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1990's |
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Disney Princesses
by Disney, licensed to Mattel |
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Now Playing:
"A Whole New World"
from the Disney film "Aladdin" |
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Return to
"Who's That Doll?"
Home Page |
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Walt Disney was arguably one of the most well-known and forward-thinking entertainers the world has ever seen. As the creator of the Silly Symphonies and Mickey Mouse, he established himself in the late 1920's as a writer, director, producer and voice actor (the voice of Mickey Mouse until 1946), and gave us the vision of an amusement park that was larger-than-life where families could spend time together and enjoy having fun again. That vision was Disneyland, which opened in Anaheim, California in 1955. As the land around the park became more and more congested with suburbs, Disney set his eyes on Florida, and imagined an even bigger and better playground. Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida in 1971 and has been growing and evolving ever since.
No stranger to the value of merchandising, Walt Disney, and the company that bears his name, knew early on that name recognition sells products. And when you have something that people want, you can sell just about anything. Mickey Mouse merchandise popped up everywhere and still is desired by collectors today.
Beginning in the early to mid-1990's, Disney gave license to Mattel to produce a line of fashion dolls based on the Disney Princesses from their movies. Although Snow White was the first "Disney Princess" with the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, oddly enough it was Ariel from 1989's The Little Mermaid that caught the imaginations of little girls everywhere. The first Little Mermaid dolls were just under 11 inches in height, slightly shorter than Barbie, and while an entire line of Ariel and her sisters was planned, the only ones I ever saw were Ariel herself and her sister Arista.
As each new Disney movie was released, the Princess (if she was humanoid) was made into a sellable product in the form of a fashion doll. The 6-1/2" miniature dolls didn't show up until about 1994, with the release of both the Musical Princesses and Perfume Princesses. The Musical Princesses were packaged with chunky musical doll stands that played a song from the Princess's movie. The Perfume Princesses were sold with a small bottle of perfume which could either be worn by the little girl, or poured into a hole on the doll's back, enveloping her in flowery fragrance.
These dolls were followed by Bubble Princess dolls, Musical Classics dolls, Dancing Princess dolls, and so forth. The latest of these promotional dolls that I have seen are the Disney Princess On Ice dolls, which have skates forming their feet. |
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Disney Princess dolls have an unusual body style that was also used by Mattel for their Princess Tenko and Family Corners dolls.
Made of rigid plastic, for the most part, the body is a one-piece construction with no twist-n-turn waist. The arms are jointed at the shoulders, but do not pivot out from the body. The legs are solid and do not bend at the knee.
Most of the dolls have shoes forming their feet. In some, the foot is flesh-colored and there is a solid wedge under the heel. In others an actual simple pump-style shoe is formed and painted to match the Princess' dress.
The dolls all have rooted hair, and this can be coarse or silky or as soft as mohair. Facial features are painted on, and they do not have rooted eyelashes. The head sits on a round neck knob, allowing it to be tilted to any angle.
In the last example at left is an unusual Tinker Bell doll that was given to me by a friend. You can see that Tink's body more closely resembles the vintage Topper Dawn dolls, though she does have underwear painted on, like the Britney Spears doll. Her neck has a standard post for the head, and does not tilt. |
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MUSICAL PRINCESS DOLLS |
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As mentioned above, each of the Musical Princess (or Prince) dolls had a stand which would play a song from the movie. Initially only five dolls (the Princesses) were released in this collection, but the Princes were produced soon after. |
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Musical Princess Aladdin and Jasmine |
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Musical Princess Belle and Beast |
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His stand plays
"Prince Ali". |
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Her stand plays
"A Whole New World". |
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His stand plays
"There's Something There That Wasn't There Before". |
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Her stand plays
"Tale As Old As Time". |
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Musical Princess Cinderella and Prince Charming |
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Musical Princesses Sleeping Beauty and Snow White |
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His stand plays
"A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes". |
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Her stand plays
"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo". |
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Her stand plays
"Someday My Prince Will Come". |
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Her stand plays
"Once Upon A Dream". |
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Considering the non-replaceable batteries were put in during the mid-1990's, it's doubtful you'll find any of these that still plays a recognizable tune, if they play at all. |
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Special 5-Doll Gift Set
(not mine) |
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PERFUME PRINCESSES |
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The Perfume Princess dolls have a unique hole in their backs which allowed for the perfume to be poured into it. As a child, I would have thought this was a very cool idea. As an adult and a parent, however, I can't imagine what they were thinking! Stale perfume begins to smell pretty rancid over time, and if any is left in the hole, it gets sticky, crusty and downright nasty. Especially the cheap, water-based perfumes used in little girls' toy make-up sets. Having said that, the Perfume Princess dolls are still very beautiful, and came in variations of the gowns in which they were released as Musical Princesses. There were no Perfume Princes, not surprisingly, but Cinderella's Fairy Godmother was added. Though I wouldn't exactly have called her a "Princess".
