Disney Advent Calendar - Day 1
Posted by MeganL,
December 1! That means just one thing - it's advent calendar season! With LEGO expanding the number of offerings in this space, it also means that Huw has promoted me to one of the licenced calendars!
As a result, I'll be taking a look at the Disney Advent Calendar. It's the first year for this calendar, so it will be interesting to see if it's worth the $45 price tag.
The front of the box shows a village square featuring a large Christmas tree in the centre. The insets show that five Disney princesses will be featured.
The back of the box shows a rendering of what the box looks like when it's open.
Sure enough, bringing the flap down shows it's exactly what's on the back of the box. As indicated on the box, the flap can also double as a board game for the princesses to make their way to the Disney Castle.
And without further ado, let's take a look behind door number 1.
We start things off quite nicely with microdoll of Moana, and a Christmas present! Moana's dress has some lovely printed details. Her red sash, while part of her regular dress, also brings a bit of a festive feel.
This is a good start with a nice microdoll and something relating to the season.
63 likes
29 comments on this article
and here we go ...
Mirabel is not a princess.
Let's say 5 Disney characters.
@Yooha said:
"Mirabel is not a princess. "
Technically, neither is Moana. She's the chiefs daughter, but he isn't king of all the Maori. Nore is Elsa, as she's Queen in her own right.
I like that we started with Moana, given that some parts of the south Pacific start every day before the rest of the world. I felt like it was wonderfully thematic, for the first day of the Disney calendar.
^ Mirabel might not technically be a Disney princess, but it's going to get awfully-wordy if we have to keep clarifying every day.
Called Vaiana over here for cursed reasons.
Edited this from 'Vianna'. I didn't know how it was spelled lol
Thank you for showing the actual spelling in the comment below, Brickes_ficko!
@GrizBe said: "Technically, neither is Moana. She's the chiefs daughter, but he isn't king of all the Maori."
I tend to side with Maui on this one. She's the chief's daughter. Even if she isn't technically a princess, she fulfills the overwhelming majority of the necessary job requirements to count alongside all the others.
A good start, though at first I thought it was a pineapple.
@Binnekamp said:
"Called Vianna over here for cursed reasons."
She is Vaiana here.
Congrats on the promotion :) And thanks for writing all of these, following along is always a highlight of my December
Looking forward to following this one, looks like a lot of fun elements but couldn't justify this and the HP calendar ??
What about Tiana? If I'm not mistaken, she's not a princess, but a working class girl. Out of five only Ariel counts (my god, they put the mermaid form of her — poor Ariel, it must be really... uncomfortable in the winter). There was a real shortage of princesses in the past 20 years.
@mafon2 said:
"What about Tiana? If I'm not mistaken, she's not a princess, but a working class girl. Out of five only Ariel counts (my god, they put the mermaid form of her — poor Ariel, it must be really... uncomfortable in the winter). There was a real shortage of princesses in the past 20 years."
I mean, sort of spoiler for Princess and the Frog but it’s kind of a plot point that by marrying Naveem she becomes a princess, and thus her kiss becomes eligible to break the curse on both of them
@Zordboy said:
" @GrizBe said: "Technically, neither is Moana. She's the chiefs daughter, but he isn't king of all the Maori."
I tend to side with Maui on this one. She's the chief's daughter. Even if she isn't technically a princess, she fulfills the overwhelming majority of the necessary job requirements to count alongside all the others. "
I, too, side with Maui. "If you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, you're a princess."
Picked up this one for $20 last week on Amazon - kind of shocking it's that discounted before December, but I suspect I would have been disappointed at full price. At $20 I expect my girls to love it!
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Zordboy said:
" @GrizBe said: "Technically, neither is Moana. She's the chiefs daughter, but he isn't king of all the Maori."
I tend to side with Maui on this one. She's the chief's daughter. Even if she isn't technically a princess, she fulfills the overwhelming majority of the necessary job requirements to count alongside all the others. "
I, too, side with Maui. "If you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, you're a princess.""
Doesn't that include any witch with a familiar though, like the evil queen in Snow White with the raven?
