I miss the days when Disney Parks actually carried unique, one-of-a-kind items perfectly themed to their location, rather than shelves of Pixar Cars character merchandise packed into Frontierland. It was a simpler time, when the experience meant more than the spreadsheets.
And while I disapprove of seeing the same “Walt Disney World <insert current year here>” sweatshirt sold everywhere from the Emporium to Yankee Trader to Mitsukoshi, I have to admit a grudging respect for the merchandising folks. They have an unerring ability to smash random concepts together, with total disregard for logic.
In case you can’t tell, that’s Minnie Mouse decked out in Marie gear. Yes, Marie, one of the kittens from Aristocats. Marie has been steadily climbing the charts as a best selling character, in spite of her movie being long forgotten.
They usually reserve this type of treatment for Halloween, when you’ll see Mickey dressed as Captain Hook, Pluto dressed as Scar, or the Seven Dwarfs as each of Seven Deadly Sins. They’ve also given us a never-ending parade of Star Wars mash-ups: Goofy as Darth Vader, Anna and Elsa frozen in Carbonite, and Dumbo as a Tatooine Bantha (we might be wishcasting some of those).
And what about this M&Ms knockoff? There’s a whole line of candy– Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, mints, etc. — all themed in some way to a Disney character. This one had a special, obvious park connection. And including the Spanish monorail spiel on the same box? Perfection.
Speaking of Monorails
Here we go. The piece de resistance, created in honor of Cars 2:
Yes! It’s the Highway in the Sky himself. The Walt Disney World monorail as a Pixar Cars character. Dang, he looks friendly. I mean, except for the fact that he needs to swallow his passengers whole. And what is the quality of life for a Pixar Cars character who has to stay on a track? Sounds like a lifelong prison sentence.
This guy was everywhere at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s a wonder they didn’t replace the Tronorail wrap with him.
Could it possibly get even more awesome? The answer is yes. Yes it can:
Yeah, it’s the same Cars-ified monorail, but now we get a Cars parking lot tram for good measure! Right now they’re just images on activity books and lunch boxes. But if Pixar Cars characters start consuming all of the Walt Disney World ride vehicles — Doombuggies, Safari trucks, Test Track cars — some people’s bank accounts are going to take a big hit.
Not just a Disneyland Carsified monorail, but a Cars Jungle Cruise boat as well! I’m telling you, if this merchandise continues, I’m in trouble.
And I recommend giving Cars another shot. The movie has really grown on me over the years.
Shane, I agree. I went into the Disney store at the Mall of America years ago after not having been in one for years and was saddened at how different it was. You used to be able to go there and get collectibles, now it’s all cheap Princess crap and stuff for little kids. The time I was at the store Bolt was in theaters, so it was pretty much the “Bolt” store. Not much for a childless 30-something to buy.
Looks like I spoke too soon!
Al Lutz showcases these characters today and it looks like–sticker-wise anywya–there is a Disneyland version of the Carsified Monorail!
http://miceage.micechat.com/mc/mc031611b.jpg
Will wonders never cease….
Brer Dan
Gotta say I love the idea of the Carsified Monorail–and I’m not even a fan of the Cars movie (sorry, folks, that move just didn’t click with me).
Even here, though, I can lament the homogenization across parks. Disneyland will likely get the same items, even though we have a brand new Monorail style that looks completely different. I’m *still* waiting for them to release an updated Monorail toy–but I’ve stopped holding my breath.
Brer Dan
Courtney, that’s the exact sort of thing that bothers me about Disney merchandising sometimes. They make a lot of decisions based on numbers. And Tinkerbell isn’t even the worst offender. The princess stuff was just out of control, so much so they were on the verge of killing the brand with oversaturation.
FigmentJedi raises a good point, and I can only assume that it is for the same reason people need a tram when parked in the Minnie lot at Magic Kingdom. Laziness.
I used to work at the Disney Catalog in college. The folks from Corporate would fly in from Burbank periodically to do a presentation on how the business was doing. It was all charts and numbers…boring! Not a lot of Disney Magic in a flowchart. I was there when they decided to start marketing to the “tweens”, and so began the push to make Tinkerbell hip. It obviously worked!
But why would talking cars need a Parking Lot Tram if they themselves are the visitors?