Five dolls were originally produced in this Collection, with the Fairy Godmother added soon after. |
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Below you can clearly see the hole in the back of the Perfume Princess doll. If you come into possession of a bunch of miniature Disney Princess dolls and you're wondering what the heck this was for, now you know.
If the doll doesn't have a hole in her back, she's one of the other Collection dolls. |
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Perfume Princess Belle
(Her scent is Rose) |
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Perfume Princess Cinderella
(Her scent is Gardenia) |
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Sometimes the only way to tell which doll came from which collection is to look at her hair style (if that's not too messed-up), or see what accessories may still be attached to her. The color of ribbon in her hair, the gems or crowns she might be wearing, even the color of her feet, and whether they've been shaped into high heels, can tell you who they are.
Headmolds don't seem to vary much from doll to doll, with the exception of Jasmine (and of course, the Fairy Godmother). The color of hair and eyes, and whether the mouth is open or closed, are sometimes all you'll have to go on. |
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Perfume Princess Fairy Godmother
(Her scent is Violet) |
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Perfume Princess Jasmine
(Her scent is, what else? Jasmine!) |
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Perfume Princess 5-Doll Gift Set
(not mine) |
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Perfume Princess Sleeping Beauty
(not mine)
(Her scent is Lily) |
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Perfume Princess Snow White
(In the collection of Darleen)
(Her scent is Honeysuckle) |
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DANCING PRINCESSES |
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The Dancing Princesses were released two years after the Musical Princesses and Perfume Princesses, in 1996. The gimmick with these dolls was their doll stand, which played music and had a caster underneath attached to the foot stand on top. As the stand was rolled around, the doll would spin and turn. Only six dolls were released in this Collection: Belle, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella and Pocahontas. Some dolls were issued in deep pink boxes, but I have also seen lighter pink boxes, and have been unable to determine the difference between the two, since I haven't been able to acquire one of the lighter-pink-box dolls. In addition, Disney/Mattel also released a few sets of "Couples" Dancing Princesses, with two dolls packaged together, Prince and Princess. |
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Dancing Princess Pocahontas with close-up at right
(not mine)
(Her stand plays "Colors of the Wind") |
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Dancing Princess Belle in two different packages.
(not mine)
(Her stand plays "Tale As Old As Time") |
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Dancing Princess Cinderella in two different packages.
(not mine)
(Her stand plays "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes") |
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Dancing Princess Sleeping Beauty
(not mine)
(Her stand plays "Once Upon A Dream") |
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Dancing Princess Jasmine in two different packages.
