Spotted: Target Run & Done

After being cooped up in our house since Wednesday evening -- thanks, Hurricane Florence -- my family and I ventured out to Target this morning. (Honestly, though, where else would we go?) We didn't really need anything, but Target is such a great place to wander around and somehow end up with a cartful of random things.

Plus there's coffee. Which, after four days in the house, was definitely, actually needed. (Starbucks + Target is my second favorite pairing behind Starbucks + Disney.)

Target's also a great place to do "field research," which is a fun way of saying I get to look at the Disney-related merchandise through an academic lens.

And Target didn't disappoint. First up:

📷: Me (and yes, that's my coffee in the background)

First, I tried searching Target for "mulan doll" and the only one that came up was the Hasbro doll. (At least she's wearing the outfit from the end of the movie and not the matchmaker outfit that she's usually in.) This one is marketed as an "Action Adventure Figure" so that's a solid plus. Also a plus -- this is the closest thing to Warrior Mulan I've seen in the Mulan merchandise. Normally, for whatever reason, she's marketed in a dress and definitely conforms to feminine conventions. So, another solid plus for a Mulan figure who's wielding a sword and is portrayed as a kick-ass woman. 

But...those legs!? 

Not exactly a win in the "realistic body image" column there, Hasbro. So, Con. 

On a less relevant note, I also saw this:

📷: Me

My daughter wanted to watch Tangled this weekend -- anything that wasn't Frozen! -- and I'm just really confused about why Maximus has such a glittery mane. I'm pretty sure he's not glittery in the movie and can't we market a male horse without adding glitter? My daughter loves Maximus just fine without the glittery mane, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't need to have one marketed towards her.

And we may or may not have left the store with this shirt:

Dream big, princess.

To Buy: New Disney Shirts from TeeTurtle

A short post, to ease back into blogging. There is, apparently, some plague remnant stomach bug going around and I caught it. (Which is a big deal, because I never catch those. I always get the colds. Which, fun fact, I got too. Back to back: the virus and a cold.) Basically, this has been me for the past few days:

via GIPHY

YAY ADULTING. 

But, this email from TeeTurtle popped up this morning helped a little bit. Two new Disney couple shirts available! 

I mean, on the one hand, I definitely don't need any more Disney graphic-tees, no matter how cute and nerdy they are.

But on the other hand...it's Rapunzel and Flynn! (I'm definitely "meh" about Aladdin and Jasmine -- love the movie, love that scene, but as characters...meh.) And it's the lantern scene! Which is one of the most gorgeous pieces of animation and also "I See The Light" was the First Dance song at my wedding. 💖 

Check them out and add to your collection here -- along with a bunch of other Disney shirts I definitely covet. 

Disney Princess Toms

Today, my first pairs of Toms arrived in the mail. I know they've been popular for awhile, and people swear they're super comfy, but...I'm always a little reluctant to join the bandwagon. But these had strawberries and oranges and carrots on them -- and they just seemed so summery.

Plus, I wanted to see if their sizing was accurate (it is) since I came across this news the other day:

I blogged about them a while ago -- and the big news was that they'd be featuring rarely seen concept art from the Disney Archives. 

Now we've got some close ups of the art -- and I have to say, the Snow White ones are my favorite, which is a surprise to me.

The Cinderella ones are actually pretty cool -- I have a friend who is probably eyeing the ones with the mice, since Gus is her favorite character -- and I really like the concept art of Cinderella's mom's dress that the mice fix for her. There's also a nice simplicity to the Glass Slipper ones, but I'm not sure they'll warrant the (inflated) price tag.

The Sleeping Beauty ones were the ones I was actually most excited for. Not because of Aurora (because let's face it -- the movie's named after her, but she's not the protagonist) but because of the Good Fairies, particularly Merrywether, who's always been a favorite of mine. But...meh.

On the plus side, at least Aurora's wearing the blue dress. The prevalence of her in the pink dress in the merchandise seriously annoys me. (I get that when Disney made Cinderella's dress blue instead of silver, they decided they couldn't have two princesses in blue dresses, but still.)

But the Snow White ones? I really like them! 

Maybe because she's the OG princess, or maybe because they're blue, but these are my favorite. Aaaand I'll probably be ordering a pair when they start selling them. 

And a Little Mermaid pair? I'll take those next please, Disney. 

I Cannot Even With This Mulan Mess RN

A few weeks ago, I went to the outlet malls with my mom. [This was before Toys R Us announced they were closing all of their stores. Legit closing -- not like those "Going Out FOR Business" sales you see at all those stores in the beach.] We popped into the Toys R Us outlet to look for Easter basket gifts and, of course, we ended up in the Disney section. 

Where I stumbled upon this:

Like...I don't even know what to do with this.

