The Masters of Plastic strike again with this Funko POP! Disney Princess Cinderella figure. I don’t usually collect Princess merchandise as a rule, unless it features some unique element beyond just the gal standing there looking pretty. And this one delivers!
I say that because it has… two cute mice. Yup. It doesn’t take much to make me part with my money! But seriously, who could resist Gus and Jacque sitting quietly listening to a bedtime story?
The packaging for this figure is of no special design so it will be discarded leaving the figure to be displayed unboxed.
Story Time
The first thing I noticed about Cinderella with this figure is her eyes. The little darts at the sides are likely intended to indicate eyelashes, but don’t they look like the modern Egyptian eye makeup that young girls are using these days? Strange, as Cinderella’s story is based on a French fantasy.
As I said, the packaging is nothing special. But I do like the ongoing feature with every release that has the character peeking over the edge of the top of the box.
Cinderella is fixed to her base but her head can move from side to side. She has her mice friends to listen to her stories and a basket of yarn for darning.
Many of these figures have been manufactured in Vietnam but this particular one was made in China.
FUN FACTS: Cinderella is the oldest of the Disney Princesses, at least at the time of her debut. She was portrayed as being 19-years old. And her iconic shoe size? It was later revealed in one of the direct-to-video releases that it’s 4 1/2. No wonder every other maiden’s foot wouldn’t fit into that glass slipper. That’s small!
No one in the world will ever be able to collect every Mickey Mouse watch in the world. The first Mickey Mouse watch was made way back in 1933 by the Ingersoll Waterbury Clock Co. of Waterbury. It was a joint venture between the failing watch manufacturer and the rising star of the movie world, Walt Disney Productions. Later, Bradley produced low cost and low quality Mickey Mouse watches for the masses. And then almost every watch maker took a kick at the can!
I don’t have an Ingersoll, but I do have a Bradley, along with many other Disney specialty Mickey Mouse watches. Like:
Peek-a-Boo Mickey
This Peek-a-Boo Mickey Mouse watch was a novelty item with interchangeable bands that could be snapped on and off.
Every anniversary of the Mouse got a commemorative watch (above left). Mickey was also a star of comics, so the watch to the upper right was a fitting tribute to that stage of his career. And then there was the Bradley line (lower right) of watches that sold well but ran poorly. Mine hasn’t kept the correct time for more than a day at a time!
Lorus was also a player in the Mickey Mouse watch market. I have many examples, like the novelty Mickey’s Golf Club model (above left). I also have some women’s examples, like the gold Mickey version, above right. And speaking of novelty, why not own a reproduction of a Mickey Mouse Club watch (lower right).
A Grin for the Ladies
One of my more upscale watches is also a women’s model featuring a grinning Mickey Mouse. Is he smitten or in trouble? Maybe it’s the same thing.
The three watches above are all variations on the Mickey Hands theme. Mickey uses his arms to indicate the time. But with the watch in the lower right corner, he also uses music to chime out each hour.
The Gangs all Here!
This last watch is one of my favorites! Mickey’s friends rotate around in front of his gaze to indicate the passing of the seconds. Normal hour and minute hands are used instead of Mickey’s arms.
I did this post just to show some of my Mickey Mouse watch collection, and not to go into too much detail about the history behind them. So many other sites have done that in great detail, like Kovels, who have a page that shows you how to Date Your Mickey Mouse Watch. If you’re interested.
Pin Trading has started and still remains as one of the most beloved ways for Disney fans to meet and interact, both at the Theme Parks and special events. But Disney collectors also like Disney-themed large pin-backed buttons like the ones featured in this post.
The history of promotional products goes a long way back. The first promotional item in US history was a commemorative button made for George Washington in the election of 1789. Politics seemed to dominate the use of these circular novelties for many years. But that was to change!
Well, we’re not going that far back! These buttons are from the 1980s and 1990s:
Most of these buttons would have been given out for free or as a premium giveaway at a paid event. Some of the more generic character versions could have been purchased at gift shops throughout the Parks at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
These days, Disney is amalgamating most of its merchandise for the Resorts throughout the property. But back in the day, you could still get Resort specific collectibles, like the buttons shown above from Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.
Events always have promotional giveaways, and the National Fantasy Fan Club (NFFC) was no exception! These pins span from 1988-91 with 1993 being the last year I have. I’ve never attended one of their conventions for Disneyana enthusiasts, but I definitely would have if I had lived in a city where they were held!
