You've probably heard about (or even watched) Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, the independent slasher movie released earlier this year after making lots of noise online. How did this movie even happen? Well, while Disney's version of Pooh is protected by copyright, the company no longer exclusively owns the rights to Winnie the Pooh as envisioned by English writer A.A. Milne. Like many other popular characters that have been around for decades or longer, Winnie the Pooh and the surrounding lore can be used legally without repercussion.

While you might think turning affable Pooh into the inspiration for a modern-day murderer is funny, an entire class of fourth-graders disagree. The news popped up last week, when it was reported a teacher at the Academy of Innovative Education, located in Miami Springs, had allowed the slasher flick to run for almost half an hour even though several students weren't comfortable. According to some of the parents, however, the students picked the movie, so they kind of got what they were asking for. Still, it's highly likely this decision was made by only a handful of students, and we have to wonder why a teacher would agree with them.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was originally set for a UK-only, one-night event, but a sudden spike in online popularity led to a major worldwide theatrical release in early 2023. Unsurprisingly, the movie received largely negative reviews, with many criticizing it barely had any original ideas to push the story forward or mine the wacky premise besides its meme potential, but was a commercial success, grossing $5.2 million worldwide against a minuscule budget of $100,000.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, a sequel and a shared universe (whatever that means in this context) are both currently in development.

This isn't the only unexpected news involving a horror flick and children to surprise us this month, since Chuck E. Cheese has tempted fate with a Five Nights at Freddy's parody event ahead of the video game adaptation hitting theaters on October 27.