Tuesday, 9th January 2007 at 2:33 pm

Father Pooh Poohs Tigger’s Action-Packed Photo Shoot

If you thought that Tigger was just a harmless pussycat Disney cartoon character, the following story might deeply disturb you, as it is bound to shatter your illusions.

The lisping, stuttering striped cat got his claws out and allegedly punched a teenage boy in the face at Walt Disney World in Orlando recently. The evidence against Tigger’s innocence is mounting, since the teen’s father caught the assault on video tape. It didn’t take the alleged victim’s family long to rat out the cat, which makes us smell a rat… and that rat we smell? It reeks of money.

It didn’t take our sleuths long to track down footage of the alleged assault on YouTube. The newscast milked it for all it’s worth, showing the few seconds repeatedly during the segment. We’re actually surprised that they didn’t pull out all the stops and employed slo-mo.

To us, the whole affair seem like nothing but an accident. In the video, Tigger’s big paw definitely grazes the teen’s face, but if anyone seems guilty, it’s the teenager. All he was supposed to do was cosy up to the kitty for a family picture, but it seems he decided to take his frustration of being stuck in yet another family theme park for yet another family vacation with his little siblings and his parents out on poor Tigger.

You view the video and then you decide who you are going to believe: A striped orange cat with a goofy grin on his face and a Tobie Cronje chin? Or a seemingly mild-mannered, spectacle-wearing teen? (And remember that looks can be deceiving!)

Tigger is part of Winnie the Pooh’s posse. It is not the feline’s first alleged felon. A few years ago, he was acquitted on charges of molestation when a girl claimed that he had copped a feel of her breast during yet another photo shoot.

What can we say? With paws that size, and a job of posing with tourists all day long, one is bound to get into trouble from time to time.

Tigger Attacks - YouTube.

Additional reading: Tigger ‘punches’ teen at Disney World - IOL.