The Hundred Acre Wood, Neverland, Agrabah - Are They Real?
I can't be the only one that's dreamt of one day visiting the Hundred Acre Wood, Neverland and Agrabah, can I? Well, if I'm not, then you know about the adventures Winnie the Pooh and his pals, Peter Pan, and Aladdin have faced and how desirable it must be to visit these places. Well, they don't have to only be dreams any longer, as after doing some research, I've found and condensed exactly where these places are in the real world and how to go visit them.
The Hundred Acre Wood
In case you've been living in a honey pot and don't know the story of Christopher Robin and his pals, here's a little backstory. Winnie - the - Pooh was written by A.A Milne and published on October 14, 1926. The story was based on his real life son, Christopher Robin Milne, and his stuffed toys of a bear, a pig, a donkey, a tiger, and a kangaroo. The story of Winnie the Pooh was based in the Hundred Acre Wood, where Christopher Robin would visit his friends in their homes and have adventures with them all day long.
Real toys of Christopher Robin Milne. Image from: https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/6rr8om/the_real_stuffed_toys_owned_by_christopher_robin/
In the 2018 film "Christopher Robin", it gives us a good idea of where the Hundred Acre Wood actually is. It shows Christopher grow up in Sussex County, which is in South East England. He moves to London as an adult, but eventually makes his way back to Sussex when Pooh pays him a visit in London and has to get him back home.
A.A Milne lived in Cotchford Farm, just north of Ashdown Forest, which is also in Sussex. When historians and long time Winnie the Pooh fans compared Ashdown Forest to the drawings of E.H Shepard (the illustrator for Winnie the Pooh), they noticed it was almost identical.
The Hundred Acre Wood as seen in the books. Image from: https://www.weasyl.com/~hareluca/submissions/1811216/hundred-acre-wood
Ashwood Forest. Image from: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/five-hundred-acre-wood
Ever since people have found Ashdown Forest, they've specifically narrowed it down to it being actually the Five Hundred Acre Wood. E.H Shepard visited the Five Hundred Acre Forest when illustrating for the books, and changed some of the sites names' there to better fit the story (a real site called Gill's Lap was renamed to Galleon's Leap in the stories). Today, there is a plaque there to remember Milne and Shepard.
Plaque for Milne and Shepard. Image from: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/five-hundred-acre-wood
If you ever are in Sussex, or live there, please go visit this site. They've converted some of the areas to Winnie the Pooh themed, such as adding signs, sites, gift shops and more. It was recently quite damaged due to a wild fire, but is still visit-able.
Neverland
For structures sake, I'll begin with a short summary of Peter Pan as well. It tells the story of Peter Pan, a boy who never wants to grow up, who lives in Neverland, a place where kids never grow up. He visits Wendy, John and Michael Darling in their home in London, and takes them to visit Neverland where he defeats Captain Hook. Neverland has always been said to be a fictional place, as the magic it holds is beyond what humans are capable of. However, ever since May of 2018 after popular YouTube channel "The Film Theorists" released a video titled "Film Theory: We Found Neverland!", the internet has blown up with details as to where it really is.
London as seen in the film
Within the 9 minute video, YouTuber Matthew Patrick dives into the history of the Americas and the hints given in both the movie and the book by J.M Barrie. He begins with looking at the details from the movie, noticing the direction and landmarks Peter and the Darlings take as they fly through the London sky. He then lands them in the direction of Central America. He dives into the history of some of the animals that live there, such as crocodiles like the crocodile we see in the movie, and other animals that are mentioned. He also mentions Blackbeard and the fact that he sailed around those waters in the 18th century, and Captain Hook's fate was to do the same thing as Blackbeard. As he narrowed down details, he found that the only possible place for Neverland to really be is off the coast of Belize, at the Turneffe Atoll. The biggest giveaway is that the Fountain of Youth may have once been located here as well (hence the never growing up part of the story).
Turneffe Atoll. Image from: https://www.dive-the-world.com/dive-resorts-belize-turneffe-island-resort.php#&gid=1&pid=1
Neverland. Image from: https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Peter_Pan_locations
The Turneffe Atoll today is now a resort, but doesn't have any Peter Pan themes too it, as The Film Theorists were one of the first to create this theory only a year ago, and it is not confirmed. However, you can visit the resort. Though it is small, it does have many hotels to stay at and restaurants to eat at. According to The Sun, you can stay there for 7 nights in a cabana for $2,590 Belizean dollars.
Agrabah
Agrabah is a fictional place where the popular Disney movie "Aladdin" takes place. Aladdin, is about a young thief who encounters the princess of his country and falls in love with her. He meets a Genie and wishes to become a prince in order to marry her, but lies to her along the way. She falls in love with the real Aladdin, not the Prince Ali. In the end, he tells her the truth, sets the Genie free, and they get married.
In an interview in 2015 with the co-directors of the original Aladdin, they said that Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, the composers of the movie, decided it would be based in Baghdad, India. However, during the making of the movie, the first Gulf War occurred, and Baghdad no longer was a "Disney-friendly" location. Co-director John Musker then created Agrabah, a rearrangement of the letters in Baghdad and Agra in India, and created the fictional place that had the essence and culture of the Middle-East.
So, unlike the first two, Agrabah is not a real tourist location. The closest you may get to it is visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, in which the palace in Aladdin is loosely based.
Sultan's Palace. Image from: https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Agrabah
References:
“A. A. Milne.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Oct. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._A._Milne.
Brockington, Ariana. “In.” What Is The City In Aladdin Agrabah Really Based On?, 2019, www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/05/233405/where-does-aladdin-take-place-agrabah-real-location.
Gizauskas, Rosie. “The Real-Life Neverland? Belize Island Claimed as Location for Peter Pan Paradise.” The Sun, The Sun, 10 May 2018, www.thesun.co.uk/travel/6255259/is-this-the-real-life-neverland-famous-youtuber-claims-this-tiny-belize-island-is-the-geographic-location-of-peter-pans-paradise/.
The Film Theorists, director. Film Theory: We Found Neverland! (Disney Peter Pan). YouTube, YouTube, 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRSm7DUvykk.
Ugc. “The Forest That Inspired 'Winnie-the-Pooh's' Hundred Acre Wood.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 4 May 2017, www.atlasobscura.com/places/five-hundred-acre-wood.
