Gopher is a Bricklayer, Builder, Excavation and Demolition Expert (but 'not in the book'). His full name is and it is the way he introduces himself when he first appeared in the in the 1966 Disney animated movie Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. Once Walt Disney acquired the to Winnie the Pooh and subsequently upon beginning to make movies and videos inspired from the Winnie-the-Pooh stories they felt that they should introduce a new character. It is believed that Disney introduced Gopher as they wanted a character that the American audience in particular could relate too. Gophers are generally found only in America so it sound a wee bit strange that an animal like the Gopher would be a part of a story that is set in England. But then it should be noted that Tigger, Kanga and Roo too do not live in England.
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He lives in tunnels under the 100 Acre Wood. He is often equipped with a helmet and toolbox and loves dynamite. Gopher can be termed as an engineering genius, that because is a hard working animal who is constantly involved in constructing things that the other forest animal can use. He never looks where he is going and often falls into his own tunnels. And he isn’t a silent character which can be adjudged from the fact that he keeps whistling while speaking. Wherever he travels he does it by digging holes and uprooting the top layer within the forest area and then he will suddenly pop up out of the hole to meet his friends.
Gopher is the first character that Disney introduced as a part of its version of Winnie the Pooh who was not a part of the original story by A.A. Milne. Gopher is 15 inches tall, what he loves doing is working on numerous project related to digging and the biggest problem that he encounters repeatedly falling into tunnels that he engineered.
One of the first lines Gopher utters during his first appearance in the Disney cartoon is: "I'm not in the book". He is referring to the fact that he is not in the phone book, but this is actually an inside joke at Disney, referring to the fact that he was not in the original Winnie the Pooh book.
Howard Morris, who also appeared with Clint Howard in 'Splash' and directed several comedies in the 60's, provided the voice for Gopher. When Howard retired, voice actor Michael Gough took over.
Since he was added by the Disney Studios, there are neither stories about Gopher by A. A. Milne, nor illustrations by E. H. Shepard..