Sterling Holloway Hal Smith took over the role of Winnie the Pooh for the 1981 short "Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons". He would maintain the role until Jim Cummings replaced him in 1988 for "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" and also took over most of Holloway's other voice roles, including Kaa in "Jungle Cubs" and "The Jungle Book 2". Sterling Holloway Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 4, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American character actor and voice actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He was also a voice actor for The Walt
Gopher (Winnie-the-Pooh) original character and not based on a character from the A.A. Milne books, a fact he notes in his first appearance when he says "I'm not in the book, you know!" Instead, he was initially developed by Disney as a replacement for Piglet. Apparently, the proposed character of Gopher was thought to have a more "folksy, all-American, grass-roots image" than Piglet. While American audiences loved the character, British audiences were less than pleased. Like most Winnie the Pooh characters, Gopher is named after his own species. Gopher is also known for his unique voice characterization. He tends to whistle his