Thursday, June 25, 2015

Ornament Review: 1954 - Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color TV Premiere - Moments That Made Disney #10 - 2015 Disney Store Ornament



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.

Original Price: $19.95

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