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Not sure your plans for New Year's Eve (a quiet dinner, New Year's Eve party, watching a good movie, early to bed or spending time with family and friends) but want to wish everyone a Very Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year!!
Looking forward very much to 2008! The is the first year in a LONG time where I've liked each and every Members Only release and couldn't be any more happier about this coming year's choice for Membership Gift. Is anyone NOT surprised? :)
Today 2007 comes to an end. Where has this year gone?? As the year winds today, Donald is all ready to take us into 2008!!
As we all think of what our New Years Resolutions will be (how many really are able to keep them???), it's also a good time to look back on this past year.
Was talking with friends yesterday about this and we came up with the idea of a R-ear End Review. This all came about talking about Donald's tush (don't ask .. LOL!). Let's all look back and list our Fab Five ( favorite releases) of the 2007 Line-Up and share our thoughts on this past year. So let's begin ...
1. Ugly Duckling & Mother - Hands down my favorite release of 2006! This sculpt still brings a smile each time I look at it. LOVE this series overall and based on the releases that followed in 2007, can't wait to see what's in store for 2008!
2. Quasimodo - I never thought we'd see another release from The Hunchback of Notre Dame after the Tribute Series release in 1997. The sculpture truly captures that moment in the film for when Quasi for once didn't feel like such an outcast.
3. Peter and the Mermaids - HUGE fan of this film and the Mermaid Lagoon Sequence is one I always wanted to see done and couldn't be happier with the outcome. More interesting was hearing Dusty Horner speak about this piece this past summer and how he wanted a singular sculpt and each character placed exactly as they should be positioned. With the upcoming addition of Wendy, it just gets better! Truly hoping they release the remaining Mermaids. This is one of my wishes for 2008!
4. Esmerelda - My one and only Leading Ladies release. The coloring, sense of movement and just downright sexiness captured in this sculpture is amazing. Her grouped with Quasimodo is one of my favorite groupings!
5. Ludwig Von Drake - LOVE the more esoteric/secondary characters and Ludwig doesn't fail to deliver. Not sure a stand-alone of Mr. Von Drake would have made my Fab Five if not for the addition of the globe as part of the sculpture.
Honorable Mention - Who doesn't try to do a Top 5 and find you always have to sneak one or two more in :) For me, Honorable Mention goes to Mulan. I'm not a big fan of this film, so that in itself says a lot. What I liked about this sculpt was how she had such a delicate look to her. The detail done in how her face is painted how the make-up runs perfectly along her jaw and you can see her actual skin coloring on her neck against the make-up. Hope to see this sculpture expanded into a larger scene in 2008!
One of my favorite Donald Duck Cartoons is Donald Applecore, released on January 18, 1952 which also features Chip 'n Dale.
In Donald Applecore, Donald the apple farmer notices his apples have been nibbled on and catches Chip n' Dale in the act. In the ensuing battle, Donald uses a helicopter to spray them (but they have tiny gas masks). Then he brings in the really heavy artillery.
You ask, "why are you blogging about this short?" Well, with New Year's right around the corner, this is one short I had always hoped the WDCC would release, so thought a perfect time to re-campaign :) Had always hoped for a scene that featured both Donald and Chip 'n Dale and always thought this was the perfect vehicle to do that.
Those familiar with this short are very familiar with the following exchange between Donald and Chip:
Chip: "Applecore" Donald: "Baltimore" Chip: "Who's your friend?" Donald: "Me"
There has been some question on the origin of the Applecore .. Baltimore gag. Veteran Disney animator Bill Justice in an interview in the early 1990's claimed that this memorable bit of business was something that he and the other gagmen had invented specifically for Donald Applecore.
In fact, the gag was used in Melody Time (1948) during the Johnny Appleseed sequence. It is incorporated into the song the pioneers are singing during the Apple Jubilee. This at least proves that the whole thing didn't originate with the Donald short.
For those unfamiliar with Donald Applecore, I've included a short clip (courtesy of YouTube.com) below:
In Walt Disney's animated classic Lady and the Tramp, the film begins and ends with Christmas and thought the releases from this film were a fitting end to this month's blog entries looking back on past Walt Disney Classics Collection Christmas Releases.
