AHeffalump is anelephant-like creature in theWinnie-the-Pooh stories byA. A. Milne. Heffalumps are mentioned, and only appear, in Pooh and Piglet's dreams inWinnie-the-Pooh (1926), and are seen again inThe House at Pooh Corner (1928). Physically, they resemble elephants;E. H. Shepard's illustration shows anIndian elephant. They are later featured in theanimated television seriesThe New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988–1991), followed by two animated films in 2005,Pooh's Heffalump Movie andPooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie.
Although the fifth chapter ofWinnie-the-Pooh is titled "In Which Piglet Meets a Heffalump", Piglet only actually meets a Heffalump in his imagination.[1] In this chapter, Pooh andPiglet bravely attempt to capture a heffalump in a clever trap; however, no heffalumps are ever caught, and indeed they never meet a heffalump in the course of the books. The sole appearance of heffalumps in the books is imagined, as Pooh tries to put himself to sleep:
[H]e tried counting Heffalumps [but] every Heffalump that he counted was making straight for a pot of Pooh's honey ... [and] when the five hundred and eighty-seventh Heffalump was licking its jaws, and saying to itself, "Very good honey this, I don't know when I've tasted better", Pooh could bear it no longer.
In the third chapter ofThe House at Pooh Corner, Pooh and Piglet fall into a similar trap (it is implied it was the same trap) and think that it was made by a Heffalump to catch them. Pooh and Piglet rehearse the conversation they will have when the heffalump comes, but Pooh falls asleep and when Piglet hears a voice, he panics and says the wrong thing. He is mortified when the voice turns out to be that ofChristopher Robin.
Although this is not explicitly stated, it is generally thought that heffalumps areelephants from a child's viewpoint (the word "heffalump" being a child's attempt at pronouncing "elephant").[2] Shepard's illustrations in Milne's books depict heffalumps (in Piglet's dreams) as looking much like elephants.[1]
In Disney's adaptations of the stories, Heffalumps are first mentioned in the 1968 featuretteWinnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day and laterThe Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and seem to be a product ofTigger's imagination. They appeared with their partners, thewoozles, in a song called "Heffalumps and Woozles" during a nightmare thatPooh has. Here, Tigger described them as honey-eating creatures. In both the animated films and all subsequent television series, they are also depicted as looking like elephants, albeit slightly cuddlier and less fierce than those Pooh imagines in the books, with rabbit-like tails and stitches as would be found on astuffed animal.
In the animated television seriesThe New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, most heffalumps are enemies of Pooh and his friends. They are known to steal honey and are often associated withwoozles. One particular heffalump named Heff was the dim-witted sidekick of Stan the Woozle and was afraid ofRoo because he thought Roo was a giant mouse.
Piglet befriended a young heffalump namedJunior in two episodes ofThe New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Junior lived with his parents, Papa Heffalump (voiced byJim Cummings) and Mama Heffalump. Mama Heffalump often had to remind Papa Heffalump of his many allergies.
Pooh's Heffalump Movie, released in 2005, looks at the differences between the denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood, and the Heffalumps, cleared up after Roo becomes friends with a Heffalump namedLumpy. A sequel to this movie calledPooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie, was later released. Lumpy later appears in the television programMy Friends Tigger & Pooh, where he continues to appear as Roo's friend and joins the gang on many adventures.
They and the song are also featured in the attraction at theMagic Kingdom inWalt Disney World,Disneyland,Hong Kong Disneyland andShanghai Disneyland, also calledThe Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, where the riders travel through the heffalumps and woozles in Pooh's dream.
There are several Winnie the Pooh video games where the Heffalumps are an antagonist to the storyline of various levels inPiglet's Big Game andWinnie the Pooh’s Rumbly Tumbly Adventure. Each video game was developed on various platforms such as the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, PC, and Sony PlayStation 2.
In a fantasy sequence in the 2018 filmChristopher Robin, when the title character almost drowns in a Heffalump trap, he hallucinates seeing an actual elephant as a Heffalump.
Since the 1950s heffalumps have gained notability beyond the Pooh stories.
The dictionary definition ofheffalump at Wiktionary