There are some great things going on in the Forest of Blue Nightmares.
A horror film where Winnie the Pooh and Piglet turn into psychopathic killers has been voted the worst film of 2023 by the Razzie Awards, prizes designed as anti-Oscars, awarded a few hours before the big ceremony of American cinema.
With its budget of less than $100,000, this “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey” hit the headlines last year, to the point of generating death threats from outraged fans of the cute little bear.
If the adventures of Winnie and his companions - Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger - in the Forest of Blue Dreams, are the subject of a license held by Disney for decades, the legal protection of the first books by Alan Alexander Milne, released in 1926, has now expired.
The original character therefore fell into the American public domain in 2022, allowing this nightmarish adaptation.
The film was not only voted as the worst film of the year, but also won awards for worst director, worst screenplay, worst on-screen couple - for the duo Pooh and Piglet and for worst remake.
A box full of mediocrity, which however is not likely to embarrass the screenwriter, director and producer Rhys Frake-Waterfield.
His film grossed nearly $5 million, fifty times the initial investment, after benefiting from a worldwide theatrical release thanks to the controversy it aroused.
The sequel is already due out next month, with a budget, this time, of $500,000.
Making fun of Hollywood's culture of self-righteousness
Building on this success, not in terms of esteem, but financial, Frake-Waterfield, who until 2021 worked at EDF in Great Britain, explained to AFP that he was also considering horror films based on the books “Bambi” and " Peter Pan ".
A parody award, the Razzies were created in 1981 to poke fun at Hollywood's culture of self-righteousness.
They are announced each year the day before the Oscars.
This year, actor Jon Voight won the worst actor award for the thriller “Mercy.”
Megan Fox was voted worst actress for the horror film "Johnny & Clyde" and worst supporting actress for "Expend4bles."
But, good princes, the organizers chose to give the prize for best redemption to Fran Drescher, nominated for the Razzie in 1998 for “The Beautician and the Beast”.
A score in their eyes erased by the remarkable role that the current president of SAG/AFTRA played in resolving the prolonged strike in Hollywood last year.