Roo
| Roo | |
|---|---|
| Winnie-the-Poohcharacter | |
 Roo in theDisneyanimated version | |
| First appearance | Winnie-the-Pooh(1926) |
| Created by | A. A. Milne |
| Voiced by | Clint Howard(Winnie the Pooh and the Honey TreeandWinnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day) Dori Whitaker (Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too) Dick Billingsley (Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore) Kim Christianson (Welcome to Pooh Corner) Nicholas Melody (The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) Robie Lester(record release) Nikita Hopkins(1998–2005) Jimmy Bennett(2004–2006) Max Burkholder(2007–2009) Wyatt Hall (2011 filmandKinect: Disneyland Adventures) Sara Sheen (Christopher Robin) Aidan McGraw (Kingdom Hearts III) |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Kangaroo joey |
| Gender | Male |
| Family | Kanga(mother) |
| Nationality | English |
Roois a fictional character created in 1926 byA. A. Milneand first featured in the bookWinnie-the-Pooh.He is a youngkangaroo(known as ajoey) and his mother isKanga.Like most other Pooh characters, Roo is based on a stuffed toy animal that belonged to Milne's son,Christopher Robin Milne.Though stuffed, Roo was lost in the 1930s in an apple orchard somewhere in Sussex.[1][2][3]
Roo participates in the adventures of ateddy bearcalled Winnie-the-Pooh and his friendsPiglet,a small toy pig;Eeyore,a toy donkey;Owl,a live owl;Rabbit,a live rabbit; andChristopher Robin,a human boy. Roo is introduced in the chapter entitled "In Which Kanga and Baby Roo Come to the Forest and Piglet has a Bath." Roo's friendTiggerdoes not appear until the sequel,The House at Pooh Corner.He would subsequently appear in various cartoons and other adaptations.
Profile
Roo is a young kangaroo, or joey. His mother is called Kanga.The New York Timeshas noted that inquiring about the fate of Roo's father is one of many questions that could be asked, such as "Where are Pooh's pants?"[4]
Because of his young age, Roo is a very small animal, the smallest in the story (other than Rabbit's friends and relations, and Alexander Beetle), although he must be very close in size toPigletsince Kanga is unable to tell the difference when Piglet jumps into her pouch instead of Roo. (InErnest H. Shepard's illustrations, Roo appears to be very slightly smaller than Piglet.) He is also apparently small enough to fall down mouse holes while practicing jumps, and too small to reach the first rail of thePoohsticksbridge.
Like most of the characters in Winnie-the Pooh, Roo was based on one ofChristopher Robin Milne's stuffed toys. The illustrations show Roo with brown fur and an upturned tail.
Roo and Kanga come to the Forest "in the usual way" in Chapter VII ofWinnie–the–Pooh.He also appears in Chapter VIII, is mentioned in Chapter IX, and appears again in Chapter X of that book. InThe House at Pooh Corner,Roo appears in chapters II, IV, VI, VII, IX, and X, and is mentioned in a few others. Some of the adventures that Roo experiences include being "kidnapped" byRabbit,accompanying the "expotition"[5]to the North Pole (and getting an impromptu swimming lesson), attendingChristopher Robin's party for Pooh, getting stuck in a tree withTigger,and playing Poohsticks.
Unlike many of the other characters in the Pooh books, Roo does not have a known favorite food, although his mother makes himwatercresssandwiches on occasion. He dislikes theextract of maltthat his mother gives him as "strengthening medicine" after meals, though he will reluctantly take it.
Some of Roo's friends include Tigger, Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet,Eeyore,Rabbit,Owl,and Christopher Robin.
Adaptations
Roo appears in theShirley Temple's Storybookepisode, played by Louis Jean Norman.
Roo also appears in the Disney cartoon versions of theWinnie the Poohstories. He was originally voiced byClint Howard.Later performers include Dori Whitaker (Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too), Dick Billingsley (Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore), Kim Christianson (Welcome to Pooh Corner), Nicholas Melody (The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh),Nikita Hopkins(2000-2005),Jimmy Bennett(Springtime with Roo),Max Burkholder(My Friends Tigger and Pooh), andWyatt Hall(Winnie the Pooh).
In the cartoons, Roo is the smallest of the regularly appearing characters. He has brown fur and wears a light blue shirt. He often expresses thoughts and feelings that make him seem wiser than his years. In fact, on occasion Roo seems even wiser than many of the older characters.
He states that he's got a mother (Kanga) when he tries to comfort Tigger inThe Tigger Movie.He appeared inPiglet's Big Movieand his own direct-to-video movie,Springtime with Roo.
Roo becomes good friends withLumpy the HeffalumpinPooh's Heffalump Movie.
Roo appeared as one of the guests inHouse of MouseandMickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse.
Roo made his first live action appearance in the 2018 filmChristopher Robin,voiced by Sara Sheen.[6]
Satirical psychological study
Atongue-in-cheekpsychological study of Roo was published in the year 2000,[7][8]by pediatricians atDalhousie UniversityinHalifax,Nova Scotia,in theCanadian Medical Association Journalduring its end of year issue in April; which publishes lighter more parody-style content.[7]This Canadian team was following the trend of analyzing famous art works, to point out that even wonderful people can have disorders.[9]Reutersreported as follows about the Canadian study:
The researchers said they are especially worried about baby Roo, who is growing up in a single-parent household and whose closest friend, Tigger, is not a good role model. "We predict we will someday see a delinquent, jaded, adolescent Roo hanging out late at night at the top of the forest, the ground littered with broken bottles of extract of malt and the butts of smoked thistle," the article said.[9]
References
- ^The Teacher's Calendar School Year 2006-2007,page 125 (McGraw-Hill Professional 2006): "Piglet, Kanga, Roo, and Tigger were all stuffed animals".
- ^"The Adventures of the REAL Winnie-the-Pooh".New York Public Library.
- ^"10 surprising Winnie-the-Pooh facts".The Telegraph.September 8, 2017.
- ^Scott, A. "FILM REVIEW; You're Only Happy With Your Own Kind? Oh, Pooh",The New York Times(2000-02-11): "any child will tell you that stuffed animals don't have birth parents, and to raise the issue of Tigger's parentage is to invite all sorts of other questions. What happened to Roo's father? Why is Rabbit a bachelor? Where are Pooh's pants?"
- ^Milne, A.Winnie the Pooh(1926):
- "We are all going on an Expedition,” said Christopher Robin.
- “Going on an Expotition?” said Pooh eagerly. “I don’t think I’ve ever been on one of those. Where are we going to on this Expotition?”
- “Expedition, silly old bear."
- ^Rosseboom, Matt (23 July 2018)."Journey back into the Hundred Acre Wood with 'Christopher Robin' and voice-acting legend Jim Cummings".Attractions Magazine.Retrieved27 July2018.
- ^abShea, Sarah et al. "Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood: a neurodevelopmental perspective on A.A. Milne",Canadian Medical Association Journal,Volume 163, pages 1557–1559 (2000).
- ^Willis, Randall. "Winnie–the–Pooh and attention deficit, too",NewsInBrief,Modern Drug Discovery(April 2001).
- ^abKarleff, Ian."Winnie The Pooh Characters" Seriously Troubled "".Reuters.Archived fromthe originalon 15 June 2011.Retrieved17 April2019– viaTVNZ.