FUN FACTS: A group of Disney collectors and enthusiasts broke away from the Mouse Club in 1984 and began their own club, called the National Fantasy Fan Club, later shortened to the NFFC. It has operated as a nonprofit organization, not sponsored by Disney, with regular conventions held in Anaheim around the birthday of Disneyland each July, beginning in 1985. In recent years, a mini-convention was added in January. The NFFC publishes a regular newsletter and has chapters all over the country. The club voted to change its name to Disneyana Fan Club in 2009.
In case you were wondering, a pin-back button or pinback button, pin button, button badge, or simply pin-back or badge, is a button or badge that can be temporarily fastened to the surface of a garment using a safety pin, or a pin formed from wire, a clutch or other mechanism. This fastening mechanism is anchored to the back side of a button-shaped metal disk, either flat or concave
The front of the button carries an image or printed message printed directly on the front with a clear protective layer applied over it for protection.
Mickey’s ear at the Contemporary Resort is certainly hard to miss! Are the ears of Mickey Mouse the most iconic in the world? Maybe second only to Evander Holyfield’s nibbled appendage, perhaps. I guess it’s subjective.
But I think we all can agree that this image of half of the famous Hidden Mickey motif makes for a better photograph than a boxers battle scars:
Dusk is always a beautiful but challenging time to take a photograph. Especially with such a large light source flooding the frame. It did make for an interesting contrast between the mostly black framework of the Contemporary’s structure and the artificial lights.
I also liked the round shapes against the strong angular gridwork of the background.
Hot Wheels is a brand of scale model cars and slot car racing kits introduced by the great toymaker Mattel in 1968. Many automobile manufacturers and entertainment companies have since licensed Hot Wheels to make scale models of their cars and characters, respectively.
And so we have Hot Wheels Character Cars featuring Jack-Jack, the happy little monster-baby from Pixar’s The Incredibles:
Straight up, I haven’t been a fan of characters reimagined as automobiles. But when I saw this one, it was probably one of the best executed attempts I’d seen, and just so durn cute!
I love the little touches: The Jack-Jack license plate, the Incredibles logo rear license plate, and of course, the mohawk roof thingy representing his signature hair!
This is already 3 years old, being manufactured in 2019, even though I just bought it a few days ago.
This character car is part of Series 7. There was apparently six vehicles in each Series. I can appreciate some of the designs, but not enough to make this my next obsession.
So I guess I’ll just have to stay with my obsession of buying too many Cars 1, 2, & 3 die cast models. Man, I just know Cars 4 is coming with even more characters! My wallet, and wife, are already groaning.
They are cheap. They are fun. They are badly made. They are Disney character face-shaped wrist watches!
I have an extensive wrist watch collection with some truly unique and expensive models. Being the completist collector I am, I also have an extensive wrist watch collection with some truly unique and cheap as dirt models. Like these:
It seems that the whole design esthetic was to have the face of the character be the face of the watch. And that just about completed the discussion around the design table!
In every case, there will be no numbers and no hour markers. Just a little hand and a big hand and maybe a seconds hand.
And you can see by how beat up these examples are, the finish was never meant to last!
All that being said, they are wonderful! Could there be a cuter way for your little one to wear their favorite Disney character? Probably not. But don’t expect these watches to help them tell time. No numbers = never being on time!
As a collector, I love finding a line of merchandise that has variations to hunt for. I know there are more of these face watches out there, and some day, they will be mine! He-Yuk!
We did many back-to-back Walt Disney World trips starting in 2006. As you can imagine, for me, it was as much about the merchandise as it was about the rides or attractions! So I quickly got hooked on these collectible souvenir candy tins.
I’m sure we’ve all started to feel the financial pinch of a Disney vacation and so something has to give. Likely it will be how much we spend on souvenirs. If this is true of you, I recommend these wonderful and inexpensive little tins. They come filled with yummy candy and after the eating is done… you have an empty tin to put things in that just happens to smell nice.
Can’t afford a $40.00 t-shirt with ‘Walt Disney World’ plastered across the chest? Then maybe this candy tin featuring Mickey (with lots of little Hidden Mickeys) and the iconic name plastered across the lid will do instead.
Pretty much every tin of candy has the same peppermint flavored mints. They may be in different shapes, but peppermint is the go-to flavor. However, second in line for the most popular flavor is: Cinnamon. But beware. They are hot!
I wish they had used Minnie on the red tin and Mickey on the blue. A missed opportunity to tie in more characters and offer more variety, I think.
Pun – a – Mints
Above is just a small sampling of the 15g size of candy tins. There is no end to the puns linked to the various characters. I think this line was one of the more inventive!
