Winnie the Pooh may be a beloved storybook character with a famous love of honey but that doesn’t mean everyone is sweet on the bear.

At least not with some politicians in Poland. According to the Croatian Times, the popular children’s character was proposed as a mascot for a local playground at a council meeting in Tuszyn, Poland but was quickly criticized as being inappropriate.

“The problem with that bear is it doesn’t have a complete wardrobe,” said local councillor Ryszard Cichy. “It is half-naked which is wholly inappropriate for children.”

Another councillor suggested Pooh doesn’t wear pants “because it doesn’t have a sex. It’s a hermaphrodite.”

Councillor Hanna Jachimska reportedly blamed Pooh’s lack of visible genitals on author A.A. Milne.

“This very disturbing but can you imagine! The author was over 60 and cut his (Pooh’s) testicles off with a razor blade because he had a problem with his identity.”

The meeting of officials was recorded by a fellow councillor and leaked to the local press.

While Winnie may not have pants, the bear is not without its backers.

“Clearly, Winnie is a cartoon bear who doesn’t wear pants — but I’d like to note that the beloved Disney characters Donald Duck and Chip and Dale (the Rescue Rangers) are also pantless, Mickey Mouse doesn’t wear a shirt, and Tony the Tiger is nearly nude,” said Winnipeg mayor Brian Bowman, noting that the story has been a treasured part of children’s lives for generations. “Should they be banned as well?

“Winnipeg is a tolerant and accepting community, and I hope that Winnie continues to teach children about kindness and friendship for years to come.”

Winnipeg illustrator Nyco Rudolph was inspired by the controversy to do up a series of sketches of Pooh wearing gender-specific clothes. “I grew up with Winnie the Pooh and I don’t feel psychologically damaged because I saw him without pants on,” Rudolph said. “The gender of a cartoon character, I don’t think is something that kids pick up on.”

Winnie the Pooh was inspired by the story of Winnie the bear, an orphaned black bear cub that Canadian veterinarian and soldier Lt. Harry Colebourn rescued on his way to fight in the First World War and named after his adopted hometown of Winnipeg. The cub became the mascot of his unit and was left at the London Zoo, where it inspired Milne to write a collection of stories about Winnie the Pooh in 1926. At the time, he was a completely bare bear.

In 1961, when Walt Disney licensed the rights and made a series of cartoons, he outfitted Pooh with his now-familiar red shirt.

Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park is home to the Pooh Gallery, which houses a permanent collection of Winnie the Pooh artifacts and memorabilia. Featured prominently in the gallery is the painting Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Pot by E.H. Shepard, the original illustrator of Milne’s series. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, viewed the painting during their visit to Winnipeg in May.

A bronze statue of Colebourn and Winnie is located at the park’s Nature Playground.

“To try to draw attention to whatever his gender is could almost be more damaging than good,” said Rudolph. “With a character like that, he’s just going off on his adventures and it really doesn’t matter to the narrative whether or not he’s a boy or a girl. He’s just a stuffed teddy bear who comes to life.”

glen.dawkins@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @SunGlenDawkins