According to legend, the film's opening sequence, in which Darling unwraps a hat box on Christmas morning and finds Lady inside, is based upon an actual incident in Walt Disney's life. After he'd forgotten a dinner date with his wife, he made it up to her by offering her the puppy-in-the-hat-box surprise and was immediately forgiven.
Lady in Hatbox sculpted by Gwen Dutcher was the Member Gift Sculpture for those collectors who joined the Walt Disney Collectors Society and/or renewed in calendar year 1999.
"All the world is bright and joyful..." It's Christmastime again.
Tramp enjoys goodhearted friends and family gathering near the joyfully decorated tree. Tramp has now been accepted as a true member of the family, and together, he and Lady have been gifted with four lively pups. For Lady, this is the happiest of holidays.
These joyful additions to the Walt Disney Classics Collection perfectly captures the warmhearted joy of the climatic holiday scene of Walt Disney's classicanimated feature, Ladyand The Tramp.
The Lady and the Tramp Christmas Series made its debut in 2001 with Tramp and Tree ("At Home for Christmas"). Each year, a 2-piece set was added and in 2004, the scene was completed. Jock and Scamp ("Persistent Pup" & "Patient Pal") were released in 2002, Trusty and Puppies ("Old Dog, New Tricks" & "Playful Pup") in 2003 and Lady and Puppy ("Welcome Home" & "Precocious Pup" ) in 2004 completing the series. Each release was Limited to the Production Year of its release. The complete scene was sculpted by Dusty Horner.
To all the readers of The Duckman's Inside Report and Duckman's Blog, my sincere thanks and appreciation for all the support and encouragement you have all given me over the past year. We want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year!
To all our family, friends and friends unknown! Merry Christmas! Don, Mary & Amanda
For your Christmas Eve/Christmas Day viewing pleasure is Santa's Workshop (courtesy of YouTube.com):
Mickey's Christmas Carol was produced by Walt Disney Productions and originally released in the United Kingdom on October 20, 1983 by Buena Vista Distribution. The film was released in the United States on December 16, 1983 as an accompaniment to a re-release of The Rescuers.
It is an adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, featuring Scrooge McDuck as his namesake and inspirationEbenezer Scrooge and Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit. This film was based on a 1972 audio musical entitled Disney's A Christmas Carol.
Mickey's Christmas Carol was the first new Mickey Mouse cartoon made in 30 years after The Simple Things.
In 1997, Walt Disney Classics Collection released three (3) ornaments from this film, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse (as Mrs. Cratchit) and Ebenezer Scrooge. In 1998, they were joined by Jiminy Cricket, the Ghost of Christmas Past (pictured above). All sculpted by Patrick Romandy-Simmons, were retired in July, 1999.
In 2000, Parkwest/NALED released a full-size figurine of Ebenezer Scrooge. A Numbered Limited Edition (NLE) of 2,000 sculpted by Blaise Gauba. At the time of its release, it was rumored to be the first of a five-part series that never materialized.
What is Parkwest/Naled you ask? The National Association of Limited Edition Dealers is an organization that provides its member stores with exclusives to certain pieces. A store can belong to NALED and not sell the special editions. Their catalogs are produced by Parkwest, so you'll often hear pieces referred to as either a NALED or Parkwest exclusive.
Trivia: Most of the cast remained unchanged; however, in the audio version, the Blue Fairy (from Pinocchio) and the Queen (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in her hag guise) portrayed the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Future, respectively (the Present Ghost, like in the film version, was portrayed by Willie the Giant).
For your Christmas Eve viewing pleasure, below is a Mickey's Christmas Carol, courtesy of YouTube.com shown in three parts.
It's Christmas and Mickey and Minnie are singing carols. Someone drops a basket on the doorstep that has what seems like hundreds of kittens; they quickly overrun the house.
Mickey dresses as Santa, with Pluto as a reindeer, and brings gifts for the kittens. The kittens form a marching band, using kitchen implements; other kittens take saws, hammers, and other tools to the furniture. A kitten uses his toy steam shovel to drop a hot coal down Mickey's pants; two more come up with a toy fire engine. Mickey unveils the tree; the kittens swarm over it and strip it bare. Not your typical warm, fuzzy Christmas story .. LOL!