(not mine)
(Her stand plays "A Whole New World") |
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Dancing Princess Ariel and Eric
(not mine)
(Their stand plays "Part of Your World") |
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Dancing Princess Sleeping Beauty and Phillip
(not mine)
(Their stand plays "Once Upon A Dream") |
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Dancing Princess Belle and Beast
(not mine)
(Their stand plays "Tale As Old As Time") |
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This 3-Doll set of Dancing Princesses was a Wal-Mart exclusive. |
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BUBBLE PRINCESSES |
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I have to say I don't know a lot about these dolls. I haven't been fortunate enough to have one drop into my hands. I believe the attraction here is a bottle of bubble soap included with the doll, but beyond that and the variation in the gown, I can't see that they're that much different from the other Princess Collection dolls. |
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Bubble Princess Belle
(not mine) |
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Bubble Princess Cinderella
(not mine) |
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Bubble Princess Snow White
(not mine) |
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MUSICAL CLASSICS DOLLS |
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There are only three Disney Musical Classics dolls ever produced, that I have been able to determine. While not exactly "Princess" dolls (Mary would sniff at the very idea!) these miniature dolls were released in 1994 at the same time as the other "Princess Collection" dolls, with the exception of the "Dancing Princess" line. Just like the "Musical" and "Dancing" line, the "Musical Classics" dolls came with a stand that played a song from the movie. |
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Musical Classics Ariel
(not mine)
(Her stand plays "Part of Your World") |
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Musical Classics Mary Poppins
(not mine)
(Her stand plays "A Spoonful of Sugar") |
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Musical Classics Tinker Bell
(Her stand plays "You Can Fly") |
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The dolls shown above have all been available through the usual commercial veins, in toy stores from Kay-Bee to Toys 'R Us to the Disney Store itself. There are a few dolls, however who were only sold through exclusive venues. When Disney released Beauty and the Beast in 1991, the movie-rental franchise BlockBuster gained permission to sell a limited edition Belle, with the BlockBuster name emblazoned on the packaging.
I was fortunate enough to acquire not one, but two of the BlockBuster Belle dolls. One was only on her backer card, allowing me to free her completely for display. |
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OTHER EXCLUSIVE DOLLS |
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In just this past year or so, Disney has been promoting direct-to-DVD movies featuring Tinker Bell and her friends who live in the Fairy Grotto in Neverland. This set of dolls was available in the Disney Stores, but I never was able to find one.
This belongs to a friend of mine. Lucky girl! |
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DISNEYLAND PARK SERIES |
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In addition to dolls available through the regular routes, Disney also produced dolls only available in the stores within the theme parks. These two sets of Disney Princesses (four to a set) have different face molds than the ones used by Mattel, above. I can find no date on set #2, below, which is mine, so I can only assume there's nothing on set #1 to indicate when they were made.
Set #1 includes Snow White, Belle, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Set #2 includes Jasmine, Ariel, Mulan and Pocahontas. I took the four dolls from set #2 out of the outer packaging, but left them attached to their backers, so you can get a better look at them. |
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Disney Theme Park Princess Set #2 |
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Disney Theme Park Princess Set #1 |
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Disney Theme Park Jasmine |
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Disney Theme Park Ariel |
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Disney Theme Park Pocahontas |
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Disney Theme Park Mulan |
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DISNEY PRINCESSES ON ICE |
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This is another series I know little about, beyond finding an advertisement for the dolls online. And I only found that after a good friend gave me two of the dolls. These dolls are probably linked to the "Ice Capades"-type shows that travel around the country, with the story being told through professional ice skaters. I'm uncertain whether the dolls shown here, from the ads, are 6-1/2" or if they are taller. |
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The advertisement above shows Ariel, Belle and Cinderella, and the pictures at left and above left show Ariel, Prince Charming and Cinderella.
The two dolls I received are Belle and the Beast, though no mention of the Beast was made in the information I found online. |
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These two dolls are definitely 6-1/2" to 7" tall. These are in my collection.
Obviously, Belle has lost her original skater's outfit, but the little peach-colored crocheted number will do as a substitute.
The Prince has his Beast mask, which fits over his head.
The skates are formed to be the dolls' feet and do not come off. Pity. |
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This is an usual little doll that I just saw online recently. I don't know how many may be in this series, but unfortunately, I was not able to win her. However, a good friend, Peggy Coleman, sent me Snow White from the same series. The packaging tells me these dolls were made in 1997. |
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These next three holiday dolls were sold through Avon in 1997. They come in Christmas stockings, as you can see. Cinderella is still stitched to her card, and I'm unwilling at this point to de-bag her, but she is wearing her iconic blue and white gown inside the stocking. She was a gift from Peggy Coleman, who shared photos of two other stocking dolls from her collection. |
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In the private collection of Peggy Coleman. |
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NEW SERIES |
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As of 2011, there are a few more Disney dolls available online at www.disneystore.com.
