Oh. My. God.
Of course you’ve seen or at least heard about the Disney character supposedly punching a teenager recently.
As our media loves to do again and again, this is one of those stories that does not matter to anyone outside the event but is propelled to the forefront of our attention regardless.
When I first heard about the incident, of course I thought “Sweet, finally proof that all that Tigger brand cheer and jovialness comes from deep seated emotional problems.” Tigger has always seemed somewhat schizophrenic to me.
However, unfortunately, upon further inspection it appears to me that that is not the case.
After watching the video several times, reading the police report and seeing post-punch interviews with both the alleged victim and his father, I see this to be something much more sinister: American Greed.
The selling point for me was when I read that Jerry Monaco Jr. (the punchee) complained of neck pains and was taken to the hospital.
What Tigger does to the kid in the video could be, at most, described as a push to the face. It does not knock him down, make him cry out or even move his glasses.
If this kid got neck pain from a heavily padded hand push to the face, I feel sorry for his parents because they will have to take him to the emergency room after every pillow fight.
The man inside the costume told the police officer making the official report that he could not see the boy at all and that his mask was pulled making it difficult to breathe.
That much appears consistent with the video: Monaco approaches Tigger from the side and puts one arm behind the costumed character.
It is not until then that Tigger swings his arm around and pushes Monaco.
Being a veteran giant foam character myself (Sonic shake when I was 15), I can personally attest that although your characters eyes may be the size of small dogs, you really can’t see very much from inside.
Seeing an opportunity to exploit a large corporation, the Monacos got a lawyer and a lot of national television coverage.
I wonder how that conversation between father and son went.
I bet it was fun convincing Jerry Jr. to go on national television and claim to have been hospitalized by a cartoon character with soft, fuzzy hands. Good luck with high school, kiddo.

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