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"Why, that's what tiggers do best!"
—Tigger

Tigger is an ironic, mischievous, energetic tiger originally introduced in A.A. Milne’s book The House at Pooh Corner. Like other Pooh characters, Tigger is based one of Christopher Robin Milne’s favourite stuffed animals.

Tigger is recognized as orange fur with black stripes, large eyes, a long chin, a springy tail, and his bouncy personality (Both literally and Figgeratively). His striped tail is long and can make a "Boing!" sound.

He shows up on Winnie-the-Pooh’s doorstep in the middle of the night. He cannot eat Pooh’s honey, Piglet’s acorns or Eeyore’s thistles. He went to Kanga’s house, Tigger loved the extract of malt. Subsequently, Tigger resides with Kanga and Roo in their house in the part of the Hundred Acre Wood near the Sandy Pit. He becomes great friends with Roo (to whom he becomes a sort of older sibling figure), and Kanga treats him in much the same way she does her own son. Tigger also interacts enthusiastically with all the other characters — sometimes too enthusiastically for the likes of Rabbit, who is sometimes exasperated by Tigger's constant bouncing, Eeyore, who is once bounced into the river by Tigger, and Piglet, who always seems a little nervous about the new, large, bouncy animal in the Forest. Nonetheless, the animals are all shown to be friends.

In addition to chapter II, Tigger also appears in Chapters IV, VI, VII, IX, and X of The House at Pooh Corner, and is mentioned and seen in Chapter V. He is the only new major character to be introduced in The House at Pooh Corner; all of the others had been established in the earlier book, Winnie-the-Pooh.

The Disney version of Tigger was originally voiced by the late Paul Winchell in the featurettes. Will Ryan would play the role in Welcome to Pooh Corner and Ed Gilbert in Read-Along books, though Winchell returned for The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and continue the role for most appearances until his retirement in 1999. At that point, the role would be taken over by Jim Cummings, who was also the voice of Pooh at that time and still plays both roles to this day. Cummings had previously played Tigger in the third and fourth seasons of New Adventures and did the singing voice where Winchell did the speaking voice.

In books[]

In Ernest H. Shepard's illustrations, Tigger appears to bounce and he is capable of holding a pen with one of his front paws. Though Tigger is described by Rabbit and Piglet as "large", he does not seem particularly big in the illustrations. Pooh states once "He always seems bigger because of his bounces", implying that the other animals think of Tigger as being larger than he truly is. That assessment fits very well with Tigger's personality and his assessment of his own abilities, which he always overestimates. He is cheerful, outgoing, competitive in a friendly way, and has complete confidence in himself. Some of the things which he claims Tiggers can do in the chapter "In which it is shown That Tiggers don't climb trees" include flying, jumping farther than a kangaroo, swimming, and climbing trees. He never actually attempts any of the first three things in the course of the story, but he does try to climb a tree. He only succeeds half-way, being able to climb up but not to climb down again. Tigger also says Tiggers "never get lost"; unlike most of his other claims, this one seems to be true - he is able to find his way through the Forest even in a thick mist, despite Rabbit's attempts to lose him.

Like most of the characters in Winnie-the-Pooh, Tigger was based on one of Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed animals, in this case a stuffed-toy tiger. However, the word "tiger" is never actually used in the book. The term "Tigger" is used instead, both as the character's name and as a description of his type of animal. No other "Tiggers" appear in the story, and at one point Tigger (who has just seen his reflection in a mirror and mistaken it for another individual) comments he thought he was the only one. Despite that belief, he constantly uses the term in the plural, as in "Tiggers don't like honey." and "So that's what Tiggers like!", etc. The term is always capitalized.

Disney adaptations[]

As Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day indicates, Tigger is Christopher Robin's latest stuffed toy, as the events of the short marks the first meeting between Tigger and Pooh Bear.

