Tigger attack in Florida

DannyinJapan

DannyinJapan

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Oct 9, 2003
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Walt Disney World officials have temporarily suspended a man who was in costume as the character "Tigger" after he allegedly hit a child, a Disney spokeswoman said Saturday.
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Wes Robinson, who portrays Goofy and Tigger at the Florida park says: "You don't retaliate no matter what's happened to you - and believe me we get it."

Jerry Jnr was recovering at home in New Hampshire yesterday. " Disney is supposed to be a safe place, a place where you are supposed to spend time with your family" he said.

"At first, I thought he was kidding and all, just playing around, and then he actually grabbed my arm. He hit me pretty hard. I could still feel it through the padded gloves," he said.

The family says their holiday was ruined by the incident. "Tigger won't be a man about it. Get out of the costume and apologise to my son," Jerry Snr said.
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Does anybody here doubt that the 14 year old (6 foot tall) "child" probably kicked tigger in the balls just before the videotape started rolling?
I've worked as a live character at renaissance festivals and haunted theme parks. Anybody who works at these places can tell you: People of all ages lose their minds at theme parks and haunted attractions. They lose their sense of reality, (not the good "temporary suspension of disbelief") but they actually lose their sense of reality.
They will punch, kick, throw rocks, and sling insults. I am not talking about just teenage peckerheads. I have been abused by the "front row" crowd at a Shakespeare Festival. Those people, mostly over 50, donated thousands of dollars to the festival to get those seats, they are rich, supposedly "high class."
You put on a costume, and all that class and reality slips away.
Perhaps one person outwardly putting on a costume causes another person to take off their less obvious costume...
 
I worked at Uncle Walt's original Kingdom Of Happiness in Anaheim years ago. While I never was a costumed character, the "Always be pleasant and never talk back" rule was drummed into us. It went without saying that if you never could say anything in response to customer beastliness, you could certainly not hit. "There is never an excuse for unpleasant behavior." I was screamed at, cursed at, pushed, shoved, grabbed by the ear (and wrenched around 180 degrees by a man who thought I was insufficiently attentive to his demands), and was once handed a baby covered in his/her? own vomit and told to "Take care of this please." "Keep smiling."

Anyone who deals with the public has their stories.
 
Isn't that was servants are for - solving the problems of the ruling class? "Every customer a king." Uncle Walt could give Big brother a run for his money when it came to motivational slogans.
 
Does the "never hit back / never talk back" policy encourage poor behavior on the part of people attending these places? Isn't it kind of like putting an animal in a cage? Some people will tease/poke/prod etc. those animals just because they know, or think they know they are safe. When they know there is no accountability for their actions. A dog on a short chain just doesn't get the same respect as a dog without a chain gets, even if it bares its teeth. Just thinking out loud here.

Being a teacher and having taught students from kindergarten through university level, I know that if you don't draw the line somewhere, you get taken advantage of. And many times, it isn't a conscious decision on the part of the students. They just kind of push and push until they find where the line is. And many times if they don't find the line, they just keep pushing. And that is when things can, and on occasion do get ugly. The really effective teacher knows how to draw the line without being confrontational. But how the hell do you draw the line, or let people see that they have gone too far when you are wearing a Tigger costume? :confused: Beats me.

Abraham Linclon had it right: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." " The customer is always right. / Never talk back. / Never retaliate in any way." These policies all give power to one party and leave the other party powerless. And you really do end up seeing people's character.

James
 
Sadly, in this day and age of litigation,this might even have been a set-up with the parents and kid involved, to make money off the incident.What are the chances of Tiger just punching unprovoked?
 
I work in customer service. Tigger should have kicked the parent's ass too.

TWBryan
 
My cousin Dom used to do birthday parties and such in a Barney suit to earn a little extra cash. IIRC he said that he started wearing a cup after the first one. I recall him explaining that the money was good but it probably wasn't worth the pain. And remember, these were not teens -- these were children under ten.

That being said, we don't know for certain what set Tigger off. If he took a shot in the balls I'd understand some anger but let's be sure that that's what happened before we start judging.
 
I saw the video of this on the news, and I think that our 14 year old was causing Tigger some grief. His arm appears to be maybe messing with ol' Tig's hood or zipper.
As an observer and student of social sciences, here's what I think happened:
Mom and Dad: "Jimmy Fourteenyearold, you get in there and take a picture with your siblings standing next to Tigger."
Jimmy: "No! To hell with that! I'm 14 years old. I'm not taking some stupid picture with a costumed freak."
Mom and Dad: "You'll do it. We don't care. We need ANOTHER "special" "precious" picture of our little ones to scrapbook/lose in the closet. This is a FAMILY trip.....NOW MOVE!"

