Uhm so... I got a little insane over Pooh lore and... I have a whole long post about why I think Christopher and Darby are supposed to be siblings 🧍♀️...
SO! Starting from the obvious.
Look at them... just.... just look at them. Same bangs, blue eyes, same expressions, like heck! In the 2011 reboot, Christopher's hair was a lot darker than the og light brown, tell me it is not to match her better!
Not only that, but the way Christopher often checks her with his eyes throughout the episode like a big brother would to make sure his little sister is doing all fine.
Also the age gap. Christopher is canonically older in this show, so it makes me think the reason they'd be best friends is them being siblings. Because you know, especially as kids, age gaps play a huge role in friendships. Darby is canonically 6, so I assume Christopher is at least like 10. So not exactly the same age group.
But you know when age gaps don't matter? When you are siblings. Best friends and siblings makes so much sense to me. They'd most likely be besties with people their age and not with each other if they weren't siblings.
Another thing is the fact that Darby was the only other human to ever visit Hundred Acre Wood and befriend Christopher's toys. (Other than his literal wife and daughter in the live action movie, which again, his family.) Because like, this is all Christopher's world, his toys, his imagination. The fact that she was so naturally blended in makes me think they have to be siblings.
In the pilots of the show, there is a scene of the crew being scared of someone being in the Wood, then when Darby shows up they all relax and say "oh it's just her". Meaning they knew her prior to the show, potentially ever since she was born.
Because Christopher got Winnie when he was 1 year old, and the rest probably followed shortly after, this mean if they're siblings, the crew all knew Darby from the moment she was born, and she knew them too.
I know not all siblings are the same, but I have a little brother who is 7 years younger than me. The moment he was born, I wanted to include him in my own imagination and the friendship I had with my favourite toys. I believe this is what happened with Christopher too.
Another thing is, Christopher's mother. I know, I know, this sounded so weird but. Just look at her in the 1988 show...
Like that's so grown up Darby isn't it? Also, her name's apparantly "Dorothy/Daphne" so, we can also say lore wise this could have been where Darby got her name.
There is also something my wife mentioned. Remember that Darby has that monkey toy?
So yeah. There was this episode in the 1988 show where Christopher has a gift for a friend of his, which is a robot gorilla. Episode info down below!
So her point is that, Darby's monkey toy could be a callback to this episode, meaning that we can expect that in the cgi show, "Bruno" of this canon was meant for Darby.
And I briefly mentioned this before but... Do we seriously think, that Christopher would let just any kid play with Winnie?? He wouldn't give Winnie to Darby if they were just unrelated friends that see each other from time to time.
It just doesn't make sense for them to not be siblings honestly. Because the whole thing is Christopher's own, some random kid can not access his dream world and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood, come on!
You don't just, tell your friend what you play and what worlds you imagine with your toys and suddenly make them a part of it. Friendships between unrelated people and siblings are different. The fact that Christopher shares that with Darby is enough to make the believe they are siblings.
Darby not only becomes a part of Christopher's imaginary world, she adds to it. Together they make new rules and status quo, expand the Hundred Acre Wood together. He not just lets her in, but gives her full power over their world. You don't just let anybody into your dream world like that.
Christopher only shows up twice in My Friends Tigger and Pooh. One being the Many Thanks to Christopher Robin one, and the other being the frog one.
In Many Thanks to Christopher Robin, Darby seems sad that everyone's there except Christopher. And then he shows up immediately. That whole scene is so little sister wanting her brother and best friend there with her. The same thing happens when he follows them on their mission to help.
Just watch her and tell me this is not a little sister being happy that her brother finally has time to play with her again:
Also in this episode, Christopher makes it clear that he knows about the whole Super Sleuth thing which is something Darby adds to their imaginary world.
Since Christopher is older here than he is in the movies, it explains why Darby wouldn't be in other Pooh media. She is simply just too little to play or she isn't even born yet. It also explains why he was absent in the CG show. Just like the movies, he is off to school, only being able to play with her in these two days.
The other episode is when Darby thinks she turned Christopher into a frog, which of course, couldn't be further from the truth. He meets them in the end of the episode, and she hugs him and they're glad he isn't a frog, etc.
Here I want to point out their body language around each other. The hug, the hand holding, it's so a little sister and a big brother I can not explain it. A sister who thought she turned her brother and best friend into a frog forever and then realises it's not true at all. She sees him and runs to him immediately. Like those are siblings look at them :(
I can probably add more, but I think this is enough for now?
Been sketching the Pooh siblings way too much. Learning the Disney style (failing miserably in that second pink sketch but hey, I was only using markers!) and sometimes mix it with my own.
My wife liked them so I decided to post 🫶. ( @angelpinkpasta mwah 🫶)
Also, yeah, I did draw the last two under my thrift date wishlist...
I did mention some time ago, how I think Pooh's Heffalump Movie is Darby's imagination instead of Christopher's, and I went deeper into as to why. So I may just link that post instead of repeating myself. (Here)
But after rewatching it with my brother today, I had more thoughts about the whole thing...
Roo, is Christopher's toy. The closest one in age, in that matter, because Christopher plays with Roo like he is a 5 year old boy.
