Andy’s Tokyo Toys

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

Who knew? It seems as though Andy from the Pixar Toy Story franchise went away to college to become an artist:

Straight from our friends over at the Vinylmation Japan Blog (an unofficial fan site), we have revealed four Toy Story Vinylmation that will be released at Tokyo Disney Sea on July 5th at McDucks Department Store. They are to commemorate the summer opening of the Toy Story Midway Mania attraction at Tokyo Disney. They will cost 1200 Yen or $15 USD. It seems to be a four figure series that includes Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the Alien all designed from the stand point that Andy actually drew them. And as you can see above, Andy actually signs them as the artist!

To me, these are an absolutely beautifully designed series. Such a unique take that makes so much sense in the Toy Story universe.

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Ryan Marella

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

To have your custom work spotlighted, please send an email to DestinationVinylmation@gmail.com
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Destination Vinylmation: In this article, we will focus on some of your Disney character customs. The Evil Queen is amazing!!! The face is spot-on with the calm yet evil looking expression. But for me, the poison apple steaming in the cauldron is the best part. What do you like best about the front of this one?
Ryan Marella: I had to create some thing different from the ordinary vinyl that we usually see, so I began sketching out ideas and the Idea of having scenes from the movie on the front and back of a vinyl would look amazing. I watched the movie and Googled images of the Evil Queen and it turned out just the way I planned it. My favorite part about the front would have to be the face of the Evil Queen, getting that expression was a fun challenge.

DV: The back is like a whole new vinyl. It’s the Old Hag. You have a knack for painting faces, and this one seems difficult, but I also heard hands are difficult for artists to get just right. Which half of this vinyl was more difficult?
RM: The back was a little easier and I would have to say that hands are a little harder for me than faces.

DV: Lastly we come to Maleficent. You pack so much detail into your creations, how much pre-planning goes into your designs?
RM: Maleficent is one of my favorite pieces that I’ve worked on, I took my time on this one. Pre-planning for this one only took a couple of hours, but sketching on the vinyl  took some time. I do a lot more sketching on the actual vinyl than on paper, it helps to see how it looks on the canvas your working on.

I’ve seen other Maleficent customs but I never see  Diablo the raven  incorporated into the vinyl. I wanted to create a Maleficent custom that would be unique and different from other artists.

DV: I have seen a ton of Maleficent dragons now, and I love the way you painted yours onto the mold like a scene instead of trying to fill the entire canvas with the dragon. Tell us about your favorite parts of this one.
RM: My favorite part of the Maleficent custom would have to be  the Dragon on the back, I put so much time and detail, creating smoke on the background,smoke on the nose and fire in front of the dragon and just the over all look. This particular custom took me 2 days to finish. I was very pleased with what I made. With a little inspiration and some time anything is possible.

DV: To see more of Ryan’s work visit his website: www.ryactiv.sketchlab7.com

A Rival Is Born

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

The most rewarding part about recording the podcast YesterEARS is learning all the pieces of Disney history that I would never read otherwise. My co-host and lead researcher Austin uncovers many interesting Disney facts each and ever week. This week, I’d like to share one with you here on DV.

Wednesday June 20th, will mark the 76th anniversary of the first screen appearance of Mortimer Mouse. In 1936 the Walt Disney productions cartoon short “Mickey’s Rival” was released featuring Mortimer as the romantic rival for Minnie Mouse. Mortimer is the name that Walt Disney had originally suggested for Mickey Mouse. His wife Lilly didn’t like that idea and suggested Mickey instead. Mickey Mouse, not Mortimer, debuted in “Steamboat Willie” at the Colony Theatre in New York City on November 18, 1928, and was a great success. A couple years later, the name Mortimer was revived, but for a distinctly different looking character who would go onto comic strip fame. But unlike Mickey, after only one cartoon appearance in 1936, Mortimer would disappear from the screen for the next six decades.

