Yesterday I featured an image of the inside of Willie's Chest Accessory from the upcoming scene release from Mickey and the Beanstalk, one of the two segments in Disney's Fun and Fancy Free.
Above are images taken this past weekend of the Singing Harp ("Beautiful Diversion"). Please Note: The above images of the Singing Harp is a first porcelain prototype and the colors will be adjusted slightly including on her face.
What stood out to me when I saw in person, are her wings and how detailed they are. It's even hard to tell in the above image the delicate coloring and detail of them. Her Harp is plussed with 11 brass wire harp strings.
When Mickey and the Beanstalk was first announced, Babette asked the following:
"OK time for a Disney trivia type of question. Maybe it's just my perception, but knowing that Fun and Fancy Free was released prior to Peter Pan, I can't help but wonder if Marc Davis was the animator for the Singing Harp? She has many similar facial & hair characteristics to Tinker Bell which we know Marc was the lead animator on."
In the Encyclopedia of Animated Characters and there wasn't a mention of Marc but found the following that was quite interesting:
... the magical Singing Harp; we see this golden character, a sort of cross between Marilyn Monroe and a musical instrument, singing on the balcony of the castle.
Interesting that she is compared to Marilyn Monroe as is Tinker Bell. I think I read somewhere regarding Tinker Bell, Marilyn Monroe's popularity hadn't hit yet at the time of Peter Pan, hence the possibility of Tinker Bell based on Marilyn Monroe wasn't valid. Given Fun & Fancy Free was released prior to Peter Pan, even more valid, not based on Marilyn but interesting how both characters are compared to her.
Upon seeing in person, you do notice a somewhat similarity to Tinker Bell and also her hair is very much like Cinderella in the Ballroom sequence of that film.
Scheduled Release Date: September 2007.
Wow! I'm even more impressed with this piece. It's larger than I thought!
ReplyDeleteReally looking forward to seeing these pieces in person!
It really is very pretty in person. Very delicate and she really does resemble Tinker Bell.
ReplyDeleteIf you didn't want to get the whole set, she'd work well just as a stand alone.
Glad to know that she would also work alone, Babette... I'm probably going to have to do this set one piece at a time and she (along with Mickey) will probably be the first.
ReplyDeleteCan you tell me if the gold paint goes all around the harp part, and are the wings the yellow color?
Hi Matthew - the Harp portion of the Singing Harp is painted a shiny gold. It begins at her waist and ends at the bottom of her dress.
ReplyDeleteHer wings are what you really need to see in person to see how amazing they are. They are an antique white/yellow in color and very detailed.
The piece does not disappoint. Hope this helps.
Yes, Don... thanks for the description.
ReplyDeleteI can hear her singing now...!
This piece is reminiscent of Fantasia’s Diana piece as far as the feminine and flow of line go for me. Very nice!
ReplyDelete