1. How old are they supposed to be? I get the Animator Dolls series -- especially when there's an actual younger version of the character in the film. But these? They look younger -- not like their counterparts in the film -- but at the same time, they still look adult? It's weird.
2. They don't even look like themselves -- Mulan looks like a weird version of that Dolls of the World Thai Barbie doll. And IDK what's going on with Shang. 
3. Don't even get me started on that slogan: "Princess Mulan brings great honor to her family." PRINCESS Mulan? I know she's part of the Disney Princess brand/franchise, but I've never heard her referred to as Princess Mulan. And where did her crown come from?!?
   And how exactly is she bringing great honor to her family? Not as a warrior, in that outfit. That pink thing, coupled with the fact that she's paired with Shang, would seem to imply that, after everything that happens in the movie, the way she brings honor to her family is through her marriage. 

You know I normally support/defend you Disney, but your merchandising people missed the mark on this one. 

Disney + Toms: Break Glass Ceilings, Not Glass Slippers

Confession: I'm not a "shoe girl."

As a swimmer, I basically spent my entire adolescence barefoot, and I was the girl who wore flip-flops unless there was snow on the ground. I've worn the same pairs of work shoes/heels for years because they're comfy and I dread the thought of breaking in a new pair of shoes and/or finding a new pair that fits. (Shout out to Man Mur Shoe Shop for saving my shoes and giving them new heels and soles.)

So I've never owned or even tried on a pair of Toms, even though I have several friends who swear by them.

Welp. That might change. Good little Disney consumer that I am, nothing tempts me to buy a new product more than a collaboration with Disney.

Apparently, the collection will feature the OG princesses -- Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora -- and will feature "rarely seen original artwork from the Disney archives." 

WHAT?!? I am all in. If the artwork above is any indication, these will be beautiful. And while the OG Princesses aren't my favorite, I'm more on board with Cinderella these days and the three fairies (especially Merrywether) have always been my favorites. 

*sigh*

Take all my moneys, Disney. 

Disney Buys 21st Century Fox -- What Does It Mean?

Honestly, I don't know.

I was an English/Bio double major in college so business deals and economics lie far outside my wheelhouse. (I'd probably recommend the New York Times article on it, or even this piece from CNN Money if you want more business-y specifics.)

What I'm concerned with is what this means for Disney's brand.

After all, Disney has built an empire on being a wholesome, family-friendly, "safe" brand -- which critics take particular issue with, given the company's capitalist and consumer-driven corporate ethos. 

Me? I tend to view the creative team and the businessmen as largely separate. That is, I think (or, I'd like to think) that the people directly involved with the story are concerned with just that: concerned with the story. I don't think Jennifer Lee sits down with her creative team and says, "Hmm. We've got this movie about two sisters -- how can we add something that Corporate can market and merchandize the hell out of?" 

Maybe that's naive. I don't know. After all, the Porgs from The Last Jedi seem like someone high up at LucasFilm said, "Make something cute like an Ewok that we can market and merchandize the hell out of." And they did. (Although--when Frozen did come out, there was that whole lack-of-merchandise thing so...maybe not?) 

But I digress. 

My point is: Disney is essentially synonymous with family-friendly and there's a lot about 21st Century Fox that...well...isn't "very Disney," as we say in my house. 

Fox is no stranger to either animation or superheroes, after all: on the TV side, they've got staples like The Simpsons and Family Guy, which, while they may offer on-point social commentary, their humor is a little "adult" for Disney's brand. On the film side, they've got some of the other Marvel properties like X-men and Deadpool -- the latter of which is definitely off-brand. But if the logic behind Disney's acquisition of Marvel (and, I think, of LucasFilm) was to expand their consumer base by acquiring things that appealed to boys (they needed something to compete with the Princess franchise) well...acquiring some off-brand media could potentially expand that consumer base. 

I get why people are worried that being underneath the Disney umbrella will mean significant changes to, or even the end of, off-brand media, but...I just can't see that happening. After all, Touchstone released Pretty Woman under the Disney umbrella, and that worked out pretty well. The Disney logo didn't pop up on the screen before the film, so it's not like Disney was directly associated with it -- they just reaped the profits.

And, that, I think, is the bigger concern. As Alex McLevy points out in this article at The A.V. Club:

"In the long run, all this merger does is contribute to an increasingly homogenized and calcified corporate dominance of the entertainment industry, with fewer and fewer media companies able to challenge the major studios. And in particular, it will make Disney arguably the most powerful studio that has ever existed. The company will exert even more outsized control than it currently does, muscling in on any turf where it can wrench an extra dollar away from someone who deserves it more."

Yikes. This is where I wish I had a little business/econ knowledge to fully understand the ramifications of this. I mean, I get the basic gist of this, as someone who studies and consumes media, but not the full implications. (Any Duke Econ professors out there want to team up and create a FOCUS cluster???)

