Does Christopher Robin have a post credits scene? After Marvel popularized the concept of a surprise scene after the credits, seemingly every major studio release has followed suit. And while they’re typically reserved for superhero movies and action blockbusters, you may be surprised to learn that the new live-action Winnie the Pooh film, Christopher Robin, also has one.
Warning: Some plot spoilers appear later in the post
In the brief sequence that follows the end credits, Winnie the Pooh and his friends, including Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore, dance together on a beach while an old man sits at a piano and plays a song called “Busy Doing Nothing.” While the film doesn’t outright state who the old man is, his identity is an easter egg all of its own.
This sequence ties into the film’s central narrative, which involves an adult Christopher Robin (played by Ewan McGregor) struggling to raise a family and maintain his job as a low-level executive at a luggage company. Winnie the Pooh and the rest of the gang re-enter Christopher’s life, in an attempt to remind him of what’s truly meaningful in his life.
The film ends with Christopher saving the company from going out of business by convincing his bosses that average working people should be given paid vacations, so that they will need to purchase luggage. The post credits scene is meant as an affirmation of everything that Christopher learned from Winnie the Pooh throughout the film; namely, friends and family are what are most important. As for the old man at the piano, he’s none other than legendary Disney composer Richard M. Sherman.
Richard, along with his brother Robert, wrote the music for some of the studio’s most beloved hits. Some of their most notable work includes The Jungle Book, The Aritstocats, and Sword In the Stone. They’re also responsible for the Enchanted Tiki Room music and the World of Color theme that plays at Disney’s various theme parks. They appeared as characters in the 2014 drama Saving Mr. Banks, which is based on the making of Mary Poppins, and they were portrayed by B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman.
Naturally, the Sherman brothers also wrote music for the original Winnie the Pooh cartoons, including the titular theme and “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers.” Robert was not able to appear in the post credits scene along his brother, as he passed away in 2012.
In a 1996 interview with Performing Songwriter, the Sherman brothers told how they created the proper music for animated characters. “Many times, they do give you sketches,” Richard said. “We don’t know what their voices are but we do know the physical precepts. Like with Winnie the Pooh, we knew he was a little stuffed Teddy Bear and we knew that Tigger was a stuffed tiger that bounced around a lot. So you could sort of feel them.”
“They have feelings,” he continued. “They have emotions, they have heart, they love, they’re afraid. They’re just as real to us as if we were writing for a live actor.” Robert elaborated, saying: “We don’t think of them as little stuffed Teddy Bears, we think of them as personalities. We write for them the same as we write for anybody.”