Moana 2
@Brickalili said:
" @mafon2 said:
"What about Tiana? If I'm not mistaken, she's not a princess, but a working class girl. Out of five only Ariel counts (my god, they put the mermaid form of her — poor Ariel, it must be really... uncomfortable in the winter). There was a real shortage of princesses in the past 20 years."
I mean, sort of spoiler for Princess and the Frog but it’s kind of a plot point that by marrying Naveem she becomes a princess, and thus her kiss becomes eligible to break the curse on both of them "
Oh, I forgot about this (I have no recollection of the ending, for some reason — thought, there were some technicalities involved). She's acquitted. Case dismissed.
@vizzitor said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @Zordboy said:
" @GrizBe said: "Technically, neither is Moana. She's the chiefs daughter, but he isn't king of all the Maori."
I tend to side with Maui on this one. She's the chief's daughter. Even if she isn't technically a princess, she fulfills the overwhelming majority of the necessary job requirements to count alongside all the others. "
I, too, side with Maui. "If you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, you're a princess.""
Doesn't that include any witch with a familiar though, like the evil queen in Snow White with the raven?"
Who's to say that a witch can't be a princess?
@GrizBe said:
" @Yooha said:
"Mirabel is not a princess. "
Technically, neither is Moana. She's the chiefs daughter, but he isn't king of all the Maori. Nore is Elsa, as she's Queen in her own right. "
Moana is officially part of the Disney Princess franchise. Mirabel is not. Tiana is also officially part of the Disney Princess franchise.
@Ridgeheart:
There are times when Bucky looks like he hasn't shampooed his hair in a month. Denied!
Given the languages used in the film, Chief Tui isn't a Maori.
Polynesian, certainly. Tokelauan, probably.
It's not wise to confuse the various peoples....
@Yooha said:
"Mirabel is not a princess.
Let's say 5 Disney characters. "
Nor is a pineapple.
@Toc13 said:
"Given the languages used in the film, Chief Tui isn't a Maori.
Polynesian, certainly. Tokelauan, probably.
It's not wise to confuse the various peoples...."
Disney have actually said that Moana is a fictionalised mix of all Polynesian cultures, with influences from Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga and Tahiti, but they said it was influenced primely by Maori culture. Maui is literally a huge part of Maori culture, and Disney went out of their way to make a Maori language version of the movie.
@PurpleDave: I know officially Moana is a Disney Princess, just pointing out the technicality of things since Disney have said that to be a princess, the character must be 'married to a prince, or descended from a monarch'.
Esmerelda from Hunchback of Notre Dame and Tinker Bell of Peter Pan were both considered and marketed as official Princesses at one point, but have since been dropped. Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon is also not actually a princess, but marketed as the 13th official one currently... though rumour is due to poor performance she'll be dropped.
@GrizBe:
I know Pocahontas and Moana (and possibly Jasmine, depending on terminology?) got the "princess-equivalent" clause applied to them. I don't think we ever heard why Esmerelda was dropped (I can think of several possible reasons). Tinkerbell was definitely dropped so she could be spun off to headline Disney Fairies. But that still also leaves Mulan. Not a princess in any form, but still on the list. I couldn't remember Raya's specific situation. I only watched it on a flight a year ago, and thought it was a decent enough film, but kinda forgot a lot of the plot since then.
@PurpleDave : I only know myself from having grandkids of the Disney film going age, but Raya was pretty much same deal as Moana in being Daughter of a Tribal Chief. Don't remember much as it wasn't very good and it was a box office bomb.
Think Jasmine is safe as she's daughter of the Sultan, which is a main monarch, but its weird how others are added or excluded. Both Anna and Elsa aren't properly counted as Princesses, despite literally being so. But Pocahontas is for the 'Princess equivalent' clause... yet, that same clause isn't applied to the like of Asha from Wish or Encanto's Mirabel. Vanellope from Wreck it Ralphis also an actual princess but not counted as one.
Interestingly, apparently Jane from Tarzan was never even considered as a official princess. Nore was Kida from Atlantis, despite again being a literal princess.
