In April 1980, a nondescript Orange County courtroom was packed to the gills with spectators watching Winnie the Pooh take the stand.
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But on April 17, 1980, people were rushing to fill a nondescript courtroom in Orange County Superior Court for a very different reason.. It started like any other day for park employee Robert Hill, who worked as a costumed character actor. Upon arrival, he suited up as Winnie the Pooh, which had a much different costume in 1974 from what the character has today. Pooh was a little less furry and a lot more plasticky, with short, stubby arms and a “hunny” pot atop his yellow head.
What happened next depends on whom you believe. According to the girl’s family, Hill intentionally struck the child with his Pooh arm, leaving her with bruising and headaches that didn’t subside for months.with Disneyland historian David Koenig, Hill said the girl was purposefully acting out when the incident occurred. “I saw her winding up for a second run on me, so as she closed in for the kill, I spun around to scare her,” Hill told Koenig, “but she was already on top of me.
In retrospect, putting Hill in his Pooh costume on the stand seems inevitable. But at the time, it must have been a tremendous risk, a bold and almost facetious move that could have easily earned the contempt of the judge.
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