Eeyore (pronounced /ˈiː.ɔː/, EE-aw in British English; 
ˈiː.jɔːr (help·info) in American English) is a character in the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A.A. Milne. He is generally characterized as a pessimistic, melancholic, depressed, old grey stuffed donkey who is a friend of the title character, Winnie-the-Pooh.
His name is a representation of the onomatopoeic phrase "hee-haw," which refers to the braying sound made by a donkey, written in the Cockney dialect, which is characterised by h dropping in addition to the usual British r dropping (non-rhoticity). [1] [2]
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Original works
Eeyore appears in chapters 4, 6, 8, and 10 of Winnie-the-Pooh, and is mentioned in a few others. He also appears in all the chapters of The House at Pooh Corner except chapter 7.
Physically, Eeyore is described as an "old grey donkey." In Ernest H. Shepard's illustrations, he appears to be about chin-high to Pooh and about hip-high to Christopher Robin. He has a long tail, of which he is very fond, but that he is also prone to losing (Owl once mistakes it for a bell-pull). Christopher Robin is able to reattach the tail with a drawing pin.
Eeyore is apparently able to write, or at least recognize letters such as the letter A that he teaches to Piglet in the fifth chapter of The House at Pooh Corner. He spells his own name "eoR" when signing the "rissolution" that the animals give to Christopher Robin as a farewell present in the final chapter of The House at Pooh Corner. Eeyore also wrote the awkwardly-rhymed poem called, "POEM", which appeared on the "rissolution", making him the only character in the Winnie-the-Pooh books other than Pooh himself who attempts to write poetry. Eeyore is also surprisingly good at the game Poohsticks, winning more times than anyone else when it is played in the sixth chapter of The House at Pooh Corner.
Eeyore lives in the southeast corner of the Hundred Acre Wood, in an area labeled "Eeyore's Gloomy Place: Rather Boggy and Sad" on the map in the book. He has a stick house there in which collapses rather regularly, called the House at Pooh corner, which Pooh and Piglet built for him after accidentally mistaking the original house that Eeyore built for a pile of sticks.
He has a poor opinion of most of the other animals in the Forest, describing them has having "No brain at all, some of them", "only grey fluff that's blown into their heads by mistake" (from chapter 1 of The House at Pooh Corner).
Eeyore's favorite food is thistles.
Disney cartoon version
Eeyore also appears in the Winnie the Pooh cartoons popularized by Disney studios. He was originally voiced by Ralph Wright, was based on Michael Liston, and his current voice actor is Peter Cullen.
He was ridden by Rabbit in his search for train "borrowers" in The Tigger Without A Name and The Pooh With A Name. Nearly all of Eeyore's houses in the cartoons have been bounced down. Eeyore is not good at rebuilding the houses; woozles bounce on them. Yet he soldiers on and rebuilds them time after time. Despite his depressive nature, Eeyore is capable of great compassion, which is shown when he grows a plant that Rabbit, a master gardener, was unable to grow, just by showing the plant a little love.
Eeyore has also been featured in a number of movies: Piglet's Big Movie, The Tigger Movie and Pooh's Heffalump Movie. He appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for meet and greets. His catchphrases are "Thanks for noticin' me" and "Ohhh-kayyy".
In merchandise by The Walt Disney Company, Eeyore sometimes has an uncharacteristic smile. Also, he is somewhat less caustic and sarcastic in the Disney version than in Alan Milne's original stories. His tail was not always fixed to him by a nail, although Disney has chosen this as part of his permanent image. Eeyore lost his tail in the Hundred Acre Wood. Owl found it and used it as a bell-pull beside his door, before Winnie-the-Pooh found it for Eeyore. Christopher Robin then pinned it back on. According to Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, this was possible because Eeyore is full of sawdust. Also, when Eeyore appears in animation he is colored his natural grey, though he is coloured blue with a pink muzzle in merchandising.
See also
References
- ^ Pyles, Thomas. The Origins and Development of the English Language. 2nd Edition. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; New York. (1971).
- ^ http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2008/10/some-onomatopoeia.html
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