Kanga is an anthropomorphic, stuffed kangaroo belonging to Christopher Robin that first appeared in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. Hospitable and gentle, Kanga is the mother of Roo and a good friend to the Hundred Acre Wood residents, most notably Tigger.
Background[]
In Piglet's Big Movie, Kanga and Roo are implied to have been the newest members of the Hundred Acre Wood (despite Blustery Day making it clear that Tigger is the newest resident). Upon their arrival, Kanga was mistaken for a predator by Rabbit, Tigger, Pooh, and Piglet. However, after a misadventure, they come to realize Kanga's true nature and warmly welcomed her and Roo into their circle.
Kanga lives in a literal treehouse (which shares a joint mailbox, indicating two residences rather than one) with her son Roo. She spends much of her time at home while Roo typically joins the adventures of Pooh and the others. Kanga acts much like a typical housewife (despite being a single mother) as she is mostly seen cleaning and tending to Roo's needs. Of all the Hundred Acre Woods residents, Kanga has the strongest friendship with Tigger, whom she sometimes treats as her own. This makes sense as Tigger and Roo often treat each other as siblings. Kanga is notable in that she is one of the few characters that Tigger does not bounce. Instead, he treats her extremely respectfully, often referring to her as "Mrs. Kanga", even though in Un-Valentine's Day, he does bounce Kanga, claiming "you always bounce someone you love".
Kanga was initially the only female character in the Winnie the Pooh franchise. This changed with the introduction of recurring characters, such as Kessie and Mama Heffalump (with whom Kanga developed a close friendship). However, she continues to be the only female character in the main cast.
Personality[]
Kanga is easily the most down-to-earth resident of the Hundred Acre Wood, so much so that she rarely joins the madcap exploits of her friends. Being a mother, Kanga is sweet and nurturing to both Roo and the others. She is also wise to some degree and shares this wisdom with other residents, such as Piglet. As she lacks the eccentricity of Tigger or the temper of Rabbit, Kanga often appears to be extremely leveled and mature. Her maturity also allowed her to be the first resident (alongside Roo) to overcome the universal fear of Heffalumps in Pooh's Heffalump Movie, to the point that, upon watching a Heffalump with Roo, she was the only one to not really be scared or worried, only being confused, which shows that Kanga is able to not judge a situation for what it seems and that, at times, she doesn't let fear cloud her thinking and reasoning.
With that said, as expected from any member of the Hundred Acre Wood, Kanga's common sense isn't infallible. In cases such as Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin, she exhibits a similar superstitious and fearful disposition as the rest of the animals. In the former, she even contributes listing down horrifying acts by the Backson, such as waking up babies and stealing a person's youth. This is arguably the closest to developing personal phobias and grievances of Kanga. In Piglet's Big Movie she is observed to have a playful sense of mischief, tormenting Piglet after figuring out his ruse before making friends with him.
Film appearances[]
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh[]
Kanga in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
In The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Kanga appears in all the stories.
In Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Kanga is shown with Roo at Christopher Robin's house and inspecting Eeyore's tail after it is reattached. Later on, she brings Roo to give Pooh some flowers when Pooh is trapped in Rabbit's door. Later on, she comes with Christopher Robin and Eeyore to help remove him, when Pooh has grown thin enough, as she takes hold of Christopher's drum, with Eeyore pulling her tail.
In Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Kanga is one of the people who comes to see the damage to Owl's home, which was blown over by the strong winds. During the flood, Kanga, Roo, and Tigger are able to reach safety at Christopher Robin's home by using an umbrella as a boat. After the flood, Kanga attends the hero party that is held in honor of Pooh and Piglet.
In Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, Kanga appears in the second half of the segment. One winter day, she allows Roo to go out and play with Tigger. Kanga later comes to their aid when Tigger discovers his fear of heights. Roo is able to jump to safety, with Kanga encouraging him to not fall too fast. When Tigger is brought down, Rabbit tries to hold Tigger to a promise to never bounce. Kanga remarks on his sadness and everyone eventually agrees to allow Tigger to keep bouncing, Tigger promising Rabbit that he will always watch where he is bouncing. Kanga is then seen bouncing alongside everyone else.
