Piglet (Winnie-the-Pooh)

Piglet is a fictional character from A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books. Piglet is a baby pig who is the best friend of Winnie-the-Pooh. Despite the fact that he is a "Very Small Animal" with a stutter and a generally timid disposition, he often conquers his fears and seems to want to be brave.

Like most of the Pooh characters, Piglet was based on one of Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed animals. In the original color versions of Ernest H. Shepard's illustrations in the Winnie-the-Pooh books, Piglet has pale pink skin and a green jumper whereas in the Disney versions he has a pink jumper. He is the second shortest of the animals, with only Roo being slightly smaller (although they are close enough in size that Kanga cannot tell the difference when Piglet jumps in her pouch instead of Roo). His voice is described as "squeaky".

Early years
Piglet is introduced in the text from Chapter III of Winnie-the-Pooh, although he is shown earlier in one of the illustrations for Chapter II (helping to pull Pooh out of Rabbit's door). He also appears in Chapters V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X of that book, as well as being one of the few characters to appear in all ten chapters of The House at Pooh Corner.

Piglet's adventures in the first book include hunting Woozles, attempting to capture Heffalumps, giving Eeyore a birthday balloon (popped), impersonating Roo in an attempt to trick Kanga, joining the Expotition to the North Pole, and being trapped by a flood. In the second book, he helps build a house for Eeyore, meets Tigger, finds Small while trapped in a gravel pit, plays Poohsticks, gets lost in the mist, and helps rescue Pooh and Owl after they are trapped in Owl's fallen house. For that last feat, Piglet is the subject of a seven-verse "Respectful Pooh Song" that Pooh composes for him.

Piglet himself can read and write, at least well enough for short notes. In the illustrations for The House at Pooh Corner, it appears that Piglet spells his own name "Piglit", although it is rendered as "Piglet" in the actual text even when describing his signature. In one chapter, Piglet is referred to as "Henry Pootel" by Christopher Robin, who claimed to not recognize Piglet after he was thoroughly cleaned by Kanga. Eeyore likes to refer to him as "Little Piglet".

Piglet's favorite food is acorns (or as the book often spells it, "haycorns"). At one point he plants one just outside his house, in hopes of someday having a handy supply.

Piglet lives in a "very grand house in the middle of a beech tree" in the Hundred Acre Wood, next to a sign which says "TRESPASSERS WILL." According to Piglet, that is short for "Trespassers William," his grandfather's name. Later in The House at Pooh Corner, Eeyore mistakenly offers Piglet's house as a new home for Owl, after Owl's house had blown down. Piglet does a "Noble Thing" and agrees to let Owl have the house, at which point Pooh asks Piglet to live with him and Piglet accepts.

Piglet is best friends with Pooh, and also seems especially close to Christopher Robin. His other friends include Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, Roo, Eeyore, and Tigger (even if the latter makes him nervous on occasion).

Disney cartoon version
Although featured in every Disney interpretation of Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet was originally omitted by Disney in the first Pooh film, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966). According to the film's director, Wolfgang Reitherman, Piglet was replaced by Gopher, which was thought to have a more "folksy, all-American, grass-roots image".

Many familiar with the classic Milne books protested Disney's decision to exclude Piglet, and Disney relented. Piglet appeared in the next Pooh film, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968). John Fiedler provided the voice for Piglet from 1968 until his death on June 25, 2005 (his last appearance as Piglet's voice was in Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie). He was the last member of the original Winnie the Pooh voice cast.

Travis Oates has provided Piglet's voice since Fielder's death. He has voiced Piglet in Kingdom Hearts II, Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie (only for the newest material since much of the dialogue is still voiced by Fielder ) and the My Friends Tigger & Pooh television series.

Disney's interpretation of Piglet has pink skin and a magenta jumper.

Piglet can be found at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for meet and greets. He appears less frequently than Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore, but he is more common than the rare Rabbit. Piglet also made a brief cameo in the 1988 movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Piglet was featured as one of the guests in House of Mouse. It was one of John Fiedler's last works before his death.

Influence on popular culture
The Te of Piglet was written by Benjamin Hoff following the publication of The Tao of Pooh. Both books feature the original drawing of E. H. Shepard. The Te of Piglet details Piglet's exemplification of the Taoist concept of "virtue of the small."