Ornament Review: Jiminy Cricket as Ghost of Christmas Past - Mickey's Christmas Carol #4 - 2012 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great sculpt and good idea for full sized Jiminy, light effect

Cons: Still too out of scale for the series

The Bottom Line: 

Out of series scale

But still a nice ornament

With "lighting" candle

Jiminy Cricket is Out of Scale as the Ghost of Christmas Past

When Hallmark first introduced the Mickey's Christmas Carol series, some fans immediately began to wonder what they would do with some of the ghosts since their sizes are so different from the main cast.  Well, the first of those ghosts have appeared, and the answer is they aren't worrying about scale, although they've done some things to help Jiminy Cricket in his role as the Ghost of Christmas Past.

See, the ornament isn't just Jiminy.  He is sitting on the handle of an old fashioned candle lamp.  The lamp is the majority of the ornament, with a flame on top of the candle.  Wax from the candle is melting down and almost spilling off the sides of the stand it is on.  The rest of the holder is free from wax.

As I said, Jiminy is sitting on the handle of the lamp.  He's dressed smartly in his best suit and top hat.  He's holding an umbrella in his right hand, and he's pointing up with his left hand.

The thing that makes this ornament very special is the flame of the candle.  You guessed it - it actually glows.  Okay, so it only glows if you stick a light from a Christmas tree light string in the bottom of the base of the lamp.  You have to really stick the light up there, too.  Even then, it's not a strong glow, but it is noticeable and a very nice touch.

Because the base of the ornament is the opening for the light string, the 4 in a Christmas tree is raised into the back of the ornament instead of being on the bottom.  You'll also find the copyright information back there.

The ornament doesn't stand up when you set it on a table, but that's because of the balance issues.  Jiminy is obviously the heaviest part of the ornament, and he causes it to tip over.

However, the ornament is perfectly balanced for hanging.  The hook is on the back of Jiminy's hat, and it's the perfect place.  Granted, if you do put a light string in the candle, that will have a lot of do with how straight the ornament hangs, but it starts out that way.

The problem is that compared to the others in the series, the ornament is out of proportion.  Jiminy himself is at least half the size Goofy was last year, and probably fairly close to Mickey's size in the first ornament in the series.  The candle is also rather big as a result.  Compared to each other, they look fine, but if you group this series together, you'll definitely notice how big this one is.

Still, I do like it overall.  The added light element is a fun touch that makes Jiminy Cricket as Ghost of Christmas Past a fun addition to the Mickey's Christmas Carol series.

Check out the rest of the Mickey's Christmas Carol series

Original Price: $17.95