Gopher (Winnie the Pooh)
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The character of Samuel J. Gopher first appeared in the 1966 Disney animated film Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. He has a habit of whistling out his sibilant consonants, and was fleshed out a bit further in the television series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. He introduces himself as Samuel J. Gopher. He is portrayed as generally hard-working, especially in his tunnels (which he inevitably falls into at least once). He does not appear in the original books by A.A. Milne, a fact that is regularly pointed out in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh when he says he's "not in the book" (a pun on unlisted phone numbers). Gopher seems to be inspired from the beaver that appeared in Lady and the Tramp eleven years before.
Since gophers are found only in America, it may be thought strange that he would appear in a story set in England but the same goes for Tigger, Kanga and Roo, and even Pooh himself. Living animals such as Rabbit were based on animals at AA Milne's local zoo[citation needed], while the rest of the animals, (excluding Gopher who was not in the books) were all based on AA Milne's son (Christopher Robin)'s childhood toys. Gopher's voice was originally done by Howard Morris who retired and was replaced by voice actor Michael Gough.
[edit] Trivia
- Gopher is the only Disney exclusive character in the Winnie the Pooh franchise to appear in the Kingdom Hearts series.
- A beaver very much resembling Gopher who also talks like him can be seen in Lady and the Tramp when they are at the zoo. He was voiced by Stan Freberg.
- Gopher was featured as a guest in House of Mouse.
- Gopher is, strangely, absent from My Friends Tigger and Pooh. However, the beaver in the said series greatly resembles Gopher, or for that matter, the said beaver in Lady in the Tramp.