Mickey’s Rival
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Mortimer was first created for the Mickey Mouse comic strips in 1930, not as a rival to Mickey, but as Minnie Mouse’s ranch-owning uncle. It wasn’t until the 1936 short that Mortimer Mouse was introduced as Mickey’s competition for Minnie’s affections.

Mickey Mouse Comic Strip
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Jump to 1999, where Mortimer finaly makes another on screen appearance in Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas. Here, Mortimer is the snooty and wealthy owner of the department store Mortimers. It’s a bit of a dislikable character and his his role of antagonist is re-established.

In the Mickey Mouse Works series Mortimer is once again the main antagonist along with Pete. Here, Mortimer is Mickey’s neighbor and is still competing with Mickey to win Minnie Mouse’s heart.

Mickey Mouse Works
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In the House of Mouse television series, Mortimer gets a role as a recurring character. Mortimer appears many times as a guest and tries to trick Mickey and Minnie into breaking up.

House of Mouse
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Mortimer has most recently made a cameo is in the CG animated series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He has a non-speaking role in Minnie’s Birthday seen sitting beneath a tree, playing a guitar.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
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As far as I could find, Mortimer’s only video games appearances are in the Game Cube’s Disney Sports franchise. He is a playable athlete in the Soccer, Football and Basketball games. He is also in Disney’s Golf as a secret character.

Disney Sports Football
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Disney Sports Soccer
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Disney Sports Basketball
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Mortimer has not yet made any live appearances in the Disney theme parks. However, a mural with several classic Disney characters during the Disney California Adventure expansion was seen, with Mortimer being one of the characters featured.

DCA Construction Wall
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I also found a few Mortimer pins on PinPics:

Where will Mortimer appear next? Mortimer’s first screen appearance is just one of many topics we cover in the next episode of YesterEARS, a podcast that looks at “This Week in Disney History.” You can find it at www.YesterEARS.com.

Color Blocks… or Jr Series 2 Remake?

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

Last week, the mysterious Color Block series appeared on the Disney events calendar as a June 29 release. Intrigued, we anxiously awaited our first look at this series. Would it be an artsy series like the 6 piece Black and White set? No. No it would not. Here is the first look direct from the Disney vault:

Look familiar? Ya, you probably remember these designs from Jr. Series 2.

Pretty close. And the fact is the designs work so incredibly well on the 1.5″ figures! Sure we get more detail now on the juniors, but series 2 still stands as a great looking Disney themed set. But to blow those designs up to a 3″ figure and sell them for $12.95??!! We are so used to more and more detail and ground breaking designs that this almost, especially at that price, seems insulting. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for painting on representations of a character as an artsy take on a vinyl. But these designs do not have that much to them and there is an incredible amount of wasted space. With so many brilliant designs out there like Mascots and Star Wars, I can not see spending a dime on these. Here is a look at the rest of this 8 figure set that includes Buzz, Woody, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Nemo and Cheshire Cat.

Spotlight On: Evilos’ UP and Topiary Customs

WDWNT on July 10, 2012


Recently we received an email with two special pieces Evilos has been working on. We asked him a little about each piece and this is what he said…

“I made this for the VMK custom swap. Its a 3” figure painted sky blue and with airbrushed clouds. The house and balloons is made from a block of wood painted to look like the house. (Next Limited versions LE10 will have a JR. in place of the painted wood block). The wood block example is just a one off for the swap.

All placed together in a glass dome with wooden base. This “look” will be a staple of mine over the next few years, glass domes. I have plans on doing 9″ custom dioramas in glass domes also.

I’ve made a Topiary version for Blind Bags Two LE10 and a One of a kind “Balloon Kid’ version for the epilepsy charity Art From the Heart held at the UCLA campus, that sold in a silent auction.