Mickey's Ophans was released on December 09, 1931 and an Academy Award nominee, Best Short Subject (cartoon) in 1932.
Walt Disney Classics Collection released a 3-piece boxed set featuring Mickey, Minnie and their Christmas Tree in a Numbered Limited Edition (NLE) sculpted by Dusty Horner. This three piece sculpture set is black and white, capturing the classic look and fun elegance of the original film which was never colorized. Ornaments come in a separate box so you can decorate the tree!
A backstamp error can be found on more than half of the initial production run. A Gold Circle backstamp was mistakenly applied to this matched, numbered, limited-edition set of 5,000. The certificate of authenticity also had this error. A running change was made in the remaining production to remove the Gold Circle logo from both the backstamp and the certificate. Packaged in special gold box vs. standard green box.
For those unfamiliar with Mickey's Orphans, I've included a short clip (courtesy of YouTube.com) below:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released on December 21, 1937, the first animated feature film produced by Walt Disney. It is the first full-length animated feature to become widely successful within the English-speaking world, the first full-length animated feature with sound, and the first to be filmed in Technicolor. Walt Disney's Snow White premiered at the Carthay Circle Theater on December 21, 1937 and released to theaters by RKO Radio Pictures on February 4, 1938. The story was adapted by storyboard artists Dorothy Ann Blank, Richard Creedon, Merrill DeMaris, Otto Englander, Earl Hurd, Dick Rickard, Ted Sears and Webb Smith from the German fairy tale Snow White by the Brothers Grimm. David Handwas the supervising director, while William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen directed the film's individual sequences. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was one out of only two animated films to rank in the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American films of all time in 1997 (the other being Fantasia) , ranking number 49. It achieved a higher ranking (#34) in the list's 2007 Update, this time being the only traditionally animated film on the list.
A complete listing of Walt Disney Classics Collection sculptures from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs can be found in the Snow White Section of the website's Secondary Guide & Image Gallery.
The 2008 1st Quarter presentation is now complete!
Just as I was finishing the presentation page, received all the plussing information for each of the new sculptures just announced plus the members-only releases!
Each presentation page has been updated where plussing information is applicable. Within the next week or so, be watching for another update that will include some additional angles plus the addition of the 2008 Calendar!
Clarabelle Cow is the newest member of the Mickey Mouse Club!
Clarabelle, sculpted by Bruce Lau is Limited to Production Year 2008.
Mickey Mouse Club was hosted by Jimmie Dodd, a songwriter and the "Head Mouseketeer", who provided leadership both on and off screen. Roy Williams, a staff artist at Disney, also appeared in the show as the "Big Mooseketeer". Roy suggested the Mickey Mouse ears ("Mouseke-ears") worn by the cast members, which he helped create, along with Chuck Keehne, Hal Adelquist, and Bill Walsh.
The main cast members were called "Mouseketeers," and they performed in a variety of musical and dance numbers, as well as some informational segments.
The opening theme, "The Mickey Mouse March", was written by the show's primary adult host, Jimmie Dodd. It was also reprised at the end of each episode, with the slower "Now it's time to say goodbye" verse. A shorter version of the opening title was used later in the series, in syndication and on Disney Channel reruns. Dodd also wrote many other songs used in individual segments over the course of the series.
Although the show was filmed and broadcast in black and white, all of the animated segments - the opening theme, Mickey's introductions and farewells, the Jiminy Cricket shorts, etc. - were filmed in color. Below is the opening sequence (in color) courtesy of YouTube.com:
A much requested scene by collectors was the Festival of Fools Scene and this past year collectors were treated to the release of Esmerelda (4th release in the Leading Ladies Series) and Clopin & Quasimodo (both Open Edition releases). Every scene needs a villain and in 2008, Judge Claude Frollo makes his WDCC debut as a Numbered Limited Edition (NLE) of 750 sculpted by Patrick Romandy-Simmons. Additional angles to follow.
