There’s a valid reason why Tigger isn’t in ‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,’ but that doesn’t mean we’re happy about it

Until the full-blown cartoon-character-turned-slasher-villain universe expands and blows up across the community, the spotlight is currently beaming on Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. From director Rhys Waterfield, the heart-thumping horror feature notably centers around beloved children’s characters Winnie the Pooh and Piglet and their unfathomable, murderous rampage. The aforementioned project, which releases in theaters across the U.S. today, is unsurprisingly the first of its kind when it comes to transforming innocent cartoon staples into vengeful monsters.

Considering the movie’s title, it should hardly come as a shock that the duo of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet are the central focus on the project. With that being said, it would seem pointless to have a Winnie the Pooh-inspired movie without the inclusion of many memorable supporting characters — even if this particular movie falls under the horror umbrella. Luckily, nostalgic fans will be able to catch beloved character Eeyore, who is sadly slated to be one of Pooh and Piglet’s victims.

However, there’s one extremely significant character that eagle-eyed viewers have noticed is missing from the recently released nightmare. The figure in question would be Tigger — who serves as a lovable and fun-filled character from the mind of author A. A. Milne. And while the character undoubtedly embodies an infectious personality and attracts plenty of popularity, the sad truth is that Tigger’s absence is completely valid.

In an interview with SFX Magazine, Waterfield explained that Tigger is still entangled in Disney copyright, therefore rendering him protected from entering the public domain — for now, at least. As a result, the filmmaker had to go ahead with the project without the inclusion of Tigger and instead shifted his entire focus on creating chemistry between Pooh and Piglet and hardening their characters.

Despite Tigger currently being protected under copyright, that certainly doesn’t mean that the character won’t be featured in one of Waterfield’s projects somewhere down the line. Of course, Tigger would have to be released by Disney’s rights first and then be available in the public domain. Until then, however, the filmmaker has opted to create future horror projects revolving around other cartoon characters — two of which are Peter Pan and Bambi.

We’re not happy with the decision, of course, seeing as Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger are the dominating trio in Milne’s classic story. And yet, there’s something completely haunting and terrifyingly beautiful about Pooh and Piglet causing destruction on the world. Perhaps that’s the silver lining in the cloudy news in regards to the lack of Tigger.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is out in theaters now.