The Tigger Movie[]
In The Tigger Movie, Kanga is first seen sweeping her front porch when Tigger bounces up and asks her to bounce with him, but she says she cannot because she has too much work to do. Later on, Kanga is seen along with Roo, Rabbit, Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore trying to remove a boulder off of Eeyore's house with Rabbit's Rock Remover and when Kanga suggests they could use another helping hand, Tigger bounces up and bounces onto the boulder, making both it and everyone else (except for Tigger and Roo) roll into the mud. When Kanga reaches into her pouch, she finds a fish in it. After this Tigger asks the gang to bounce with him to which Kanga and the others tell him that they can't bounce with him because they're not Tiggers like he is. Later on that night, Roo tells Kanga that he wishes Tigger could be his big brother and be a member of their family to which Kanga tells Roo that Tigger is one of their family and will always be if they continue to care for him. The next day, Kanga, Roo, Eeyore, Pooh, Piglet, and Owl all gather at Owl's house to write Tigger a letter from his family and they all come up with their own ideas of what to say in the letter, including Kanga who suggests it should say "Dress Warmly."
Piglet's Big Movie[]
When Piglet goes missing, Pooh and his friends use his scrapbook to find him and learn more about Piglet. In one of his memories, Kanga and Roo have recently moved in, and Tigger and Rabbit believe them to be predators and are afraid of them. Piglet accidentally switches places with Roo. Kanga then acts as if she thinks Piglet is Roo and uses this to show she is a sweet person. After Piglet calms down, she reveals she knew, and everything is settled. Later, Pooh and Christopher Robin begin an expedition to find the North Pole, and Kanga joins the friends.
Pooh's Heffalump Movie[]
Kanga in Pooh's Heffalump Movie.
Kanga is a supporting character in the film and is first seen at the beginning, with Roo wondering what the mysterious noise is. She learns later that night that it was a Heffalump and calms Roo's anger after he was denied a position in the Heffalump expedition. Later on, Kanga searches for Roo and finds him with Lumpy. Rabbit, Tigger, Pooh, and Piglet are immediately terrified of Lumpy, but Kanga is confused. She later sees Roo free Lumpy from a trap, learning that he is Roo's friend. She is touched by this, but when the others find and capture Lumpy, Kanga tells everyone (Rabbit especially) to stop and let Roo explain himself. She is touched by Roo's words. Kanga is last seen with Roo and their friends enjoying time with their new Heffalump friends.
Winnie the Pooh[]
Kanga in Winnie the Pooh.
Kanga is first seen with Roo during the song "A Very Important Thing to Do." She is later seen at the meeting centering Eeyore's lost tail. When a reward is meant to be issued, Kanga suggests a warm hug. She is also the third to give Eeyore a tail. She gives him a scarf, but it eventually unravels. Kanga is seen at Owl's house later on and learns about the Backson. She joins the hunt to capture the creature and gets herself trapped in the Backson pit. In a scene when Owl is talking, she puts on earmuffs she made and decides to sleep. She is then wakened up by Roo when they were freed by Pooh's thinking and Kanga and the others celebrate the return of Christopher Robin who actually just went to school for the day.
Christopher Robin[]
In Christopher Robin, Kanga is first seen during Christopher's farewell party. Years after Christopher's departure, she and Roo continue their lives in the woods until they mysteriously go missing, forcing Pooh to seek an adult Christopher's help. Like the others, Kanga is initially skeptical about Christopher's identity but embraces him once she realizes he truly is himself. Kanga maintains her maternal sensibility, commenting on Christopher's growth. She does not join Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore on their journey to London. She does, however, meet Christopher Robin's wife and daughter at the end of the film, once Pooh's adventures ended.
Featurette Appearances[]
Sing A Song With Pooh Bear[]
In Pooh's quest for a song, Kanga and Roo show him their own, "The Kanga Roo Hop". Curiously while most of the music videos in the featurette follow the Sing Along Songs format of recycling footage from the Pooh films and episodes, Kanga and Roo's segment utilizes original animation, likely required from their limited appearances up until that point.
Springtime With Roo[]
Kanga has a minor role in the film, serving mostly as a confidant for Roo.
Once Upon a Studio[]
In the short, Kanga is seen in the Walt Disney Animation Studio with Eeyore and Christopher Robin as they try and pull Pooh Bear out of his animation cel. Later, Kanga and Roo joins in on singing "When You Wish Upon a Star" with all the Disney characters as the group photo is successfully taken for Disney's 100th anniversary.
Television appearances[]
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh[]
Kanga in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
In the TV series, Kanga is only a recurring character. She appears in a total of 8 out of 83 episodes, being absent altogether by the final season.