Ok, how many of us at the crossroad of boyhood and manhood were forced by our parents to do something that we thought was ridiculous and totally uncool and would surely make us look like a fool for the rest of our lives? Show of hands?? That's right, just about all of us.
Now, when put in that situation, what did you at least THINK about doing? Probably rebelling in some sort of passive aggressive way. We can't tell mom and dad to shove it. But we CAN act out. "Mom and dad want me to take a picture with this orange nightmare? Sure, but i'm going to try to rip his stupid mask off!"
I believe that the kid was acting in a "punkish" behavior because, let's face it...it's really freaking lame to take a pic with Tigger when you're 14 years old. Furthermore, Disney World is pretty lame at 14. I didn't get to go to Disney until I was about 20 when I went with my girlfriend (now my Mrs) and her parents. I had a BLAST, but at 14....I would have felt like a dork.

All of this is just a guess on my part based on 10 seconds of silent video tape. On a side note....who knew Tigger knew how to throw as arm bar?:confused: :D A little close to the joint and he could have floored that kid;)

Jake
 
Interesting. Tigger applies an armbar (accidently?) and swats at the kid's head, kid swats back (still smiling), then Tigger seems to pat him on the shoulder. Or was that a halfhearted punch?

What happened before this? I didn't see that.

I'm beginning to side with Tigger. We'll have to wait and see how it turns out. If his defense attorney is halfway decent, I'd expect him to walk.

(Note: the name of the actor playing Tigger has been released but I find it far more humorous to continue referring to the defendant as "Tigger.")
 
I just watched the video. Perhaps the proper justice will be administered by this kid's peers. I can't imagine they will ever let him hear the end of that one.

Eric
 
Animals in a zoo are treated better. Throw rocks at them and you get pitched out. At D-Land, kids regularly threw landscaping gravel at the costumed characters, just to get a reaction.
 
Eric_425 said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeXbId2P6Yc

Here's the vid, for anybody who wants to see. Doesn't really look like a hit, might even be accidental. The kid was smiling, and his glasses and voice remind me more of a geek than a punk.
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I too think it looks quite accidental. Perhaps a reflex during that twisting motion of he thought he was in danger of falling due to the entanglement with the kid's other arm.

I hear the Disney mascots get treated pretty badly, not only by customers, but by their employers. It wouldn't surprise me if he ends up on a spit. That's the way it seems to go for people on the bottom. :-/
 
I haven't seen much on the news today. I can say that the "girl" characters are fondled frequently. Last year there were the "boys" who wouldn't leave Minnie Mouse alone. They kept groping and grabbing. She was escorted back before there was an incident. I can only imagine how much abuse they are forced to take. I feel bad for the "charactors" trying to make the day special for the children.

Sam S.
 
^Really? Wouldn't they just get a handful of plush molding? It could even be a man under the costume. Hehe, I'd LMAO if I could see a vid of the look on a boy's face after he gropes Minnie only to hear a gruff gravely man's voice going "knock that off kid."
 
aren't the costumed folx supposed to have a plain clothes and/or a badged employee as handlers? the costumes are hot, they could overheat, fall over, can't see. i've seen them being guided around. the handler failed the job?

also, those parks have a buttload of video cameras. i bet the incident is on video, and Disney's lawyers are just waiting to drop the bomb "Here's were your kid assaulted our employee, here's where he damaged our property... you will be banned for life from this part, and your kids, and their kids ... AND we're pressing charges for assault, and $500,000 in damages to the suit. don't f**k with the mouse"

bladite
 
Bladite said:
also, those parks have a buttload of video cameras. i bet the incident is on video, and Disney's lawyers are just waiting to drop the bomb "Here's were your kid assaulted our employee, here's where he damaged our property... you will be banned for life from this part, and your kids, and their kids ... AND we're pressing charges for assault, and $500,000 in damages to the suit. don't f**k with the mouse"

bladite
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You really think they'd protect Tigger? Somehow I don't see a massive corporation risking a bad image for a lowly employee. He'll likely end up a scapegoat, especially with the media providing such a wonderful and positively unbiased image of the man.
 
yep, cost of litigation isn't worth it. most likely they will settle out of court as to "protect" their image as a family institution.

on a side note, i'd like to see how they justify a million $ claim based on damage done physically. already in that interview that kid was half whimpering about how the attack was unprovoked.

"i was mentally accosted by that tigger. i have nightmares every night where i am sodomized by disney corp and their affiliates with a magic wand. i am seeking damages of half a day's revenue of disney corporation."
 
Psycho_Boy_Jack said:
You really think they'd protect Tigger? Somehow I don't see a massive corporation risking a bad image for a lowly employee. He'll likely end up a scapegoat, especially with the media providing such a wonderful and positively unbiased image of the man.
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Aye, much easier just to fire one minimum wage employee.
 
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