A teddy bear character at a Disney theme park was left nursing her wounds after a clumsy tourist pulled her ear in a video which has since been viewed an incredible 26 million times.
ShellieMay, one of a family of Disney teddies introduced to parks back in 2011, was visibly in pain after a visitor grabbed her furry ear at the Shanghai resort.
The mascot was then led away to be treated but was later declared to be fine. The costume’s head weighs a hefty eight kilos (17 lbs) and is held on by a metal frame which, when moved suddenly, can mean a painful jolt to the person inside.
Video Credit: AsiaWire
In a video clip that has gone viral, ShellieMay can be seen coming out to ‘meet and greet’ at mainland China’s first Disney resort which opened in the summer of 2016, when a tourist in a long black jacket grabs her left ear as she passes.
The bear recoils in pain, holding both ears and then being gently led away from the gathering crowd. It was later revealed that the tourist was found and handed over to police who are investigating the incident.
The video footage has been watched 26 million times online and attracted more than 10,000 comments.
The employee, who has not been named, did not come to ‘any serious harm’ but the heavy heads can cause pain if jolted.
A statement from the park said: “Everything is fixed in place and can easily move if hit. That’s why we ask visitors not to slap or pull or mascots, especially on the head,.
“Not only can this cause injury to our actors, it can also negatively affect the performance itself.”
ShellieMay is the girlfriend of Duffy Bear, two characters at the Disney parks unique in not having first appeared as animated cartoons or films.
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Story By: Scott Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: AsiaWire
