Gopher (Winnie the Pooh)

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Gopher (Winnie-the-Pooh)
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Gopher
First appearanceWinnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966)
Created byWalt Disney
John Lounsbery
Voiced byHoward Morris (1966–1977)
Michael Gough (1988–present)
In-universe information
SpeciesGopher
GenderMale

Gopher is a fictional grey

animated film Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.[1] He has a habit of whistling out his sibilant consonants, one of various traits he has in common with the beaver in Lady and the Tramp
, by whom he may have been inspired.

Character

Creation

Gopher was the only character in the original shorts that was an original character and not based on a character from the

A.A. Milne books,[1] a fact he notes in his first appearance when he says "I'm not in the book, you know!" Instead, he was initially developed by Disney as a replacement for Piglet
, although it was ultimately decided to keep Piglet involved in the stories as well as use Gopher. Apparently, the proposed character of Gopher was thought to have a more "folksy, all-American, grass-roots image" than Piglet. While American audiences loved the character, British audiences were less pleased.

Like most Winnie-the-Pooh characters, Gopher is named after his own species.

Gopher is also known for his unique voice characterization. He tends to whistle his consonants, particularly his S's. This is lampshaded in his debut; when Pooh mimics Gopher while asking for honey, Gopher tells Pooh he should do something about the speech impediment he himself has, before handing him the honey.

Personality

Gopher has a fairly brash, bolshie personality, with a tendency to

sibilant consonants
.

Appearances

While he never made appearances in any episodes of

breaks the fourth wall by saying he's "not in the book, y'know", also trying to say that he would not be in a phone book). Gopher's voice was originally done by Howard Morris, who retired from the role and was replaced by Michael Gough
.

Gopher's other appearances in Winnie the Pooh-related media include the television specials A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving, Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You, and Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh, the direct-to-video film A Very Merry Pooh Year, and the video game Winnie the Pooh: 123's.

He also made minor appearances in the television series House of Mouse, the video game Kingdom Hearts II, and Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie (in archive footage from Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh). This last was Gopher's last appearance in any form of media until the release of Kingdom Hearts III in January 2019, after nearly thirteen years of absence.[2] Four years later, he was also added as a playable character in the video game Disney Magic Kingdoms.[3]

Like other Walt Disney Animation Studios characters, he has a cameo appearance in the 2023 short film Once Upon a Studio.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "Gopher - D23". d23.com. September 5, 2015.
  2. ^ Romano, Sal (November 16, 2018). "Kingdom Hearts III Kingdom of Corona and 100 Acre Wood screenshots". Gematsu.
  3. ^ Disney Magic Kingdoms (Gameloft) (April 7, 2023). "Update 69: Bambi | Event Walkthrough". YouTube.
  4. ^ Reif, Alex (October 16, 2023). "Disney's "Once Upon a Studio" – List of Characters in Order of Appearance". Laughing Place.
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