Representations of Winnie the Pooh are mostly banned from China and from China’s Internet. As the site That Park Place explains, this prohibition has been instituted because “a series of internet memes comparing Pooh Bear to Chinese President Xi Jinping struck a nerve with the communist leader” (“Shanghai Disneyland Guest Attacks Winnie the Pooh,” October 1, 2024).
It seems that the Winnie the Pooh of the Shanghai Disneyland is a rare exception.
Perhaps the Chinese Communist Party has determined that if it is to have a Disneyland in China (or two of them, counting the one in Hong Kong), it can’t start extirpating venerable Disney characters. Or perhaps it never gave the matter any thought. The Shanghai Disneyland was approved before Xi came to power in 2012, with construction beginning in 2011. The theme park opened in 2016, a few years after Xi took over. The Chinese government started censoring Winnie the Pooh images in 2017.
What did the cast member lumbering around in a heavy Winnie the Pooh costume ever do to the Shanghai Disneyland customer who suddenly attacked him? Playing the beloved and hated character was probably all the wrongdoing required.
Pooh Bear was eventually helped back to his feet and guided away from guests, hopefully to receive medical attention. There has been no update on the cast member’s physical condition, but we hope that he or she is not injured from the encounter.
There is also no word on what happened to the man who struck Pooh Bear. However, Disney has a zero tolerance policy for this kind of guest behavior. If Shanghai Disneyland has [policies like those of] the American theme parks, it’s likely that he was, at the very least, ejected from the park and banned from returning permanently. There is no word on whether Chinese authorities arrested the man.
Nor any word on whether the Chinese authorities gave the assailant a pat on the back.
