To honor the 100th anniversary of Disney as a concept, Hallmark has a series of special ornaments celebrating many of the facets of the Magic Kingdom. Not all, of course. As an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit fan, I notice he’s not there. You can’t have everything. Not even if you are a superfan in 2023.
In this special series of ornaments, characters come boxed together in sets of 4. Each has a brushed nickel finish with accents, evoking classic glass Christmas ornaments even though they’re modern licensed characters. Star Wars and Marvel come together outside of Patton Oswalt’s fevered imagination, with Chewbacca and Grogu standing side-by-side with Black Panther and Spider-Man. To paraphrase from Walt Disney himself, Disney IP will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world. Because Disney will buy it up.
Not reflecting on Shuri, it’s clear that ornament sculptors used molds from previous years, because that’s obviously T’Challa. No doubt the original ornament was a huge seller, and at least in the photographs, there’s not a lot of that brushed nickel finish on Black Panther. Not sure I can do a side by side comparison until after July 15, when this first box arrives at the summer ornament premiere event at your local Hallmark store.
It isn’t all about those massive franchises, cool as those ornaments look. Disney would not be Disney without animation, and so Hallmark honors both Pixar and traditional Disney Feature Animation from films both computer and traditionally hand-drawn.
You can’t celebrate without Mickey, though technically he’s only 95 not 100. Winnie the Pooh joins Mickey along with Simba and Stitch. At least 3 of those characters have become truly iconic. Let’s bring Simba in for being the star of one of the most popular stage musicals in the world. Then there’s a set of the Cowboy, the Fish, and the Princesses. Woody and Nemo represent Pixar, and we go back to 1937 for Snow White and then more snow with Elsa. Did they do that on purpose?
Regardless, for Disney collectors we should call these must-haves. The Mickey Mouse set will arrive on July 15, and the Pixars and the Princesses arrive on October 14. There are many other Disney ornaments offered this year as well, but these are the ones specifically earmarked as celebrating Disney’s 100th anniversary. Technically it’s 100 years since the founding of Walt’s original company Laugh-o-Gram Studios but that’s harder to fit on a snappy logo.
Admit it. You come here for the pedantry. More ornaments to be shared later…