That present is lame. Yet, at least she comes with something. Inauspicious start.
@GrizBe said:
" @PurpleDave : I only know myself from having grandkids of the Disney film going age, but Raya was pretty much same deal as Moana in being Daughter of a Tribal Chief. Don't remember much as it wasn't very good and it was a box office bomb.
Think Jasmine is safe as she's daughter of the Sultan, which is a main monarch, but its weird how others are added or excluded. Both Anna and Elsa aren't properly counted as Princesses, despite literally being so. But Pocahontas is for the 'Princess equivalent' clause... yet, that same clause isn't applied to the like of Asha from Wish or Encanto's Mirabel. Vanellope from Wreck it Ralphis also an actual princess but not counted as one.
Interestingly, apparently Jane from Tarzan was never even considered as a official princess. Nore was Kida from Atlantis, despite again being a literal princess. "
Elsa was crowned queen in the first one, and besides,Frozen is sort of its own thing, separate from the Disney Princess franchise, due to popularity. Vanellope decides that she doesn't want anything to do with all that frilly princess crap and declares herself President. I don't remember or don't know enough about your other examples.
@GrizBe:
Oh, yeah, Jasmine's father is definitely the equivalent of a king, which means she's the equivalent of a princess (and I think Aladdin even asks to be a prince), but I don't know if they ever referred to her by that specific word.
From the current roster, Snow White, Aurora, Ariel, Rapunzel, and Merida were all born to the princess title. Cinderella, Belle, and Tiana all got there by marrying royalty. Pocahontas, Moana, and Raya were princess-equivalent. The question is whether Jasmine is a born princess or a princess-equivalent. And again, Mulan is just the daughter of a wealthy family.
Elsa and Anna aren't included because Frozen is too successful in its own right to be diluted into the Disney Princess brand. Vanelope isn't included because she's not the main character of the movie she's introduced in (for the same reason, Leia will never be inducted). Mirabel isn't even a princess-equivalent, since her family doesn't seem to have any official rank. Kida was probably left out because Atlantis probably lost money at the box office, and any profits would have only come from home video. Jane...I'm not sure about. I mean, Tarzan was originally written as the son of a Viscount, which later retellings have often changed to an Earl. Marrying him would make Jane a Viscountess or a Countess, but not a Princess.
@TheOtherMike:
But Elsa _was_ a princess at the start of Frozen, and Anna was one until the end of Frozen 2. Both legitimately qualified, if they weren't so popular that inducting them would reduce Disney's profits.
@Prof_Whymzi_Jr:
I can't think of it offhand, but I know I've read at least one story where the princess is also a witch. I mean, technically The Wheel of Time leans into that because Elayne Trakand is a princess who is sent to train as an Aes Sedai.
@Prof_Whymzi_Jr said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @vizzitor said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @Zordboy said:
" @GrizBe said: "Technically, neither is Moana. She's the chiefs daughter, but he isn't king of all the Maori."
I tend to side with Maui on this one. She's the chief's daughter. Even if she isn't technically a princess, she fulfills the overwhelming majority of the necessary job requirements to count alongside all the others. "
I, too, side with Maui. "If you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, you're a princess.""
Doesn't that include any witch with a familiar though, like the evil queen in Snow White with the raven?"
Who's to say that a witch can't be a princess?"
I for one would watch the crap out of that movie!"
As would I, whether the witch was good, evil, or somewhere in-between.
@Ridgeheart:
Or you could go by the official roster, if that’s not too much trouble:
https://princess.disney.com
@Ridgeheart said:
"Or we could focus on the "of royal lineage"-qualifier, which means that quite possibly all of Eurasia qualifies, having descended from Charlemagne and/or Genghis Khan. Does... does that make me a Disney Princess? I, oh my stars. This is so sudden. I feel like... buuuuursting into sooooong! Quick, find me a stoat or a badger so I can sing at it."
Sorry, we can only manage a brown rat at short notice... and unfortunately, no, it doesn't know how to cook.