Judge Claude Frollo is a fictional character, the main villain from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, as adapted from Claude Frollo in Victor Hugo's novel of the same name. His voice was provided by the late Tony Jay, who had been chosen for the role based on his brief appearance as Monsieur D'Arque in Beauty and the Beast. Frollo is the minister of justice of Paris, France. He holds an intense hatred of the gypsy population, expressing a desire to terminate their entire race. In the film, Frollo murders Quasimodo's mother and reluctantly becomes his adoptive father, attempting to raise him to despise the gypsies. Frollo's life becomes complicated when he falls in love with Esmerelda, a gypsy dancer whom Frollo believes to be an evil witch. This version of Frollo is considerably different from the character featured in Hugo's novel; in the film, Frollo is a violent, hateful man with little to no regard for humanity, while Hugo presented the character as a far more sympathetic, complicated man, although he still remained the novel's antagonist. Despite the character's simplification, his villainious qualities, which include racism, lust and religious bigotry, remained quite mature for a children's film.
Collectors have commented less scenes, more stand alones so am glad they went the route they did with Frollo and made him part of the Festival of Fools Scene vs. a stand alone/event style sculpture. "Malevolent Magistrate" captures Frollo perfectly as he appears in this sequence of the film as Quasimodo is crowned King of Fools during the Feast of Fools.
For your viewing pleasure, below is a clip (courtesy of YouTube.com) of the Festival of Fools sequence during the Topsy Turvy! song and dance number:
Today we received images of three (3) more non-member releases for 2008. Due to work and school obligations, will get each release uploaded to the blog once completed to discuss and then do our normal presentation to showcase the 1st Quarter in it's entirety.
Up first, from Pete's Dragon is Elliott! Pete's Dragon (first released on November 3, 1977) is a live-action/animated musical feature film from Walt Disney Productions. It is about a young orphan named Pete in a small fishing community in Maine in the early 20th century. His only friend is a dragon, Elliott, who also acts as his sentinel. Elliott can make himself invisible and is generally visible only to Pete, which occasionally lands Pete in trouble with the locals.
Elliott ("A Boy's Best Friend"), sculpted by Ruben Procopio is a Numbered Limited Edition (NLE) of 750 with a SRP of $275.00 US. Take the Elliott Poll.
Trivia:
Originally, Elliott the dragon was not to be seen at all in the film and remain invisible throughout. However, members of the studio animation department gradually lobbied studio heads to increase the amount of visible screen time. At first it was decided he would be only seen at the end of the film, but ultimately the character's screen time was increased to 22 minutes.
Animators opted to make Elliott more of an oriental (rather than occidental) dragon because oriental dragons are usually associated with good.
There were plans to move the lighthouse, specially constructed for the film, to the Disneyland theme park. Unfortunately, the building had deteriorated beyond repair before this could be done.
Elliot the dragon and Pete appear in the Main Street Electrical Parade in the Disney theme parks and the version of Elliott from the parade was an open edition release in 1999.
Pete's Dragon was the first Disney feature film to be released on VHS home video, in October 1980.
For those unfamiliar with Elliott and/or Pete's Dragon, I've included a short clip from the live-action/animated film (courtesy of YouTube.com) below:
Those who do the automatic renewal with the Walt Disney Collectors Society, Donald Duck, the 2008 Membership Gift is marching your way!
Donald Duck ("Happy Camper") sculpted by Patrick Romandy-Simmons is available from January 01 thru December 31, 2007. Membership Benefits for 2008 include the Membership Gift Sculpture (pictured at right), two lithographs, membership pin, personalized membership card, quarterly supplements, subscriptions to Sketches Magazine and Newsflash plus opportunity to purchase other member-only sculptures (see below).
More specific details and images on this year's Society Membership Gift & Benefits can be found either on the website or recent blog entry.
Question: Will there be a WDCC Calendar for 2008? Answer: No. The calendar was a 15th Anniversary WDCS special addition to the year for 2007.
The annual Walt Disney Classics Collection ball ornament (pictured above) was introduced in 1999 and made available as part of a special "Holiday Promotion" for a suggested retail price of only $20.00 US with the purchase of any Walt Disney Classics Collection sculpture or Society Membership (excluding opening titles and miniatures).
The ornament featured the WDCC logo and was limited to year of production. The series was made up of the following three (3) releases:
Not sure your plans for New Year's Eve (a quiet dinner, New Year's Eve party, watching a good movie, early to bed or spending time with family and friends) but want to wish everyone a Very Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year!!
