Spotlight On: Chris Chapman of the Disney Design Group

WDWNT on March 12, 2011


We recently sat down with Chris Chapman 
of the Disney Design Group to talk Vinylmation and more. 
You can find the complete audio interview on the upcoming 
Episode 13 of our podcast.

In his role with Disney Design Group, Chris Chapman has designed and illustrated toys, logos, print, Vinylmation, pins, clothing, packaging, candy and more.  His work can be found at Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, Disney Cruise Line, Hong Kong Disneyland and World of Disney Stores.

Chris Chapman is also the artist behind the new Disney Afternoons series of Vinylmation.

He calls this series his best work at Disney. Why? “I have such an incredible passion around Disney Afternoons. Because of that I was going to put in the extra hours and fight for it. I always like to find, I call it the Disney rarities. The things that don’t get the coverage, but people have huge passion around these guys.”

Before Disney Afternoons, Chris created a one-of-a-kind piece for Trade City in 2010.
This Steampunk inspired figure, named Dr. Frumberlockle, was auctioned off at the event
Moai was a cancelled Chris Chapman figure that never made it into a series. 
It too went up for auction at Trade City 2010
9″ Park 5 Mad Hatter, designed by Christopher Chapman

What did Chris think of Vinylmation when it was presented to him? “The skys the limit. That mickey shape is a blank canvas for us, no different than a flat canvas, but obviously the difficulty is in the three dimensional form. We had to learn what worked and what didn’t. You have submit to the form and think three dimensional.”

We also asked Chris about the balance between 
Disney’s creative and business sides.
“You have to balance that right brain creative blue sky ideation 
and the left brain analytical. Letting both of those 
work together is vital to success. 
And Walt Disney was a master at this.”
Some of the pins Chris designed for a 2009 Haunted Mansion event
“Mayor Mickey” is a work Chris created for Trade City 2010

There was much, much more from Chris. He also gave us a sneek peak at the Florida Project merchandise and what other Vinylmation he has in the works. Listen to the full interview on the upcoming Episdode 13 of out podcast.

TRON Vinylmation Release Date

WDWNT on March 12, 2011

Disney surprised us late last night at announced the release date for the TRON series we already saw available in Japan.

On March 25th the 8 figure, open window, set will arrive at D-Streets Florida and California, as well as the DisneyStore.com. No word on price.

Check out all the figures at our TRON Explained post.

I wonder if Steven will wear his disc.

End of Line

5 Dollar, 5 Dollar, 5 Dollar 3 Inch?

WDWNT on March 11, 2011

Update: 7pm Straight from the @DisneyStorePrez- Promotion this weekend only!

According to the Disney Store Facebook, starting tomorrow for every $20 worth of merchandise you buy at a Disney Store, you can get a 3″ vinylmation figure for only $5. Buy a hundred dollars worth of stuff, get 5 for only $25. However, this only works in brick and mortar stores (no DisneyStore.com). On Facebook someone asked about the fine print. Disney Store responded, “This promotion excludes Villains, Urban 6, and Cutesters Too Series”. I’m taking that to mean you can get any 3″ for $5, except those listed. It’s also interesting to note that they say “Urban 6”. So I guess that means they are getting Urban 6 sometime soon. This weekend only!

You’ve seen the hats, now see the figures.

WDWNT on March 11, 2011

Based on the reveal yesterday of two of the coolest Vinylmation Mickey Hats so far, (the first I’ve ever actually wanted to purchase) Disney revealed two of the 9″ figures for the Urban 6 set. We already had glimpses of these figures from a set of pins that was announced, but today they were confirmed. No word on the artist and LE numbers, but Disney said both figures will be released sometime in April.

Viking
Looking fierce this guy needs to work the runway. Only there would his odd horned hat and bracelets make him
Gumball Machine
We saw the 9″ Gumball Machine in the pin set, but we didn’t know it was part of a 9″/3″ combo. The 3″ kid is great, especially if you have the hat. That set of two 3″ would be a before/after shot of a poor kid who blew his bubble up too big. Also of note is the gumball slot in the feet. I was worried about how it would look on a 3D figure, and I think my concerns are valid. This 9″ doesn’t seem to live up to the concept art.
This piece will only be sold online at the DisneyStore.com

Change of Course?

