Hong Kong cinemas will not be screening a new Winnie the Pooh horror film in its territories, according to the movie’s distributor. The movie, which puts a scary spin on the classic Winnie the Pooh children’s show, was released in the U.S. back in February.
The original, family-friendly version of Winnie the Pooh has been used in humorous references to depict to President Xi Jinping in recent years. The depiction was born out of a popular 2013 meme showing President Xi and former President Obama alongside two Winnie the Pooh characters.
However, according to Reuters, the reference has also been used by some as a symbol of protest against President Xi.
China banned the film “Christopher Robin” in 2018. Three years later, Hong Kong implemented a censorship law barring films that “endorse, support, glorify, encourage and incite activities that might endanger national security.”
Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Xi-Pooh comparison was seen as a gold mine for entertainment, with shows like “South Park” making references to the joke in several episodes.
Hong Kong officials denied the new Winnie the Pooh film had been censored. The Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration said it had issued a certificate of approval for the horror movie, according to Reuters.
However, the film’s director Rhys Frake-Waterfield said “the cinemas agreed to show it, then all independently come to the same decision overnight. It won’t be a coincidence.” He added “They claim technical reasons but there is no technical reason. The film has showed in over 4,000 cinema screens worldwide.”
“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” went viral when its trailer was released. The horror movie currently has a score of only 4% on the film rating site Rotten Tomatoes.