I found out about the “Art From The Heart” event through my artist buddy Mike Peraza (Art Director for the Little Mermaid). The event would be one night where Disney Artists would talk about Epilepsy, have a Disney panel where they would talk about the movies they worked on and donate art to raise money for Epilepsy. The roster of Disney Animators was amazing. From Mike Peraza, Rob Minkoff (Director of Lion King), Ruben Procopio (Famed Disney Sculptor) and many more. There was also a good amount of Disney artists not in attendance who donated art like Larry Nikolai (Art Director for The Little Mermaid Ride and Disney Pin Designer) and plus many more.

I asked if I could be apart of this event and represent Vinylmation. He was very excited and added me to the artist list. I quickly began work on my two customs for the silent auction. One being a Purple Candy 9″ Custom that would be signed by all the Disney panelist and a one of a kind Topiary entitled “From the Heart” where a little child holds a Red Mickey Balloon against a Purple/Green Mickey Topiary.

The event was a huge success, we raised awareness of Epilepsy. Both my Vinylmations sold at the silent auction to the biggest vinylmation collector in the world, Gabriel Luna.

The panelists talked for a couple hours about all the great times they had working on The Black Cauldron, Little Mermaid, Lion King and many more. It was very surreal to be grouped in with such Disney legends.”
-Evilos

Congrats on the great work Evilos! If you’d like to find out more about the things mentioned in this post check out the following websites.

Face Book “Art From The Heart” Page, lots of info here.
facebook.com/artfromthehART

Evilos’ Webpage
evilos.com

Evilos’ Ebay Store:
ebay.com/sch/eojcollector/m.html

DCA Grand Re-Opening Vinys Release Today!

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

What a time in Disney Parks history. New resorts opening and Fantasyland construction well underway at Walt Disney World. And Cars Land and Buena Vista Street opening at Disneyland today. As I write this post, Zoe is sitting in a sea of people outside Disney’s California Adventure waiting for the gates to open up. In fact, she has been there since something like 10pm PST last night. There are two lines, one to get into the park and one to get into the merchandise building… she is in the later. There are mostly pins inside, however there are two special 9″ Vinylmation (LE 500, $54.95):

The AP Limited Release 3″ Red Car Trolley will also go on sale:

The next group of vinyls has been in DCA stores all week, but officially release today.

Which are your favorite?

Mickey’s Circus Is Now a Must Attend Event!

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

Awesome! Look at the latest item shown at vinylmation.com. This 3″/Jr set of Jumbo and Dumbo will be your free gift if you come to the vinylmation day of Mickey’s Circus. Both pieces are by Thomas Scott. If you haven’t registered yet, this will totally make it worth it! Do so now!!

What do you think of these pieces. They are perfect to me! Simple, straightforawrd, and extremely effective!

Donald comes with a sword?

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

Our reader Luis recently wrote in and told us about an strange thing he found. He says that he opened up a sealed Animation 2 blind box that he got from his local Disney Store in Puerto Rico; and inside he found a Donald Variant, with a sword. We were able to identify the sword as from a Mother Gothel Villains 2 figure. Has anyone else found a packaging error like this? Let us know!

Villains Released… Robots Along for the Ride

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

Villains 3 was released at Disney Stores across the nation today. It is also available online. You can find the full lineup on our Villains 3 explained page. If you picked up some Villains, let us know your thoughts on this series.

There is also a great deal going on right now… buy any Vinylmation, get a Robots 2 free. This deal works both in store and online, but you may want to call your local Disney Store first. Ours here in Orlando had Villains 3 in stock, but was out of Robots.

The deal works with almost any Vinylmation purchased. Go to this link at DisneyStore.com for the complete list of eligible products. The sale lasts until July 7 or while supplies last.

Episode 077 POTC Dog

WDWNT on July 10, 2012

Ep. 077 POTC Dog

Another Park Starz variant is released, as is a new 9″ mold. Disneyland’s California Adventure opens up it’s expansion and we learn all about the Color Block series. A packed show is all topped off with Adam from Disney Brit to give his take on the Disneyland Paris inspired Park 10 set.

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