In "Babysitter Blues," Kanga leaves Christopher Robin, Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger in charge of Roo. When she returns and finds out Tigger and Roo are missing during a game of Hide-and-Seek, she becomes awfully worried about Roo and starts crying, but is relieved when Roo and Tigger come out of hiding from under the bed.
In "The Old Switcheroo," Tigger tries to hide Roo from Kanga so she will not give him a bath. Kanga manages to find Roo, but on the way home, Pooh manages to distract Kanga while Tigger grabs Roo and puts Piglet in Kanga's pouch. When Kanga gets home she accidentally mistakes Piglet for Roo and gives him a bubble bath. When Piglet tries to tell her he's Piglet, Kanga simply says that he is Roo doing a good job imitating Piglet's voice. Then Pooh appears and corrects Kanga and takes Piglet home. Tigger and Roo come home from playing in the mud, but get stuck to gum and ask Kanga to get them unstuck. Kanga says that the only way she can get them unstuck is by giving them a bath. Afterward, Tigger and Roo learn that baths are not as bad as they thought.
The Book of Pooh[]
Though absent in the first season, Kanga is a regular supporting character throughout the second season of the series, often posing as a mother figure or source of advice. She is conveyed as a bit more jovial than in most other Disney canon, joining in on the other animals antics' and naive moments more often.
Much like Piglet's Big Movie, the series episode "Roo Sticks" rewrites Kanga and Roo's introduction to the Hundred Acre Wood as more recent, with the other animals fearful and wary of their presence until Owl convinces them to introduce themselves.
My Friends Tigger & Pooh[]
Kanga is a recurring character in the series, often making minor cameos. She can often be found in crowd scenes paired with Mama Heffalump.
Playdate with Winnie the Pooh[]
In this series, Kanga appears as a recurring character. However, her son Roo is absent since all of the adult characters are depicted as children.
Other shows[]
Kanga was occasionally seen in House of Mouse. In the pilot, Pete was exposed to being a cartoon thief and during a chase with Mickey Mouse, Pete attempts to hide in Kanga's pouch. She is also seen toward the end of "The Ludwig Von Drake Song".
Video games[]
Kingdom Hearts II[]
When she first appears, she hears from Piglet that Pooh has forgotten everything about his friends and makes a medicine in an attempt to restore his memory, but Tigger takes it, thinking it is a present to him. Though they get it back, Pooh never drank the medicine and he somehow regained his memory of Tigger after Tigger felt bad about Pooh not remembering him, saying it wouldn't be worth bouncing if Pooh forgot about him.
Kanga appears three times in the Hundred Acre Wood storyline, the first being at her house along with Roo and Tigger. She gives Pooh some medicine in hopes of him regaining his former self. Her second appearance is at the Spooky Cave helping Sora search for Pooh. She is last seen at Starry Hill saying goodbye to Sora.
Disney Parks[]
Kanga and Roo in a Disney Park appearance.
Kanga is a rare walkaround character in the parks, though she can be found on a few occasions.
Walt Disney World[]
In the seasonal Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, Kanga can be seen with Roo in her pouch and wears a scarf and earmuffs.
Tokyo Disney Resort[]
Kanga makes a minor appearance in the technological show, Pooh's Hunny Hunt, in Tokyo Disneyland.
Disneyland Paris[]
In the stage musical Winnie the Pooh and Friends, too!, Kanga and Roo join Pooh and the others in adventures in the Hundred Acre Woods.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh[]
Kanga appears in all interactions of the popular dark ride, found in several Disney parks around the world. She appears in the opening scenes trying to keep Roo from blowing away during the "windsday".
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Her name, Kanga, and her son's name, Roo, make kangaroo when put together.
- In the original books, Kanga's head seemed sometimes as "full of fluff" as the other characters, while at other times she was sharper. In the Disney incarnations, she is frequently intelligent and the smartest of the cast (next to Eeyore).
- Though one of her former voice actors, Kath Soucie, is part of the Kingdom Hearts II cast, voicing Sally and Shock of the Halloween Town world, for some reason, she doesn't voice Kanga there.
- In the 2011 film and Christopher Robin, her ears are pointy instead of smooth, like a real adult kangaroo.
- Kanga is Barbara Luddy's last role in a Disney film before her death in 1979.
- Kanga in in some scenes she wears a white and a pink short apron, while in another scene she has a yellow bib apron.
References[]
External links[]
v - e - d  | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
v - e - d  | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|