China has banned the release of a new Disney film about Winnie the Pooh after comparisons were made between the character and President Xi Jinping.
Christopher Robin, a film adaption of AA Milne's story about honey-loving Winnie the Pooh, has been banned by Chinese authorities, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
It appears memes comparing the character to Chinese President Xi Jinping may have influenced the decision not to let the film be shown in the country, which only allows around 34 foreign films to be released in cinemas each year.
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After President Xi's visit to the United States in 2013, a meme went viral online comparing an image of him walking alongside then-president Barack Obama to an image of the fictional bear and his lanky tiger friend Tigger.
In 2014 another meme went viral, this time comparing an image of President Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shaking hands to an image of Winnie the Pooh shaking hands with his gloomy donkey friend, Eeyore.
Chinese authorities didn't take the jokes lightly and began censoring images which mocked President Xi, the Guardian reports. According to firm Global Risks Insights, the Chinese government deemed the memes "a serious effort to undermine the dignity of the presidential office and Xi himself".
Christopher Robin is the second Disney film to be blocked in China this year, after science-fiction fantasy A Wrinkle in Time. However the studio's superhero flick Ant Man and the Wasp will be playing in Chinese cinemas this month.
Newshub.
