Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Donald & Daisy: First WDCC Dancing Couple?

When we think of WDCC Dancing Couples, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Ariel come to mind. In a recent discussion with fellow collector friends about Mr. Duck Steps Out, the Jitterbug sculpture featuring Donald and Daisy Duck came up and believe they are the frontrunner/first Dancing Couple release!

Donald & Daisy ("Oh Boy, What a Jitterbug!") was a Numbered Limited Edition (NLE) release of 5,000 in 1992. As with many of the first WDCC releases, no sculptor was assigned to this piece since more than one sculptor was involved with each sculpture for the first releases of the line. The sculpture was originally to be an edition size of 7,500 but reduced to 5,000 due to production difficulties.

Depending on which sculpture you may have, you may notice the following variations:

Rug Variations:
  • Smooth and painted two variations of green.
  • Textured and painted as if braided.

Donald's Left Hand Variations:
  • 3rd finger sticks out.
  • 3rd finger does not stick out.
The Mr. Duck Steps Out scenes is one of my favorite of the animated short releases done by the Walt Disney Classics Collection and only animated short I have on display all year round in my collection.
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13 comments:

  1. BabetteJuly 31, 2007 at 10:22 PM

    Thanks for the trivia Don. Did not know there were two versions of the piece. Wonder which version is more common? with his index finger pointing out or not? hmmmmmmm

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  2. DC Pop FanaticJuly 31, 2007 at 11:21 PM

    Curious about that myself Babs! My version is as follows:

    *Rug is smooth and painted two variations of green.

    *3rd finger sticks out.

    Mine is number #4385/5000.

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  3. HercAugust 2, 2007 at 12:07 AM

    I guess I have the smooth rug in two colors of green. The rug to me isn't so smooth and has soft ridges.
    Donald's pointer finger is sticking out like in you photo on your website. My number is 1643.

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  4. HercAugust 2, 2007 at 12:09 AM

    Forgot to mention that it has the wheel mark. So when did they start with the clef mark? What did yours have Don?

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  5. DC Pop FanaticAugust 2, 2007 at 5:47 AM

    Relooked at mine, I have the Clef Mark. Also questioning if my rug is smooth or textured.

    My rug has the effect of circular lines going all the way around each ring and consists of two distinct colors. The inner and outer ring is in a solid green coloring (light olive) and the middle ring is a cream color. Wondering if this what they defined 'as if braided'? How would you describe yours Jeff?

    Not sure at what point in the numbering did it switch from the wheel to clef mark :(

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  6. BabetteAugust 2, 2007 at 8:16 PM

    Well if Jeff's is a wheel mark and is #1643 and Don your's is clef mark and #4385, that blows the myth that early pieces were numbered backwards (highest to lowest) as they were produced.

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  7. DC Pop FanaticAugust 3, 2007 at 6:41 AM

    I thought the same thing Babs when I was rechecking my piece. If I recall correctly, The Big Bad Wolf and Cinderella's Dress were numbered in reverse but obvious it wasn't the case with the Jitterbug sculpt.

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  8. HercAugust 3, 2007 at 4:39 PM

    Don, my rug looks like yours in the photo. Maybe they did 2500 and 2500. We'll have to see if anyone else posts a comment about their numbers.

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  9. DC Pop FanaticAugust 6, 2007 at 9:57 AM

    Jeff, my rug also looks exactly like that in the photo (Blog and Secondary Guide), even the finger pointing out.

    Spoke with Tim. He is going to dig his out and check both his numbering and variations.

    Would be interesting if more with this sculpture would come forward to compare numberings and variations.

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  10. UnknownOctober 10, 2007 at 10:16 PM

    I have both variations--on the one numbered 939/5000 with wheel mark, the rug is a two tone green with the 2nd ring the lighter color and smooth. The one numbered 4930/5000 the rug is braided and the 2nd ring of the rug is a off white. This one has the Clef mark.
    It kinda makes sense that 2500 of each was produced--not sure which won would be more common other than the one with the wheel mark would be the oldest.

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  11. DC Pop FanaticOctober 11, 2007 at 6:24 AM

    Thanks dpgus very much for sharing the particulars of each of your production marks. This truly clarifies both versions described.

    I just finished updating the Secondary Guide with this specific information listing each variation by production mark release.

    Regarding Donald's finger, please confirm as I listed, wheel version, 3rd finger does not stick out and it does on the clef version.

    Here is a direct URL to Jitterbug Donald & Daisy in the Secondary Guide -- http://www.wdccduckman.com/spgcc20a.htm

    Thanks very much for this more detailed version on this magnificent sculpture!

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  12. UnknownOctober 11, 2007 at 8:09 PM

    Duckman,
    You are correct, on the Wheel version the 3rd finger does not stick out but does on the Clef version.

    ReplyDelete
  13. DC Pop FanaticOctober 11, 2007 at 8:43 PM

    Thanks very much! The variations on this sculpture have always been a gray area. It's nice to have the variations finally confirmed and stated properly in the Secondary Guide.

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