Ornament Review: The Reluctant Dragon - Storybook Classics Collection #8 - 2017 Disney Story Ornament

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Perfectly captures fun moment

Cons: A bit simple overall; tilts

The Bottom Line:

Spotlight on the rare

Poetry loving dragon

Great moment captured

The Reluctant Dragon is Excited to be on Your Tree

The Storybook Classics Collection has been wonderful for shining the light on some of Disney’s all but forgotten characters from the 1930’s and 1940’s.  One such character is The Reluctant Dragon, the subject of the March ornament.

Actually, The Reluctant Dragon was the title of a feature released in 1941 in an attempt to get some much needed cash into the company.  However, this wasn’t a typical feature.  It mostly featured a behind the scenes tour of hour The Walt Disney Company created their cartoons.  It ended in the almost 20 minute title story.  Considering the entire feature was about an hour and fifteen minutes, this really was only a part of it.

The story itself?  It tells of a dragon who lives, not for pillaging or roasting knights, but for poetry and music.  However, when the nearby villagers discover him, they go into panic mode.  It’s up to a boy who considers himself an expert in dragons as well as a knight who also loves poetry to figure out how to save the day.  The cartoon is actually pretty hilarious, and if you’ve missed it I recommend you find a way to watch it.

The ornament captures our dragon friend is a classic pose from the short.  He’s been reciting one of the poems for the boy, and as he ends, he strikes this pose.  He’s balanced up on one leg with his arms up under his chin with his mouth open.  The look on his face is almost hopeful – he wants to hear just how much the boy loved his poem.

That look is what makes it so hard for me to say that I don’t love this ornament.  Don’t get me wrong, I like it just fine.  That moment in the short is very funny, and I’m thrilled the ornament captured it.  It looks just like the character.  However, it is just the character.  There is no background or anything else to the ornament, which makes it seem a little plain.  This is especially true after all the detail we got last month with The Ugly Duckling.  It’s in comparison to some of the previous entries in the series that this one suffers.  However, if you love this character and this short, you will absolutely love it.

The only thing beside the dragon in this ornament is the circular base of grass he is standing on.  It’s a bit small, but it is enough to hold up the ornament is you want to set it out to display.

Or you can hang the ornament by the red ribbon attached through the loop in the dragon’s back.  Unfortunately, because of the pose, the ornament tips noticeably forward and a little to the left.  I don’t think there really was an option that would allow the ornament to balance perfectly and capture this moment, however.

It’s wonderful to see The Reluctant Dragon get some love from Disney.  While it might not be the best the Storybook Classics Collection has to offer, fans of the character will not be disappointed at all.

For other rare characters, check out the rest of the Storybook Classics Collection.

Original Price: $19.95