Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is among those entries in the slasher film category that horrifyingly re-conceptualize iconic children’s properties and characters that were (and continue to be) symbols of child-like familiarity and nostalgia in most audiences’ lives. Development of the horror movie started in 2022, the same year that A.A. Milne’s 1926 book about the titular anthropomorphic teddy bear went into public domain.
Although the endeavor sparked public intrigue at the peak of its announcement, the responses it received at the time were divisive.
Upon its release, partly due to its viral stature, the Rhys Frake-Waterfield-helmed and written premise was triumphant at the box office, given its $100,000 budget. However, it failed to resonate with critics and several viewers and earned itself a 3% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Now, tackling the reception to the 2023 initiative, Frake-Waterfield talked about how his movie got compared to Marvel films by reviewers, despite it not even paralleling the likes of the budget MCU films get allotted. And fans of the superhero franchise aren’t too happy with this statement.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey Director On Marvel Films Proving The Reason Behind The Slasher’s Low Rating
According to writer and helmer Rhys Frake-Waterfield, his 2023 Winnie-the-Pooh-based slasher horror film was held to the standards of Marvel films by several critics despite not boasting a similar budget to those blockbuster initiatives. Reflecting on the substandard score of the indie movie on Rotten Tomatoes, the director stated to SFX Magazine:
“When your film is out there like that, it literally gets directly compared to Marvel films, even though you’re on 0.01% of their budget. We probably didn’t have their catering budget! They’re substantially different. But because of the scale Winnie went to, a lot of the critics did almost like-for-like comparisons.”
Made on a budget of $100,000 and shot in 10 days, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey can’t hold a candle to big-scale franchise initiatives. That’s true. Confining it then to a benchmark that contrasts two separate endeavors that differ not only in production quality but genre, too, can seem unfair.
However, netizens who reacted to Frake-Waterfield’s statement have suggested that the budget may not be why the slasher proved critically catastrophic. According to them, a movie may not always connect with viewers and critics, regardless of the funding that it receives. And the MCU is proof enough.
Under its banner, it has had several ventures with commercial backing but failed to land an impressive score on Rotten Tomatoes. Conversely, outside of the realm of superhero outings, many films, even in the horror genre, have earned a cult-classic, iconic stature despite a meager budget. This reasoning implies that the rating and reception for any film boils down to other elements.
The story, dialogue, narrative decisions, and other aspects are factored in, too. Only then can any form of art resonate with its spectators.
Of course, not all the flak directed at Rhys Frake-Waterfield’s remark was as poised. However, the brutality of fans’ criticism coincides with a growing trend of blaming the MCU for the contemporary state of filmmaking. Several members of the Hollywood fraternity have openly expressed their disapproval of the franchise for different reasons, but whether or not those claims have any credibility remains widely subjective.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey Director’s Comment Reaped The Anger Of Marvel Fans
Fans of the superhero franchise and netizens on X didn’t hold back when highlighting what made Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey a critical failure.
And it wasn’t the low budget, they believed, that was responsible. Most users reiterated rhetoric voiced by reviewers about the shoddy story, lack of coherence, and poor dialogue. Others emphasized that less financially supported projects can impact viewers, just as some high-profile, big-budget productions occasionally fail to do so.
Of course, there were also those who didn’t mince their words and retorted to ruthless comments.
The most common question at the core of every argument against Rhys Frake-Waterfield’s remark was what Marvel films had to do with Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey failing catastrophically among critics, given that such comparisons were seldom observed. Following are some of the posts that can offer a better understanding of fans’ responses:
Cry about it buddy
— ⋈ Tank (@Just_Tank_Man) February 17, 2024
HOW IS IT MARVELS FAULT THAT YOU MADE A BAD MOVIE https://t.co/ecIUJTR6os
— S.H🍉| Wheatley Arc (@SHITHEAD6855) February 17, 2024
WHAT…
ON EARTH…
DOES MARVEl…
HAVE TO DO…
WITH ANYTHING?!!! https://t.co/AJgb99RNbM— The-Autistic-Artist 🎄 (Echo and Wish Era) (@TheAutisticArt) February 17, 2024
Your movie wasn’t bad because it was compared to Marvel, dude. It’s bad because the script, directing and acting all suck. And worst of all, you squandered a great premise on the most generic type of plot possible.
— SonicStantz (@SonicStantz) February 17, 2024
cant use “cus its being compared to marvel films” as an excuse since marvel some current marvel stuff is being critiqued hard because they havent been as high of quality lol
— Chris 𝕏 (@Christendo_) February 17, 2024
You just suck at making movies these are all movies made with similar budgets and they’re all goated 😭 pic.twitter.com/6byk6W9Ppq
— Justin (@LightSpeedJstnn) February 17, 2024
Nevertheless, it could have been that writer and helmer Frake-Waterfield was only talking about the reviews that made it a point to highlight the cheap production value. However, where the 3% rating is concerned, it reflects the viewpoints of critics whose dislike goes beyond the slasher’s mediocre quality.
The website‘s consensus saying, “Oh, bother,” perhaps aptly summarizes why people felt the way they did about the movie.
Frake-Waterfield may not have much to worry about in the grand scheme of things, though, as the first movie amassed $5.2 million, and a sequel is lined up for release this year. It remains to be seen if the subgenre’s viral status allows Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 to clear the bar it has set up for itself.
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey is available for streaming on Peacock.
