372317




Video:
http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/7848651-winnie-the-pooh-and-the-royal-birthday


Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372317
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372317
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Video:http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/7848651-winnie-the-pooh-and-the-royal-birthday
Egmont Publishing and Disney

CONTACT: Claire McCormack, The Walt Disney Company, EMEA, claire.mccormack@disney.com


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