Along with his comedic personality and love of bouncing and pouncing, Tigger is known for his theme song, "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers", in during which he boasts that he is the only tigger in existence. Practically speaking, Tigger's "I'm the only one" statement comes from being the only "tigger" ever made, if one takes into consideration the fact that Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and such are all stuffed animals, and homemade ones at that, Tigger is, in fact, the only tigger. Though some Pooh media make reference to Tigger's relatives, The Tigger Movie reaffirms that Tigger is, indeed, the only one of his kind. He has relatives like Lily The Tigger, Tigger's mom, Jerry The Tigger, Yellow Tigger, Tiggerosaurus Rex.

Tigger's birthday is believed to be in October 1928, the year The House at Pooh Corner was first published. However, on Tigger-related merchandise, Disney often indicates Tigger's birthyear is in December 1968, a reference to the first appearance of Tigger in a Disney production, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.

Personality[]

Tigger is arguably the most eccentric member of the Hundred Acre Wood. Overly energetic, reckless, and fairly thoughtless, Tigger is somewhat of a troublemaker and causes a fair share of mishaps for both himself and his friends. To his core, however, Tigger is extremely loving and friendly; he means well and tries his best to be of support toward his friends, even if his efforts end in some form of misfortune, such as in Christopher Robin, in which he takes Christopher Robin's papers from his briefcase and replacing them with things from the Hundred Acre Wood to remember him and his friends. He can also be considered the most social of the animals and is exceptionally eager to have his friends join in on his personal joy.

Tigger notably prides himself on being the only "tigger" in existence. This title has given him quite an ego, and he considers himself significantly handsome, debonair, and the "greatest bouncer" in the Hundred Acre Wood. Such egotism is never meant to be malicious, but it often drives Tigger to act without much consideration toward others and it often frustrates people. In Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, for example, he bursts into Pooh's home uninvited, takes and eats his food (claiming he enjoys honey, only to rebuff after actually tasting it and realizing how sticky it is) and absentmindedly leaves Pooh in the state of fear over the mention of honey-stealing Heffalumps and Woozles.

Tigger's rambunctiousness is also directly linked to his relationship with Rabbit, who openly dislikes Tigger's various quirks and even works to knock the latter's ego's down a few times. Rabbit's aggression is often expressed without much notice, but in some cases (such as Piglet's Big Movie and Pooh's Heffalump Movie), Tigger has taken note and this leads to mild contention.

With his fun-loving nature and general innocence, Tigger is about as optimistic and carefree as Pooh himself. Rarely ever upset or depressed, Tigger tends to look on the brighter side of a situation; so much so, that he is somewhat obvious to the problems surrounding him. Nevertheless, he is not incapable of falling into a heavy state of vulnerability. His only significant phobia is that of heights—a crippling fear, and one that renders him incapable of even bouncing. He can also be rather insecure at times, with the confidence in his various assets simultaneously acting as his greatest weakness; when he's unable to perform his usual antics with a usual (if not greater) amount of ease, he instantly becomes emotional and openly self-loathing.

In The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Tigger is more irritable, malicious and less empathetic and he is often well-meaning but usually does more harm than good. In the episode "Tigger is the Mother of Invention", he invented a bulldozer-like contraption intended to provide convenience for Pooh, Piglet, and Rabbit, but the invention proved to have disastrous results, and Rabbit insisted that Tigger shut it down; however, in the winter, a depressed Tigger accidentally started the machine up, and it proved to be useful by plowing snow around Piglet's house before malfunctioning. On another occasion, Tigger attempted to mimic a superhero, "The Masked Offender", bringing mayhem to the Hundred-Acre Wood. In response, Pooh, Rabbit, Gopher, and Owl (unaware that the Masked Offender was actually Tigger) staged a hoax in which they made an inanimate monster from a sticky glue-like material. The plan worked, revealing Tigger as the Masked Offender, but the fake monster (which was on wheels) turned on its makers, ultimately resulting in Pooh, Rabbit, Gopher, and Owl hanging by the glue from a rickety bridge. Subsequently, Tigger resumed his role as the Masked Offender, and saved his friends.

