Walt Disney Classics Collection

Whenever I work the gallery floor ("Cinderella's Balcony") at work, I get to look at pretty much every type of Disney collectible in existence. Jim Shore, Lennox, Armani, Giclees, that one Lion King sericel that so one buys, that $10,000 original Tiki Room painting that has been in the store forever, petite prints, posters, postcards, Precious Moments, the new Art on Demand machine that no Guest ever really goes nuts over but at least 70% of the Cast Members already have something picked out (including myself). Yeah, that's the gallery. And out of all of the different collections we have up there, my hands-down favorite is the Walt Disney Classics Collection (WDCC).

The WDCC is really special, to me, because every color used to paint the figures are the exact same colors that were used in the original film. Not to mention that the WDCC figures are replicated to match the films as much as possible, as opposed to those Ariel Armani figures with the stylized distorted faces or the Starlight Originals that are totally awesome in design but are absolutely hideous close-up (Maleficent dragon is totally bad ass, but Maleficent herself has a face that only a mother could love.... if she's lucky).

Right now I don't have any WDCC figures, but I'm starting to really get into them. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I won't buy any figure that looks distorted no matter how much I love the character (remember my Ariel snowglobe? So far she's the height of sculpted perfection in my opinion, and I haven't bought any Ariel figure after her since). There was a really great limited edition Mulan WDCC figure released a couple of years ago, titled "Triumphant", but on the colored version, Mulan's face didn't look quite right. Anyway, the following are the WDCCs that I've found that really get me hyped up and excited about the whole figure line and pumps my collector's adrenaline to the max.

The One With My Name On It
Title: "Perfectly Poised"
Character: Mulan, Mulan (1998)
MSRP: $150
Size: 8 1/4"
Release Date: September 18, 2007

So far out of all of the Mulan figures and dolls that I have tracked down, this is "the one". "Triumphant" depicted Mulan riding Khan while wearing the Crest of the Emperor and equipped with Shan-Yu's sword. Although that outfit is my favorite (and Khan looked awesome to boot), the facial sculpt for this one is just so much better (and settling for my second favorite outfit isn't so bad =P).

The One I'm Keeping an Eye On
Title: "Hop Low"
Character: Hop Low, Fantasia (1940)
MSRP: $45
Size: 2 3/4"
Release Date: Some time in 1998, I think

This one I managed to find on eBay and I'm not letting it slip past me, considering how old it is (the auction has 3 days left on it). From the first Fantasia film, my favorite segments have always been "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "The Nutcracker Suite: The Chinese Dance". Pretty much everything else puts me to sleep. When I saw the little mushrooms at the Fantasia Gardens mini-golf course at MGM studios 8 years ago, I flipped out. Hop Low is so freakin' adorable, I don't know how anyone can not love him.

The One I Can't Afford... Right Now
Title: "A Dress A Princess Can Be Proud Of"
Character: Princess Aurora's Dress, Sleeping Beauty (1959)
MSRP: $545
Size: 9 3/4"
Release Date: March 19, 1999

Out of all of the Princess dresses, this one is my favorite. And it has to be pink. I was watching this one on eBay, where it's going for around $150 (which is really good considering that it's from '99 and it's a limited edition piece of 5,000 units), but I'm keeping away for now even though I technically can afford it. I think the aesthetics and sculpt of this one is absolutely amazing. AND it comes with a removable glass encasing! =O

The One I Have No Space For
Title: "A Tea Party In Wonderland"
Character: Alice, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, Tea Party garden, Alice in Wonderland (1951)
MSRP: $395
Size: 5 1/2"... wait a minute. I do have space for it. o_O
Release Date: Some time in 1998

Okay. I'm stupid. I do have space for this. Anyway! The Mad Tea Party is my absolute favorite part of Alice in Wonderland. I'm also quite obsessed with the theme park ride. This is from the WDCC's "Enchanted Places" line and is a limited edition of 4,500 pieces (there's also one of the White Rabbit's house). I found it on eBay and is currently going for $50 (WHUT.). The auction still has 3 days left on it, so we'll see how much it goes up by.


The One I'll Get If I Have a Wad of Cash to Spare
Title: "Royal Fanfare"
Character: The White Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland (1951)
MSRP: $75
Size: 3 1/2"
Release Date: January 2004

OR

Title: "Come On, Lucky..."
Character: Lucky, 101 Dalmations (1961)
MSRP: $150
Size: Lucky - 2 1/2", TV - 8"
Release Date: 1996 (was in production until 1999)

It's a toss-up between these 2. Both are on eBay, although Lucky costs a bit more... Oh the agony!