Lumpy, in my theory, is Darby's toy. I mentioned how I believe Lumpy is originally bought for Darby and not her brother, and how this is the reason we see Christopher "meeting" Lumpy at the end credits. Lumpy, in that case, is Darby's child character.
Lumpy and Roo, are a lot like Darby and Christopher throughout the movie. Roo is trying to grow up, thinking he should be an adult already and be respected. While Lumpy shows opposite behavior by being extremely playful and childish, embracing his young age as it is.
Their behaviour match perfectly with the respective Robin sibling that owns them. Christopher, as shown in the Christopher Robin movie, was put under high expectations and responsibilities. Sent to boarding school at such a young age while all he wanted to do was to play with his toys. He was made to believe he had to be mature and adult, while he was just a kid. His mother literally tells him that he is "the man of the house now" once his father passes, and he was just a kid that wanted to go home.
Meanwhile Darby was never subjected to the same harsh expectations. She never thought she had to grow up so early, even in My Friends Tigger and Pooh, while Christopher is at school, despite being known to attending school, Darby wasn't in a boarding school where she stayed long periods. She got to experience her childhood to it's absolute best. Throughout her show, Darby never expresses any desire to be an adult, nor she ever says something about responsibilities or a need for growing up. She simply enjoys her time as a kid.
Roo represents Christopher and his struggles, while Lumpy represents Darby's more carefree and childish world view.
I will go further and say, even the inseperable behavior of Roo and Lumpy during the course of My Friends Tigger and Pooh, may represent Darby's desire to be with her brother all the time. In the episode Many Thanks for Christopher Robin, Darby mentions everyone's there except him, and she looks like she has accepted him not being there with her most of the time. When he does show up we see her really surprised, even when he joins the sleuthing for that episode, she seems surprised everytime he stays longer.
She can't play with her brother all the time anymore, so she makes the toys that represent them, do that instead.
So... None of us are gonna talk about how Darby not only has her pink scooter and snowboard, but blue ones for each as well that Tigger and Winnie use? We all know too well that no parent would buy those extras just because she wants her toys to have the same vehicles to match her lore, right?
What I'm trying to say is, the double items are most likely Christopher's. Just like how he had her same hat in that one episode, he probably owns the scooter and snowboard too. While he is at school, Darby just makes her toys use his stuff.
Also the sled she uses in some winter eps. Christopher had one too, so they most likely share.
Putting this in my list of "why Darby and Chris are siblings and Disney is lying to us by hiding it".
Most of the others, especially Winnie, have been with Christopher ever since he was a baby. Remember Christopher got Winnie when be was one year old.
I don't know if Disney retconed this, since Piglet's Big Movie kinda makes this a bit confusing when he joined the rest. But Tigger met Christopher when he was already 6 years old. Tigger didn't raise Christopher like the others did.
But he raised Darby. When Tigger came home, Darby was a baby or maybe even a newborn. For Tigger, this was his first baby. For others she was the second baby they raised.
Now go back and think about all the times Darby was going through normal phases of growing up, let it be learning how to ride a bike, losing her baby teeth, remember how worried and dramatic Tigger always was. Then remember how relaxed Winnie was about it all. Because he raised Christopher, he knows she will be okay.
But Tigger doesn't. He is doing all of the mistakes Winnie did with Christopher out of worry, with Darby. Winnie tried to do extra things that he mistakenly thought Christopher needed or wanted, only to learn he is enough. He worried for nothing only to learn it's okay for Christopher to go through these things while growing up.
Same process happens with Tigger while Darby is growing up. He tries to give her everything, even the amount that she doesn't demand. He is worrying too much about her and can't stand the idea of her being upset. Winnie doesn't aproach her with the same worry because he knows how it goes.
Remember the tooth episode, or the pony episode, or that one scene where they all fall on top of each other and Tigger's first instinct was to put his hand over her.
Oh to have a new Winnie the Pooh show with both the Robin siblings present. Not Christopher alone, not Darby alone, both of them present for the whole show, in a show that revolves around both...
The sibling banter, the occasional fights that results in them learning and bonding further, seeing both their shared and different takes on the Hundred Acre Wood, JUST siblings playing together in the imaginary world which they also created together.
DISNEY WHY IS IT SO HARD FOR YOU TO SEE???
LIke I am the one trying to spread the word that they are canon siblings, but I am starting to realise I'm NOT the only one who strongly believes that. Like I just scrolled a lot of wiki pages and the amount of pages that list Darby as some releative for every character that Christopher is releated to is INSANE. Clearly these fans also believe this idea and consider it canon even though Disney's coward ass keeps never stating it out loud.
Just imagine how much both parties could benefit from such idea too! Part of fans would be happy to see their canon being actually canon, and the others who had previously thought Darby was a weird addition to the franchise can finally place her into the world knowing why she is there, which is because she is Christopher's sister.
Fans would also be happy with such series because a show this format, a format that explores not only the siblings' relationship to the other characters and showcase all their adventures but also explore the sibling bond of two little kids, would carry the heart of this franchise in the best way ever. I mean, what is more wholesome than siblings who are best friends playing in their imaginary world with their equally adorable stuffed toy friends?
I really should consider pitching this idea in some way...