For all of his shortcomings, Tigger is very much the heart of the Hundred Acre Woods' social circle. While exuberant and boisterous, he gives levity to the fearfulness of Piglet, or the gloominess of Eeyore, by providing a sense of confidence, joy, and optimism. It's also shown that Tigger will jump in to help without thinking about the danger to himself. On at least three occasions, he has nearly fallen off a cliff, and has fallen two of those times, to retrieve something important (Half of the map in Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin, his locket in The Tigger Movie, and a page of Piglet's scrapbook in Piglet's Big Movie).

Tigger's language is full of malapropisms, mispronunciations, or unnecessary syllables. Examples of this include him pronouncing "villain" as "villian"; "terrible" as "terribibble"; "regulations" as "regularations"; "ridiculous" as "ridick-orous" (or "ricky-diculus" in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day); "allergic" as "allergical"; " fixed" as "un-busticated"; "suspicious" as "suspicerous"; "Eureka" as "Topeka"; "UFO" as "Unidentified Flying Omelets"; "Private Eye" as "Private Ear"

A declaration often made, is that "Tiggers are wonderful things. Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs." In cartoon, he's often depicted bouncing around in ways which would make such a statement appear to be valid.

Appearances[]

Books[]

Short films[]

Feature films[]

Television series[]

Television specials[]

Songs[]

Songs by Tigger include:

Nicknames[]

Original Tigger

Original E. H. Shepard illustration, of Pooh meeting Tigger outside his front door in The House at Pooh Corner.

In the Disney Pooh productions, Tigger often likes to refer to his friends by various nicknames, which include the following:

  • Pooh - Buddy Bear, Pooh Boy, Buddy Boy, Fuzzy-Top, Fluff Boy
  • Eeyore - Donkey Boy, Gray Buddy, Buddy Burro, Old Smiley
  • Kanga - Mrs. Kanga Mam
  • Gopher - Go-Go, Gopherini, Gopherino
  • Kessie - Kesserini, Kesserino
  • Roo - Roo Boy, Little Buddy, Little Nipper
  • Owl - Beak Lips, Buddy Bird, Feathers, Featherduster
  • Piglet - Piglet Ol’ Pal, Pigcasso, Pigaletto, Buddy Boy, Little Guy
  • Rabbit - Bunny Boy, Long Ears, RaRa, Fluffy Tail, Floppy Toe, Floppy Ears, Fluff Face, Ol’ Cotton Bottom, Fluffy, Captain Fuzz Face
  • Darby - Dar-buddy, Dar-Dar, Darberina
  • Turtle - Shell Boy
  • Lumpy - Lumpster, Lumperino
  • Buster - Busterino, Buster Boy, Little Poochie Guy

(Boldface indicates that the nickname is mentioned in Tigger’s entry in the Disney Junior Encyclopedia of Animated Characters.)

Internationally[]

  • In Arabic, Tigger is known as نمور or Namoor in English letters.
  • In Brazil and Portugal, Tigger is known as Tigrão. In the Portuguese dub, Tigger’s been voiced by Isaac Bardavid in all his appearances, except for some episodes of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in which he was voiced by André Luiz Chapéu.
  • In Dutch, Tigger is known as Teigetje. Not to be confused with the real animal "tijger".
    • Teigetje is written without an R, but pronounced with an R. This is confusing, even for the children in Dutch.
  • In France and some parts of Canada, the character's name is Tigrou and his voice was provided by Patrick Préjean in all Pooh productions.
  • In Spain, Andorra and Latin America, Tigger is known as Tigre, the most weird is that is the real name of the animal.
  • In Italy, Tigger is known as Tigro and has been voiced by Gil Baroni and Luca Biagini
  • In Japan, Tigger is called ティガー and his voice is provided by Tesshō Genda
  • In Russian, Tigger is known as Тигрa. His species is called Тигр, a word of Tiger animal.

Casting History[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • In Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, he asks whether one should live their life as a Tigger or as an Eeyore. Pausch indicated that he was a "Tigger".
  • Tigger appears in four segments of the Cartoon Network show MAD: "Pooh Grit", "Fast Hive", "Adjustment Burro", and "Frankenwinnie".
  • The Genie briefly turns into Tigger in the Aladdin episode "As the Netherworld Turns".
  • Tigger's name is also a synonym for cat just like heffalump is a synonym for elephant.
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