So there you have it! My current WDCC "wishlist". This is a great website if you want to look at what has been immortalized in figure form so far. Oh yeah, and there's also a Walt Disney Collector's Society. It costs $50 to join, and your membership includes an exclusive figure for that year (last year was Ariel and this year is Cinderella) and a pin of that figure. There are also WDCC figures that only Collector's Society member's can buy. I may join next year if the figure is any good (there's a great "Members Only" Steamboat Willie Mickey figure at work).

Until then!

Re: Disney DVD Collection

This one's for you, Sheena!

When I was growing up, I never owned any legitimate copies of movies until I was probably around 8 or 9. Back then VHS tapes didn't have any security devices in them and were easily duplicated. I think the only bootleg Disney tapes that have survived the last decade are The Little Mermaid and 101 Dalmations... After my aunt sent me a genuine copy of Fantasia for Christmas when I was 7 or 8, I gradually started stocking up on real videos... that and security devices were added to VHS tapes so my parents had no choice.

After a while, my Disney fandom was more or less replaced by anime fandom until, for who knows what reason, last summer 2 friends and I threw a MONSTROUS overnight Disney animated movie marathon. Ever since I've been more or less completely obsessed with Disney, far enough that now I'm a Walt Disney World Orlando Cast Member. Anyway, here is the story of my Disney DVD collection (and yes, I do know the original theatrical release years by heart).

A majority of my favorite Disney animated classics fall under the Platinum Edition line of DVDs, which are only in print for a couple of years then go back into the Disney Vault for another 7-10 years. Because I've only recently become re-obsessed with these films, a lot of them are no longer around so I had to get them second-hand on eBay. Serves me right for not getting them while they came out, though. Luckily it seems that the other half of my favorites are still in print and are much easier to get... even though I still haven't gotten them all yet.

I also love the Platinum Editions for another reason: they're loaded with bonus features. I am a complete sucker for anything behind-the-scenes or making-of. Every DVD that I get has to be the 2-disk version if there is one available (I'm still waiting for Lilo and Stitch to be re-released on 2 disks). So far my favorites as far as making-of content have to be The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which isn't Disney so I'll just move right along.

Here's a list of the Disney films that I do have:
1. Aladdin (1992)
2. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
3. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005) [w/Walden Media]
4. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
5. Lilo and Stitch (2002)
6. The Lion King (1994)
7. The Little Mermaid (1989)
8. Mulan (1998)
9. National Treasure (2004)
10. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) [w/Touchstone Pictures]
11. Peter Pan (1953)
12. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
13. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
14. Pocahontas (1995)
15. Tarzan (1999)

You may notice that I didn't list Mulan II and The Lion King 1.5 and that is for this reason: I am not a fan of sequels. In the case of Pirates of the Caribbean and The Chronicles of Narnia I'm perfectly fine because they are all coherently linked for the most part, and because they're live action and the rifts between the film quality isn't blatantly obvious. I think that the sequels to the animated classics ruin the spirit of the originals. I am absolutely horrified that Disney is giving Tinker Bell a voice in the upcoming CGI fairy movie. I haven't seen all of the sequels, but the one that I enjoyed the most was The Lion King 1.5. It gave me a really great laugh so I went out and got it on eBay for cheap. I have seen around half a dozen sequels, but I don't have the patience to reminisce through them all.

This time, here's a list of the movies that I plan on buying:
1. Hercules (1997) [I'm angry at myself for not having it yet...]
2. Brother Bear (2003)
3. 101 Dalmations (1961)
4. Robin Hood (1973)
5. Sleeping Beauty (1959)
6. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
7. Monsters, Inc. (2001) [The one Pixar film that I really enjoyed...]
8. Alice in Wonderland (1951)

I've been re-watching a lot of the old films lately so I'll probably be adding a lot more later on. Is Oliver and Company even available on DVD? And I have to re-watch both Rescuers movies... I saw Bambi, Lady and the Tramp and Cinderella a couple of days ago, but I didn't enjoy them enough to track down their Platinum Editions on eBay for $40+ a piece (hm.. sound familiar?).

To conclude, here's a chart, from UltimateDisney.com, of the tentative Platinum Edition DVD release schedule and a timeline of the ones that have already been released.


Enjoy, Sheena!