Heffalump

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A heffalump is a fictional creature mentioned in the Winnie the Pooh stories by A. A. Milne. Heffalumps are mentioned in Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928), and later appeared in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988–1991) and now in Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005).

[edit] Origins

In the books, Pooh and Piglet attempt bravely to capture a heffalump in a trap. But no heffalumps are ever caught in their trap, and indeed no heffalump is ever met with in the course of the books. The sole actual appearance of heffalumps in the books come as Pooh tries to put himself to sleep: "[H]e tried counting Heffalumps [but] every Heffalump that he counted was making straight for a pot of Pooh's honey...[and] when the five hundred and eighty-seventh Heffalump was licking its jaws, and saying to itself, 'Very good honey this, I don't know when I've tasted better', Pooh could bear it no longer." We learn nothing more about the nature of the beasts in the writings.

[edit] Explanation

Although this is never explicitly stated, it is generally thought that heffalumps are elephants from a child's viewpoint (the word "heffalump" being a child's attempt at pronouncing "elephant"). Even though it was never stated, E. H. Shepard's illustrations in A. A. Milne's original books depict heffalumps (as seen in Pooh's dreams) as looking very much like elephants. The heffalumps in the television series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the animated films also look like elephants, albeit slightly cuddlier and less fierce elephants than those Pooh imagines in the books.

In the animated television series, most heffalumps are enemies of Pooh and his friends. They are known to steal honey, and are often associated with woozles. One particular heffalump named Heff was the dim-witted sidekick of Stan the Woozle, and was afraid of Roo, because he thought Roo was a giant mouse (perhaps a reference to the Looney Tunes running gag of Sylvester mistaking Hippety Hopper for a giant mouse). Heff, who was voiced by Chuck McCann, sounded just like Bouncer Beagle from DuckTales.

Piglet also befriended a young heffalump named Junior in two episodes of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Junior lived with his parents, similarly to the Three Bears. His father, Papa Heffalump, was voiced by Jim Cummings. Mama Heffalump often had to remind Papa Heffalump of his many allergies. They appeared in a song called "Heffalumps and Woozles" with their partners, the woozles, in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Here, Tigger described them as honey-eating monsters.

Since the 1950s heffalumps have gained substantial fame outside the Pooh stories. The term "heffalump" is whimsically used by adults to describe an elephant, or a child's view of an elephant.^[1] The term "heffalump trap" has been used in political journalism for a trap that is set up to catch an opponent but ends up trapping the person who set the trap (as happens to Winnie the Pooh in The House at Pooh Corner).^[2]

There is a musical score called To Catch a Heffalump (1971) by Willem Frederik Bon.

Pooh's Heffalump Movie, released in 2005, looks at the differences between the denizens of the Hundred Acre Woods and the Heffalumps whom they fear as a mutual prejudice, cleared up after Roo becomes friends with a Heffalump named Lumpy.[1]

A Mr Heffalump is also featured in the on-line flash cartoon Naughty Heffalump. It is not stated if Mr Heffalump is in any way related to the Pooh-stories heffalumps.

[edit] References

1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, second edition, 1989: "A child's word for ‘elephant’. Now commonly in adult use."
2. ^ The Spectator (22 August 1958). "The Conservatives are not going to leap into the heffalump-trap in which their opponents... reside". Cited in Oxford English Dictionary.