The 2008 Production Mark has been sighted! Belle ("Forbidden Discovery"), the 2008 Members Only Of Dreams & Magic release has arrived at retailers and begun to ship!The 2008 Production Mark is the Sleeping Beauty Crown bestowed by the three Good Fairies (Flora, Fauna and Merryweather) upon the Princess Aurora from Walt Disney's masterpiece Sleeping Beauty.
Sleeping Beauty was originally released to theatres on January 29, 1959 by Buena Vista Distribution. The sixteenth animated feature, was the last animated feature produced by Walt Disney to be based upon a fairy tale (after his death, the studio returned to the genre with 1989's The Little Mermaid). In addition, Sleeping Beauty was the first animated feature to be shot in Super Technirama 70, one of many large-format widescreen processes. Only one more animated film, The Black Cauldron, was ever shot in Super Technirama 70.
Thanks Michelle for this breaking news! Be watching for a future update with artwork and more information on this year's production mark! Michelle also took photos and has shared them at the Cafe.
Thanks Michelle for this breaking news! Be watching for a future update with artwork and more information on this year's production mark! Michelle also took photos and has shared them at the Cafe.
Glad to help out with any news I can!! Was surprised to see the new production mark on the box. The Crown shape is similar to the crown she's wearing in the Love's First Kiss piece, but without any jewels.
ReplyDeleteBelle is definitely an amazing engineering feat to get the rose to suspend from her finger. The overall coloring of the piece is darker, with her dress more of a denim blue with a tinge of purplish in her white blouse. Definitely must be coloring to match the darker forboding atomsphere of the West Wing. The face is still not quite right, but overall, the piece is a very good representation of the moment in the film.
Meant to add that I guess since we didn't get a Princess as a membership piece this year (we defintely needed a break from the princesses!), we got a Princess Crown as the Production Mark instead!!
ReplyDeleteWell, this has certainly been the best kept production mark secret in a while to my recollection. We've usually gotten wind of what it is to be before the actual year has begun, not a month into the year.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I was also fully expecting the mark to honor Lady and the Tramp this year, but instead we've jumped ahead to Sleeping Beauty. So, color me a tad disappointed to see my all-time favorite Disney Animated film was passed over. I'd certainly love to know why it was skipped.
I think piece is beautiful, especially Belle's face as she is reaching for the rose. I do have one questions however, who determines the production mark every year and is their a significance to the mark they choose?
ReplyDeleteFirst off, glad to see they are shipping Belle. Can't wait to get it now.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the mark. Love that it is the crown. Sorry that Lady and the Tramp was skipped, but think about it, we've skipped over lots of things so far.
Babs-Thanks Again!
ReplyDeleteThanks also for your description of the actual sculpture. From the photos you sent via Snapfish, thought facially she looked good. How would you compare her facially to the 2005 Member Gift and 2001 Event Sculpture? I was disappointed in both these but did purchase the member gift to keep my charter status.
Jason-I think skipping over Lady and the Tramp has taken many by surprise. I thought of you immediately when I found out what the production mark was and from what film. This isn't the first time a significant film was skipped. In 1999, Fantasia won out over Pinocchio. In that case, both were released in the same year. Had hoped the following year Pinocchio would have gotten his due and honored as well.
Disney Princess-The production mark is chosen by the WDCC Team in Burbank. There are certain icons for each film made available by Disney for them to choose from.
Definitely way too dark on the face. I have sold quite a few already but i KNOW that will slow down or i will get some returns when they see the actual fact.,. How can a BILLION DOLLAR company not know how to photograph correctly.. That is the problem here. EVERYONE is going to expect what is on sketches and you are NOT GOING TO GET THAT!!! Also has anyone noticed the right eye is too close to the corner and the left is centered.
ReplyDeleteWell maybe they are going to fix these errors cause these are serious.
I put a link to pictures I took of the new Belle piece on the Duckburgh Cafe site. She is darker in coloring. There is a photo straight on where you can see her eye placement.
ReplyDelete(How would you compare her facially to the 2005 Member Gift and 2001 Event Sculpture?)
The 2001 Event sculpture is my all time favorite Belle. To me, her face, body, positioning was dead on. Sketches I've seen for sale on ebay and other art dealer sites vary in whether they get Belle's face 'right' versus something being off. I can only assume she's a difficult character to draw/sculpt since some pieces seem to do her well and have something that's not quite right.
sorry ,but where is the link to the pics u took babette?
ReplyDeletethnx
.kushal
Click on the Duckburg Internet Cafe link on Don's blog Inside the Report directory (2nd one down)
ReplyDeleteMark-Appreciate you sharing your thoughts on Belle since this is a piece I had on pre-order. Once the piece was unveiled, discussing it with Enesco, I was under the understanding that they were trying to go for a more dramatic angle with this sculpture and capture the feel and tone of the West Wing.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your blog entry, pulled out Sketches and noticed her overall coloring isn't that much different than the images received for the announcement.
Babs-Thanks for sharing the photos you took of the sculpture, I think it will give collectors an opportunity to view the sculpture, where like myself, there isn't a dealer nearby. Also appreciate our one on one discussion last night about it.
Based on Mark's assessment of the sculpture and Bab's photos, I think I will wait to see in person before doing anything further.
Once again, appreciate both Mark's feedback and Bab's photos.
oh cool! i had no idea that link existed! thnx babette.
ReplyDeleteand thnx much for the great pics!
My take:
she really wasn't THAT bad.yes, her face seemed a bit "puffy" and a BIT off..but to be fair, Belle is one of the most Off-Model disney heroines even in the movies.She is all over the place in the original movie too.Much like Esmerelda.Difficult designs to keep consistent.
Belle's face is just to generic(non-caricatured) to get down perfect ALL the time by different artists..and then this is a whole new medium all together.
None the less...a little bit closer to the real ting would have been great, but this will do for me.
As for the color, i could not really tell the darker skin tone..but am guessing its exactly what babette said.
Its to create the dramatic lighting of that scene.As far i could tell, they even try to create the glow of the rose through the paint on the table etc. so everything beyond that would have to be darker...
overall do u like ur piece babette?
I agree with you Kushal, I think Belle is very difficult to 'get right' just based on how many different 'looks' she has in either 2D or 3D pieces. I posted new pics on the Cafe comparing her to Esmerelda. As to whether I like her, yes, she's definitely growing on me. The last pic of the bunch is why...the overall effect of the piece does capture that moment in the film, I think.
ReplyDeletewow babette!
ReplyDeletethat last silhouette pic is AWESOME!
very cool photography there!
and looking at ur pics of a front on view of her face...she is really growing on me too.
I buy online too, without seeing the pieces, but if she is gonna be like your pictures, then i am not worried anymore and will get it!
thnx a lot..ur pics helped me make up my mind:-)
.kushal
Thanks again Michelle for sharing your photos. Agree with .kushal, that silhouette photo is amazing!
ReplyDeleteNow that you dug Beast out to photograph with Belle, will you leave both out on display?
I need to find a square acre of land to display them! They are both huge and take up a lot of space. I tried just putting 'just' the Beast in a small trapezoid shaped curio I have... I couldn't close the door cause he's bigger than the shelf. These two are destined to be open air displays for now.
ReplyDelete