What animal is Piglet?

Piglet is a pig in A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories.

Piglet is one of the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood and Pooh’s closest friend. He is a very small, timid character who frequently worries about danger, yet repeatedly proves capable of courage when his friends need help. His small size and squeaky voice are central parts of his characterization, not clues that he is another species.

Piglet was based on one of Christopher Robin Milne’s stuffed animals, and E. H. Shepard’s illustrations show him as a small pink pig wearing a green jumper. He first appears in the text of Winnie-the-Pooh, although he is visible in an earlier illustration. Disney later gave him a magenta jumper and emphasized his nervousness and hidden bravery.

A common mix-up is treating “piglet” as only a generic word for a young pig. Here it is also the character’s proper name. Disney initially left Piglet out of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), but he appeared in the following featurette, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968).