Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Great idea and iconic moment
Cons: Light too bright, Tinker Bell comes out easily.
The Bottom Line:
Sunday night staple
Great memories captured here
But light is too bright
Good Idea That Went Wrong (and Don’t Get Me Started on the Title)
Walt Disney was one of the first movie producers to see the
value of TV to reach his audience in new and exciting ways and raise money for
his other projects. That’s why many of us grew up with a weekly
Disney TV show. And that milestone is captured in the Moments that
Made Disney ornament Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color TV Premiere. Unfortunately,
they made a bold choice that doesn’t quite work out.
The ornament is, appropriately enough, a TV. It’s
an old fashioned one, a reddish brown box that is actually fairly square. It’s
even got rabbit ear antennas on the top. While there is no screen
over where the picture goes, that allows us to see the 3D sculpt of Tinker Bell
inside. She’s got her wand in her right hand and ready to wave it to
start the magic of the show. Behind her is the “Wonderful World of
Color” graphic.
This is a very iconic moment for those of us who great up
watching the shows. It always meant that something fun was about to
start. I know as a kid, I could hardly wait to see what we’d get to
watch during that week’s hour. I can’t think of a better ornament. Well, there is one thing – the background
graphic is in black and white. Shouldn’t
it be in color?
So what’s the bold choice that didn’t quite work out? For
the first time in this ornament series, they included light. There
is a switch on the back you use to turn the light on or off. The
light runs on 3 button batteries. It was a great idea, and when I
first heard they’d done this, I was thrilled. However, the light
seems too bright to me. Instead of being a glow, it really stands
out and tends to wash out the background when you have it on and poor Tink is a
silhouette. About half as bright would have worked better.
Meanwhile, there’s the name of the ornament. As
any DisNerd knows, when Disney’s anthology show premiered, it was called
Disneyland. He used the proceeds from it to help build the theme
park, and he used the show to advertise the theme park to the viewers. (Not
every week, but it was certainly a part of the show.) Shouldn’t that
be what we are commemorating? The name
of the show changed over the years, and it wasn’t called Wonderful World of
Color until 1961.
Deep breath. DisNerd rant over.
The TV is sitting on feet, like the old TV’s did, and they
provide a nice, stable base for setting this ornament out on any shelf or flat
surface. There is already a red ribbon in the loop on the top of the
TV, and it allows the ornament to hang straight.
Another word of warning - my ornament arrived broken. Tinker
Bell had come loose and was bouncing around the box. I was able to
glue her back in, but you’ll need to treat her gently. And, when I
was gluing her back in, I discovered that her wrist holding the wand is also
damaged, probably from bouncing around in the box. None of my other
friends who have bought this ornament noticed the problem, so maybe I was just
unlucky. Still, be careful that Tink doesn’t come loose on you as
well.
It’s unfortunate that the light didn’t quite work as well as
it could have. The idea behind Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color TV Premiere is good,
even if the execution isn’t perfect.
Be sure to check out the rest of the Moments that Made Disney series.
Be sure to check out the rest of the Moments that Made Disney series.
Original Price: $19.95
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