WDWNT on March 9, 2011

An update to the Disney Vinylmation site has us lost. Yesterday we reported that the Park 6 series was to be released on April 1st, as seen written on the picture page for all the Park 6 figure turn arounds. Now that piece of information has been replaced with the words, “Coming Soon”. Does this mean that the date has changed? Or did Disney just not want us to know the date so early. (A whole month!) We’ll keep you appraised of the situation as it changes. 

Vinylmation Recap: March 8, 2011

WDWNT on March 9, 2011

A lot happened today on the Vinylmation front, so here is a recap.
Disney officially announced an April 1st
release date for Vinylmation Series Park 6.
We had pics of the pins representing Park 6,
but today Disney released turn around pictures
and the artist’s names.
We already knew Urban 6 would be
released on March 18th, but today
we were treated to turn around pictures
of the series. We also now know all the
artist’s names and narrowed down what
the chaser might be.

Check out Urban 6 Explained here.
It was our lucky day! Disney also released
photos of all the figures from Jr Series 3
Good Luck / Bad Luck… including the
chasers.
Disney also released some turn around
pictures of the 8 figure open window
Tron set. We know these are currently
available at Hong Kong Disneyland,
however no US release date
was announced.

Please visit Tron Explained.
More Cutesters Too variants? Maybe.
Disney’s official Vinylmation Blog linked
to a page with “original artwork” from the
Cutesters Too set. It including 2 variants we
have never seen… bringing the possible total
number of variants to 5.

Jacks Has a Variant Too? More Surprises from Cutesters

WDWNT on March 8, 2011

Update: 3/12/11 We got a response from Maria, “The yellow jacks and pink bubbles were just concepts. I had presented some variants and not all of them were chosen to go forward with. The concept art was just for fun!” So that answers our question. There are only the three variants in Cutesters Too, although I think I would have preferred the pink bubbles to the purple ones!

Cutesters Too came out back on February 4th, and we are still finding surprises. Disney posted some original artwork in the Fun section of the Vinylmation website. This artwork revealed more variants. We now know there is a variant to Jacks and a second variant to Happy Lollipops. Here is the complete list of Cutesters Too variants side by side with the normal figure from the set.

Yellow Jacks
(Variant)
Update: Nope!
Jacks
Pink Bubbles
(Variant)
Update: Nope!
Purple Bubbles
(Variant)
Yellow Bubbles
Yellow Happy Lollipops
(Variant)
Happy Lollipops
Sour Apple
(Variant Chaser)
Sweet Candy Apple
(Chaser)

Jr. Series 3 Vinylmation Explained

WDWNT on March 8, 2011

The theme to Jr. Series 3 is Good Luck / Bad Luck. The 18 figure series is designed Thomas Scott and will be released on March 11th at D-Street Orlando and CA.

First, we take a look at the GOOD LUCK figures from Jr. Series 3

 Four Leaf Clover
Fortune Cookie
Happy Emoticon
Horseshoe
Ladybug
Lucky 7
Lucky Cat
Triple Cherry

Now, we take a look at the BAD LUCK figures from Jr. Series 3

 Black Cat
Crow
Friday the 13th
Losing Spin
Sad Emoticon
Snake Eyes
Spilled Salt
Upside Down Horseshoe

MYSTERY CHASERS

 Good Luck Chaser

Click on picture to view
Chaser
Bad Luck Chaser
Click on picture to view
Chaser… if you dare!

Vinylmation 3D Pins: Big Eyes, Cutesters, Wall-E and Eve

WDWNT on March 8, 2011

The Disney Pins site has announced some new Vinylmation 3D pin sets that feature designs from previously released Vinylmation sets. All four of these pin sets will be released on April 4th at WDW and DLR. No edition sizes has been announced.

If you missed the Vinylmation set the first time around, pick up this Wall-E and Eve pin set. 
This set will retail for $19.95.
This Big Eyes set features Mickey, Mike Wazowski and Pluto.
It will retail for $25.95.
With so many condiment sets hanging around the D-Street shelves for so long, I am surprised they turned this into a pin set. This set will only have Ketchup and Mustard, so we may see two more sets in the future.
It will retail for $19.95.
These pins are from the first Cutesters series.
This set will retail for $25.95.