The popularity of Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends gained a great deal in the 1960s. On June 16, 1961, Walt Disney purchased the film rights to the Pooh stories from Mrs. Daphne Milne.
The first film, Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Tree, appeared in 1966 as a twenty-six minute short. E.H. Shepard, illustrator of the Pooh books, called the film 'a complete travesty', but Daphne Milne seemed pleased about the film. The general public review in America was high, but the British reaction was less than favorable. Disney had replaced the character of Piglet with a gopher, which they thought had a more "folksy, all-American, grass-roots image," according to the film's director, Wolfgang Reitherman. Outrage was also evident about the accent of the characters. Nearly all the characters had a Mid-West accent. Thanks to a crusade by British film critic Felix Barker, Disney consented to re-dub the part of Christopher Robin with a British accent, and Piglet appeared in the next film, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, and in subsequent films.