But just check out this info-graphic, using information from 2011:

This tidbit is also troubling to me as well:

"Also, it will strip the Fox broadcast network from the studio that produces most of its properties[...]that could mean the death knell for Fox television as we know it. Deadline notes Disney would likely keep brand-affiliated shows like The Gifted and beloved institutions like Simpsonsand Family Guy, but beyond that, “observers do not see Fox continuing as a network focused on scripted programming.” Without control of the studio that provides most of its content, the assumption is that Fox will instead focus more on “sports programming, news magazines, and possibly reality shows” to fill its primetime lineup."

As someone who watches an embarrassing amount of television (my DVR is pretty  much always 90% full -- although I do have a lot of Sesame Street saved these days), that hurts my heart. FOX and ABC are probably my two favorite major networks -- mainly because FOX usually picks up the shows that are more fun and different that other networks steer clear of. (Don't get me started on CBS -- while they have The Big Bang Theory, which I will forever love, their line-up is pretty much shows about white dudes. Hi, it's 2017.) Some of my favorite shows are on FOX: Lucifer, Empire, Brooklyn Nine-Nine...and they picked up Glee and Scream Queens. The idea that "scripted programming" could be sacrificed for more sports (you already have ESPN, Disney!!!) and -- *shudder* -- reality shows, makes me want to cry.

I guess we'll have to wait and see...?

Happy Birthday To Me

I don't usually go in for designer things -- I don't own, or feel the need to buy, an Hermes scarf, Louis Vuitton luggage, Tory Burch flats, a Chanel LBD, or a Coach bag -- but there are exceptions.

1. My wedding shoes are Kate Spade -- not the Jimmy Choos my Younger Self vowed to buy. Hey. That was like peak Sex and the City time. 
2. My glasses are Burberry -- and I buy their perfume. One day, I will own a Burberry trench, but that's in the distant future.
3. I'm a sucker for the Disney Dooney & Burke bags. Now, I'm super picky about the prints and the look -- a lot of the bags are bright and colorful and scream "Disney" in a way that I just can't get behind. But when the design is subtle or muted? I want to buy all. the. things. 

Well, maybe just one thing. 😊

Peter Pan Dooney & Burke released *on* my birthday. #happybirthdaytome #treatyoself #disneydooney #buyallthethings pic.twitter.com/wBLQB7yhZv

— Lisa Andres (@TheDisneyProf) November 17, 2017

I ❤️ Tee Turtle

Confession: I have a t-shirt obsession. I think it started back in my swimming days when we'd get shirts from the different meets we went to, but all the free-shirts-as-bribes in college definitely didn't help. And now, today, it continues in the form of geeky/nerdy shirts that I wear whenever we go to Disney and to class sometimes.

One of my favorite sites is Tee Turtle, and they've had a little bit of a Disney drought lately. But maybe they renewed their Disney license recently or something because they've had a spate of new Disney shirts lately. These two popped up in my Inbox this morning:



Y'all know how I feel about The Little Mermaid *and* "Poor Unfortunate Souls" so....yeah. Currently coveting both of these shirts.

New Disney YAH Starbucks Mugs

DAMMIT DISNEY. JUST TAKE ALL MY MONEY ALREADY.

Okay. If you know me at all, you know that two of my favoritest things in the world are Starbucks & Disney. (Coincidence that both Magic Kingdom and Starbucks opened in 1971?! Yeah, probably. But still. These are two companies that would basically become the pinnacle of customer service and I like to think that that's kismet.)

Anyway. We all know my heart exploded the day Disney & Starbucks announced their partnership -- for the obvious reason ("these are a few of my favorite things") but also because there would finally be good coffee in the Disney parks.

And, like the good little Disney consumer that I am, the Disney YAH Starbucks mugs are the perfect souvenir, and we proudly own all of them. (Except the discontinued EPCOT mug. That was, perhaps, a bit of an overreaction -- it was just a mug -- but it's become a hot collector's item, so yay consumerism.)


I mean, yes. I freely admit that I'm a sucker for Disney merchandise -- and, now that I'm #adulting, I lost most of my self-consciousness about it. If I want to wear a Magic Kingdom 40th Anniversary track jacket out to Target, I'll do it thankyouverymuch.

But, some context: before I ever met my husband, I collected Starbucks mugs. They made a nice souvenir, and a practical one at that. Then, after my husband and I had our first date in a Starbucks, bonding over our mutual love of hand-crafted espresso beverages, expanding that collection became a nice way to remember our adventures. (Most of our mugs come from places we've been; but one of my best friends, who travels far more extensively than I will ever get the chance to do, has brought us back some amazing ones.)

I freely admit I'm not the biggest fan of the You Are Here mugs; I much prefer the older style. But I don't mind them for Disney mugs. Their bright colors and cartoonish look "fit" the Disney aesthetic much more than they do the mugs of big, urban metropolises.

Of course, now that Disney has released a new set of YAH mugs for each of the parks, I have to find a way to somehow get my hands on them. *sigh* Why are they so pretty?!

📷: Starbucks-Mugs