Disney bringing back Winnie the Pooh

Disney has commissioned a new Winnie the Pooh series, which will be produced by Welsh indie Boomerang and its Italian counterpart Maga.

The show has been commissioned by Disney Channels’ EMEA division and the preschool series will be called Tales of Friendship with Winnie the Pooh. The series will debut on Disney Junior channels in January, in 21 countries across Disney’s EMEA footprint. It will be a live-action and ‘book-style motion’ animated show.

The show is based upon a series of upcoming books that Disney will release under the Tales of Friendship banner.

Beth Gardiner, VP, original programming and development, Disney Junior EMEA, is leading the production process, and has appointed Tracy Bowerman as series producer and Dirk Campbell as series director.

The show comes out of Disney’s EMEA production hub, which is also responsible for series including Jungle Junction.

Giorgio Stock, executive VP & managing director, TV, Music, Publishing, Gaming and Online, The Walt Disney Company EMEA, said: “Disney Channels is dedicated to internationally sourcing content for our global portfolio of channels. Jungle Junction, the first original animated series for Disney Junior from our London based production hub has been a global hit and we are very excited to build on that success with Tales of Friendship with Winnie The Pooh.”