Gopher (Winnie the Pooh)
Encyclopedia
Gopher is a fictional grey anthropomorphic gopher
Gopher
- Animal kingdom :* Gopher , including:** Pocket gophers , about 40 species distributed from North America to Colombia** Several ground squirrels of North America, particularly those formerly classified as Spermophilus* Gopher tortoise , distributed in North America- Other uses :* Minnesota, the...

 character who first appeared in the 1966 Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...

 animated film Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree is a 1966 animated featurette released by The Walt Disney Company. Based on the first two chapters of the book Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, it is the is the only Winnie the Pooh production released under the production of Walt Disney before his death later that...

, introducing himself as Samuel J. Gopher. He has a habit of whistling out his sibilant consonants, one of various traits he has in common with the beaver in Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on June 22, 1955, by Buena Vista Distribution. The fifteenth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen...

, by whom he may have been inspired. Gopher was fleshed out a bit further in the television series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television that ran from 1988 to 1991, inspired by A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories.-Overview:...

. He is portrayed as generally hard-working, especially in his tunnels (which he inevitably falls into at least once). He does not appear in the original books by A. A. Milne
A. A. Milne
Alan Alexander Milne was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.-Biography:A. A...

 (a fact that is regularly pointed out in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, when he says he's "not in the book, y'know", also trying to say that he would not be in a phone book). Gopher's voice was originally done by Howard Morris
Howard Morris
Howard Morris was an American comic actor and director who was best known for his role as Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show.- Life and career :...

, who retired from the role and was replaced by Michael Gough
Michael Gough (voice actor)
Michael Gough is an American voice actor and singer.-Television roles:*Dog from WordWorld* Don Diego de la Vega and The lead role in The New Adventures of Zorro* "Goof Troop" - Fester Swollen...

.

Gopher's most recent appearances were in A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving
A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving
A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving is a 1998 made-for-TV special featuring the voice talents of Jim Cummings, Paul Winchell, and John Fiedler. The movie shows Pooh and his friends learning the true meaning of Thanksgiving...

and Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You. He also appeared in Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh
Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh
Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh is a Halloween television special based on the Disney television series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, originally broadcast on October 25, 1996.-Synopsis:...

, which was included as part of Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie
Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie
Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie is a Winnie the Pooh movie which was released direct to video as the sequel to Pooh's Heffalump Movie. It features the segment, Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh....

. To date, this is Gopher's last appearance in the Winnie the Pooh media line.

Gopher was notably absent in the 2011 film, Winnie the Pooh.
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