The People vs. Winnie the Pooh

One of the most famous lawsuits of the 1980s involved a Disney cast member. While in character as Winnie the Pooh, this employee allegedly punched a little girl. Yes, it sounds horrible. The truth isn’t so simple, though.

The allegation from the parents was that their little girl innocently asked for a hug from Winnie the Pooh. For no apparent reason, the hunny-loving teddy bear slugged her. If you think that sounds suspicious, you’re correct.

Disney attorneys interviewed the cast member several times leading up to the trial. They felt comfortable enough with the person’s defense of his actions that they put him on the stand. In character.

Image: DisneyYes, a Los Angeles courthouse once featured the oddity of a person in a Winnie the Pooh costume walking into the room and heading straight to the witness stand. The opposing attorney famously muttered, “Oh gosh, we’re cooked now.”

I’m only slightly exaggerating the chain of events, too. In reality, the cast member, Robert H., testified about his mannerisms as a cast member in costume. The Disney lawyer working the case worried that the jury wasn’t buying his testimony. The attorney asked the cast member to come back in full Pooh gear.

When the man showed up in full mascot form, he reenacted the events that led to the incident. He described a child pulling on his outfit firmly. He turned around to see who was insistent, accidentally poking one of his fake bear arms into her ear during this movement. By acting out the events, the cast member proved that the costume simply wasn’t capable of being used as a weapon as the lawsuit claimed. It was soft and furry, just as you’d expect of Winnie the Pooh.

The jury required only 21 minutes to find for Disney.

Frozen…in Peru

Image: DisneyWhile I’d be hyperbolic if I said that Disney got sued every time they release a movie, it happens more often than you might think. Gary Goldman, a fairly well known Hollywood scribe who wrote Minority Report, is currently suing the company over Zootopia, which he claims was his idea. It’s at least a plausible argument. Screenwriters and producers have made similar claims about Cars, Monsters, Inc. and many other films in the Disney library.

Many of these assertions are absolutely ridiculous, though. Consider the case of Frozen, a film about two princesses separated when one of them develops the power to create ice out of thin air. The film also features shipwrecked parents, wise trolls that talk, a personable moose, and a living snowman whose favorite season is summer. It’s impossibly fake all the way around, right?

Image: DisneyWell, a living author claims that Frozen is HER life story and sued Disney to acknowledge their theft of her biography. A seemingly sane woman named Isabella T. sued Disney for $250 million (!!!), maintaining that they’d taken her story without her permission.

Isabella T. listed a grand total of 18 instances where she believed the story was too similar to her life to ignore. Note that the author was not a princess. She didn’t leave her sister to run off to a secret mountain fortress of her own construction. Also – and this seems rather important – Isabella T. grew up in Peru, where the average temperature is in the 70s. If somebody had been able to create snowballs out of thin air, people WOULD have noticed.

Don’t worry. Evil didn’t triumph here. A district court judge was emphatic in their ruling against the plaintiff. “The similarities she alleges between her memoir and Frozen are not substantial. The two stories are entirely different.” Note that I’m resisting every urge to make a joke about the author letting this one go.