The set at left is called the "Enchanted Mini Princess Collection", and it is one of three currently offered at Disney's online store. Better pictures, borrowed from their website, are shown below.
If you want these, grab them quick! I don't imagine they'll last long. |
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The set at left contains Ariel and her sisters Alana, Adella and Arista. This one is mine. |
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Set #2, containing Mulan, Belle, Aurora and Tiana (from "The Princess and the Frog"). |
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Set #1, containing Snow White, Cinderella, Jasmine and Rapunzel. |
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Set #3 - just a little clearer than mine. |
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This set is the Pixie Hollow Fairies set, also available at Disney's online store. The dolls are a little shorter, standing only 5-1/2" tall, but I would still consider them miniature fashion dolls, even with the wings.
This is a 7-doll set containing (left to right) Fawn, Vidia, Iridessa, Tinkerbell, Silvermist, Rosetta and Terrence. |
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EYE-CANDY |
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If you've stayed with me this long, congratulations! There were a lot of pictures to post here. From here on down I'd like to show a few of the dolls in my personal collection, and you can see some of the outfits a little better, and see the variations in some of them from Collection to Collection.
First, though, I'd like to share a picture of the Tinker Bell I posted nekkid above (to show the body style). I have no idea which collection this doll belongs to, and it's quite possible I just don't have any pictures of an entire series of Princess dolls. Tink came to me without any clothing, so I don't know what she might have worn originally, or if she had wings that would attach to her dress. In desperation, she cobbled onto a cute little gold teddy that belongs to JPI Starr. |
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Close-up of Tinker Bell |
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The Ariel at left is another oddity. She has the same face as the Theme Park doll, above, but she's wearing a wedding dress and crown. The crown seems a bit too bit for her, but the veil is attached, so it must belong together.
The Ariel at right wears the commoner's dress she wears after getting her legs and being "rescued" by Prince Eric and taken back to his castle. She has the same face as the Musical Classics Ariel, above. |
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Musical Princess Bell wears a two-toned green lame gown with puffed sleeves that tighten down to the wrists. |
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Dancing Princess Belle wears a yellow off-the-shoulder gown with a taffeta underskirt and chiffon overlay with a ruffled hem. |
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Musical Classics Cinderella wears a gown in a lighter shade of blue satin with an overskirt of white netting. She still has panniers and sleeves of white chiffon. |
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Dancing Princess Cinderella wears a gown of blue satin accented with white chiffon panniers and puffed sleeves. A chiffon ruffled is added at the hem. |
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Perfume Princess Cinderella has a gown made of irridescent white lame, with panniers and sleeves of a stiffer white netting. |
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Dancing Princess Snow White has a gown made entirely of satin. The bodice is dark blue with lighter blue sleeves (and red accents). Her stand-up collar is white velveteen. The skirt is yellow satin with a white lace petticoat you can't see in this photo. Trust me...it's there. |
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Musical Princess Snow White wears pretty much the same style dress, but the sleeves are light blue chiffon, and the yellow satin skirt has an overlay of yellow chiffon patterned with snowflakes. Her stand-up collar isn't in this photo, but it's made of white velveteen. |
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Musical Princess Jasmine wears a long, tight-fitting dress of lavender satin with chiffon sleeves and overlay of the same color. Her collar is made of violet lame, and the separate overwrap is made of the same material. |
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Perfume Princess Jasmine wears a delightful harem costume in blue lame, accented with gold brocade belt (attached). This is a standard Jasmine wearing Perfume Princess Jasmine's fashion. I think my daughter lost the original doll years ago when she played with these. |
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Musical Classics Mary Poppins wears a sleeveless dress of red and white satin, accented with a red bow at the neck.
Over this, she wears a proper Edwardian coat of blue felt.
Originally, she would have had a scarf of red felt, and a blue hat decorated with flowers. My doll came to me loose, however, and those items are missing here. |
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Musical Prince Aladdin
(Here he's missing his turban) |
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Perfume Princess Fairy Godmother |
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Musical Princess Sleeping Beauty
(Does anyone remember they named her "Aurora"?) |
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