After meeting a fur character like Goofy or Mickey Mouse in a Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort theme park, it’s understandable to begin wondering about the person inside the burdensome costume.
Many Disney Fanatics have done their own virtual digging to learn more about what it’s like to be “friends with” (i.e., play the role of) Disney fur characters like Captain Hook or face characters like Disney Princesses. These days, it’s actually very easy to observe some behind-the-scenes insights regarding Disney Cast Members and Disney character performers’ day-to-day work!
Not-So-Secret Workdays
Many Cast Members and Disney performers share information about their roles freely online.
Some share this information illegally since NDAs are used for the performers; others share their behind-the-scenes information many years after they’ve left Disney employment.
One “illegal Disney” account is even taking the Internet by storm as we speak, and another former Disney employee recently shared an in-depth description of the struggles that come with wearing a fur character costume head like the costume head worn for the Goofy costume.
Winnie the Pooh is a fur character with a costume not unlike Goofy’s, and we learned from the former Goofy performer that fur character costumes’ heads can be extremely warm and extremely limiting when it comes to vision.
Knowing this, it is unfortunately no surprise to learn that a Disney employee being “friends with” Winnie the Pooh just took a nasty fall in their costume at Walt Disney World Resort!
“Poor Pooh”
In an Instagram video from @park.hoppin, the performer inside the Winnie the Pooh costume can be seen falling to their knees on the pavement in front of a crowd. Tigger can be seen trying to help his friend up, and Pooh Bear is rapidly led away by his handler as worried onlookers stare.
“Probably overheated, poor Pooh,” one Disney fan wrote sadly.
Walt Disney World Resort is based in Florida, which means that a late-summer day can certainly be hot and humid for everyone there (not just performers). However, Disney guests had to look on in dismay this time as Winnie the Pooh collapsed in front of them!
Disney performers are known for sending “emergency signals” to their handlers when they need to exit a situation, but clearly, this fall was a visible problem that needed no signal — especially since the Winnie the Pooh performer can be seen holding their head when they start to get up! Check out the video below.
Hand-Holding for Support or Appearances?
“The way they held hands walking away was so wholesome,” another Instagram user observed. This is another clever way for Disney character performers’ handlers to support them physically while taking control of the situation.
It’s unclear if this particular handler was deliberately planning to hold hands like this with Winnie the Pooh in emergencies — but at the moment, the effect is still an efficient but “wholesome” way to escort a co-worker away for medical attention.
Whose Fall Is It, Anyway?
This is not the first time a Winnie the Pooh character has collapsed in front of Disney World guests; after all, Whose Line Is It Anyway? and The Masked Singer star Wayne Brady terrified guests when he did exactly that while playing Tigger many years ago!
However, seeing anyone fall and potentially injure themselves is always concerning — and many Disney fans expressed worry about the performer after seeing the video here (or below), even though the Instagram account owner wrote “Pooh fell, but he’s okay.”
Have you ever seen a Disney performer or Cast Member experiencing a medical emergency in front of a crowd? Let us know in the comments!