Mickey and Minnie Get New Halloween Costumes

WDWNT on August 18, 2008

In an official press release today:

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — When the Disney characters dress up for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party this September and October, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse will be debuting a whole new look.  Mickey has traded his scarecrow costume for stunning purple and orange eveningwear fit for a Halloween ball.  Not to be outdone, Mickey’s best girl, Minnie Mouse, exchanged her witch costume for a party dress to complement Mickey’s attire.

For Mickey, it’s a top hat and purple tails. For Minnie, it’s a party dress with a purple hat with an orange ribbon — bright and colorful, befitting the fun on 25 evenings between Sept. 5 and Oct. 31 when Magic Kingdom hosts the popular after-hours party.

Guests are invited to dress up as well for the 7 p.m.-midnight party which features two scheduled entertainment extravaganzas guests can see at no other time: the “Boo-to-You” Halloween parade and the bewitching “Happy HalloWishes” fireworks spectacular.  There’s trick-or-treating galore and also a chance to experience popular attractions throughout the evening.

Parties are slated for Sept. 5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 28, 30 and Oct. 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31.  To purchase advance tickets, guests can call 407/W-DISNEY or visit disneyworld.com/halloween.

This costume change comes as no surprise, as a number of upcoming Disney pins show off the new costumes, as well as the new pumpkin decorations that will be coming to the Magic Kingdom this year:

Halloween Special- It’s Alive Project

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Some people might not know how Vinylmation first started. Back in 2003 celebrities decorated six foot tall Mickey statues as part of the “Celebrate Mickey: 75 InspEARations” celebration. Disney had borrowed this idea from an artistic movement that had been trending across the nation (Liz Art in Orlando in 2000, Cows on Parade in Chicago in 1999, and Lions in Zurich in 1986) where cities had been asking artists to decorate copies of the same statue and place them around the city. Once then had been seen for a while they would be auctioned off. The idea of a blank Mickey canvas lead to the very first vinylmation: plain solid colored create your owns.

Yesterday, I was wondering around Orlando and saw an art installation that took a similar approach (one template, lots of artistic interpretations) and it reminded me of custom vinylmation I had seen. I asked around and here is the info I found.
This series of 80 busts of Boris Karloff are designed by 80 different artists, as a celebration of 8 decades of the Frankenstein Monster. The show will be running thru November 15th at the CityArts Factory in Downtown Orlando. All 80 busts are available for purchase with proceeds going to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. More info can be found at orlandoslice.com or by called the CityArts Factory at 407 648 7060.

Cool…

In fact so cool that I’m going to stop talking and just let you take a look.








Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Cesar

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Update: 10/30/11 Remember, Cesar’s custom Zombie Vinylmation go on sale Monday, October 31! There will be 31 different Zombies to choose from. See more info at MyCustomations.com. And check out the interview below for details.

DV: If someone is new to the site, could you review who you are and how long you’ve been making customs?
Cesar: For those of you that don’t know who I am, my name is Cesar Diaz and I’ve been creating custom Vinylmations for a good year and a half now. Recently I organized and put together The Customation Project with the help of Proxart, Toi and Romo. It was an art show displaying custom vinyl work by six talented artists.

DV: This is a special release, tell us more about the details?
Cesar: The Zombie vinyl’s will be sold on my website (mycustomations.com) on Halloween morning for $40 each plus $8 shipping. There will be a total of 31 unique, one of a kind Zombies; basically one Zombie per day for the month of October. Each Zombie will be signed and dated according to the day it was made. They will be sold at random and are limited to one Zombie per person, per household. You don’t know who you’re going to get, but your guaranteed an original design.

DV: Zombies, eh? Where did you come up with the idea for a whole set of Zombies?
Cesar: The idea for the Zombie set has been floating around in my head since last year. To be exact it was when I saw the premiere of the TV show The Walking Dead on Halloween night. At the time it was obviously too late to start any Zombie customs. Plus I was still experimenting with techniques on creating custom Vinylmations so the project was put on hold. Months later when I created the LOST set, the idea of the Zombies came back to me. Originally I was going to make 12 Zombies, but unfortunately I had to put the idea on hold again because I got so busy making 9” customs for the Customation Project. Now that the show is over I went back to the Zombie idea. I rethought how I was going to make them and the quantity. 12 Zombies is just not enough! You need an army of them! Then I came up with the idea of making 31 Zombies for 31 days of October.

DV: We know you’re not finished with all of them yet, but which ones are your favorite so far?
Cesar: I’m having so much fun making my version of Zombies. So far they’re all my favorite.

DV: Where there any challenges involved with these characters?
Cesar: I haven’t encountered any problems as of yet. From the start I knew I wanted to make the ears the night sky with the moon, clouds and the stars.

DV: What’s your favorite Zombie movie?
Cesar: George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead of course!

DV: If this is successful, will you do another set for next year’s Halloween or other holidays?
Cesar: I would love to keep doing Zombie sets. They don’t necessarily have to be for Halloween. I would love to do a Walking Dead set.

DV: Will any of the Zombies come with a brain accessory?
Cesar: Sorry Nick, no accessories this time around. Maybe next time.

DV: Thanks for your time, and once again, great figures. We hope the sale goes well!
Cesar: Thank you very much. Your readers can follow me on twitter at @mycustomations to see up to the minute info and pics of upcoming Zombies.