Finally, if you’re going to buy candy, it’s Go Big or Go Home! When 15g of candy just isn’t enough, then a jumbo 42g tin is for you:
These souvenir tins also make inexpensive gifts for family and friends, especially if you have a lot to buy for! In any case, if you buy a tin full of candy from Walt Disney World, there is one thing that you just have to do:
Actually, the full name of this album is: Ray Conniff and the Singers, Music from Mary Poppins featuring the Academy Award Winner “Chim Chim Cher-ee”. The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, and other great Movie Themes. Got all that? Good. We can continue.
I have once again found an obscure LP from the distance past, in this case, 1965. This would be one year after Mary Poppins (’64), My Fair Lady (’64), Father Goose (’64), and Dear Heart (’64), and the same year as The Sound of Music (’65). The album went to number 34 on the Hot 200.
What is it with Mary Poppins?!?
Not exactly a Soundtrack, but a compilation album featuring re-recorded songs from hit movies of the day. In a few instances, the official Theme Songs were included, such as with Dear Heart. I have so many versions of the Mary Poppins soundtrack as done by other musicians, such as this one by none other than Lawrence Welk. Check it out! But if only an original cast Soundtrack is for you, than check out my copy of one here.
For interest sake, Dear Heart was a romantic-comedy film starring Glenn Ford and Geraldine Page as lonely middle-aged people who fall in love at a hotel convention. As a song, Dear Heart was written by Henry Mancini, Ray Evans, and Jay Livingston and performed by Andy Williams. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, but didn’t win.
Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. And so we have this particular LP.
But who were ‘The Singers’? Looking at the pictures on the back of this album cover (see below), I found one woman and three men that kept popping up. So it would make sense that these people were ‘The Singers’. But with more research, it appears that they were only some of the members of the group, with the whole numbering being 12 women and 13 men in total! But even these changed out over the years with almost 60 different singers being included in the lineup.
Name that tune!
Looking at the pictures above, we see other compilation albums put out by Conniff and his singers. Notice that the titles are ‘s Awful Nice, ‘s Marvelous, and ‘s Wonderful. Those titles are actually lyrics taken from the 1927 popular song itself entitled ‘s Wonderful composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics written by Ira Gershwin. It was introduced in the Broadway musical Funny Face, also from 1927. The song has been recorded by many famous musicians over the years and has now been plagiarized for album titles!
The songs on this album are done very well but don’t really match the original versions, especially in the case of Mary Poppins. I mean, how can anyone match Julie Andrews singing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? No one, says I!
But one track is particularly good and fun. It is the Theme Song for Father Goose. It was originally sung by none other than Peggy Lee who provided music for the 1955 release of Disney’s Lady and the Tramp. The female lead in this version does the song justice. Have a listen:
Pass Me By – from Father Goose
This song was written by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh but made a hit by Peggy Lee, but not before Frank Sinatra recorded his version, yup, his way.
FUN FACTS: Coleman came up with the march-like rhyme of the song by watching Father Goose star Cary Grant walk across the set of the movie. He sought to mimic, in music, the natural gait of the movie star.
Back of Album Cover
And that is that. I find it amazing just how many time Mary Poppins has been redone over the years. It’s a tribute to Richard and Robert Sherman that their songs have stood the test of time and been honored by so many other musicians.
Once more into the department store, my friends! And onward to the party with more Disney-themed helium balloons:
Not-so Hidden Mickey
Mickey gives a sideways glance at me as I take his picture just hanging around the rafters of my local department store.
It’s a gaggle of Princesses (or is a gathering of Princesses called a Coronation?) bobbing joyfully in those self-same rafters. It’s a party place for sure! But not a Prince in sight.
The Child – Grogu
But making an appearance from a galaxy far, far, away is The Child of renown: Grogu! What’s he doing on Earth? Only the Mandalorian knows for sure.
And again, I hope this post lifted your spirits! But if you need a little bit more height, check out the first post featuring Disney-themed helium balloons by clicking the link. For more fun with Grogu, check out this figurine or this set of playing cards.
Once more into the department store, my friends! And onward to the party with more Disney-themed helium balloons:
Not-so Hidden Mickey
Mickey gives a sideways glance at me as I take his picture just hanging around the rafters of my local department store.
It’s a gaggle of Princesses (or is a gathering of Princesses called a Coronation?) bobbing joyfully in those self-same rafters. It’s a party place for sure! But not a Prince in sight.
The Child – Grogu
But making an appearance from a galaxy far, far, away is The Child of renown: Grogu! What’s he doing on Earth? Only the Mandalorian knows for sure.
And again, I hope this post lifted your spirits! But if you need a little bit more height, check out the first post featuring Disney-themed helium balloons by clicking the link. For more fun with Grogu, check out this figurine or this set of playing cards.
Disleelandia 