My Tiana Doll Collection

I recently added a fifth Tiana doll to my collection. With so many versions of the best Disney Princess I thought I would do a blog post about my Tiana doll collection so far…

Mattel, Disney Princess Bath Time Collection (Approx. 2013/14)

The doll that started off my entire collection. She’s a basic doll (basic five points of articulation, no shoes, and moulded on top) but in spite of that I’ve used her a lot to make outfits for.

Hasbro, Disney Princess Royal Shimmer (2017)

At this point I was only just beginning to collect variant dolls. I found her on offer in a supermarket and I had enough loyalty point to get some money off her. I actually really like this collection of Hasbro Disney Princess dolls, I have Jasmine and Pocahontas from the same series.

Disney Store, Winter Boutique (2011)

I found this Tiana doll whilst browsing on eBay. Originally she was released with two other dresses as part of a ‘wardrobe set’ collection of princess dolls. However I was only able to get her with the winter dress. I really like the execution of the green dress with this one and the winter details are a fun little extra that makes her stand out.

Disney Store, Wedding Doll (2018)

Possibly motivated by the Royal Wedding, Disney released a collection of Disney Princess dolls in their wedding dresses this year. This collection included Tiana, I think this wedding dress is fabulous. It’s nice to see a Tiana wearing some slightly different colours to what she usually wears. I also like that this dress has something of a 1920s feel to it which is appropriate for Tiana but not something that is shown too often in her merchandise.

Disney Store, Disney Princess Classic Doll (2016)

My most recent Tiana and one that had eluded me for a while. I specifically wanted the 2016 Classic doll as that was the last year (for now) that Tiana wore the blue dress, but the first year she came with a minifigure of Naveen as a frog. I love the way that she is posed in the box, almost like she’s about to kiss him, this is one doll I won’t be opening.

Honourable Mention:

Charlotte La Bouff, Mattel, Princess and the Frog (2009)

Lottie (Tiana’s best friend) has only ever had two dolls released, one by Disney Store and one by Mattel, I personally think that the Mattel one is much nicer. It took me around a year to finally get this Lottie but once I had her I was glad that I bought her.

Making Tiana’s Café

Following the Frozen Doll Room I’ve made another doll room, this time my favourite Disney Princess is getting a new café.

The second doll room I made was Tiana’s Café. In the movie Tiana opened a restaurant – not a café – but with a little creative license I decided to make a café instead. It was a nice little set when I made it but I know that now I could do much better. I also felt like Tiana needed to move to larger premises.

The first thing I made for Tiana’s Café was a kitchen, the plan was to make this outside of the usual cereal box I make doll rooms in and has it rest alongside the box. For this I took a piece of card from a calendar insert which I cut to size and then covered with paper. Using a hot glue gun I secured a shelf onto the wall, there’s also a small bottle cap glued to provide extra support for the shelf. I then used items I’d either previously made or collected to furnish the kitchen for Tiana.

As with many of doll rooms, the main part of the café started out as a cereal box. I cut it to open up one side and then covered the edges and the outside of the box with white paper to neaten it up. This step is taken from My Froggy Stuff on YouTube.

With the box prepared I worked on the exterior of the café. I used a green check scrapbook paper which I thought looked like tiles along the front of the box. I stuck on a piece of wood print scrapbook paper with a picture of a frame and a small handle added on for a door. For the sign I used black paper and a white chalk marker.

For the interior walls I found this green patterned scrapbook paper at a local craft store. I thought this would be perfect for Tiana. Green is one of the core colours Disney use to market her, the pattern reminded me of one of the patterns Disney sometimes uses for Tiana, and I also felt that it had a bit of a 1920s feel to it.

The main walls have been completed so I could add in a little extra detail. I glued in a picture from a Disneyland Paris travel brochure which has been trimmed with white paper for a window. I used a complimentary strip of scrapbook paper to give the room a skirting board and I used a light wood print scrapbook paper for the flooring.

These pictures were on the wall in the old version of Tiana’s Café but I decided that they were still useable and so I glued them into the new one.

I wanted a little stand to display cakes on. I covered a small box with gingham fabric and then hot glued a stand of bunting around it to create a unit to display cakes that is inspired by the ‘Gingham Alter’ from the Great British Bake Off.

The room was pretty much complete so I placed the café next to the kitchen and then added in some furniture.

And that was how I made a new café for (one of) my Tiana dolls. I’m pleased with how this project turned out, I feel like it is a massive improvement from the more basic previous version.

Ranking My Top 3 Disney Princesses

It’s the Royal Wedding today. I thought this might be a fun occasion to do a post about Disney Princesses. The ranking in this list is just my current top 3 princesses, I am also only going off characters who are included in current the official Disney Princess line-up.

3 – Pocahontas

First off, I know Pocahontas has problematic parts. I also know that a lot of people dismiss the movie out of hand because of that. However I think that Pocahontas has a lot of positive aspects that people often don’t acknowledge.

Personally I think Pocahontas is a great character. (She also has the best animal sidekick in Meeko!) Pocahontas tries to fight for what she believes in, she fights for love and understanding, and she aims to bring people together. I think some of her lines like, “This is where the path of hatred has brought us. This is the path I choose.” have a lot of resonance.

2 – Merida

Merida is determined, opinionated, stubborn, and resourceful. She really broke with what is expected of a Disney Princess and it worked well. I feel like Merida is also one of a limited number of princesses who actually has to deal with her actions having consequences in terms of the rule of her kingdom.

Whilst Brave is not one of my favourite Pixar movies or one of favourite Disney Princess movies, Merida is utterly one of my absolute favourite Disney Princesses. I recently re-watched Brave and it reminded me of just how great Merida is.

1 – Tiana

I love Tiana. A self-motivated, hardworking, young woman who wants to start her own business. Tiana doesn’t just wait around for something to happen, she knows what she wants and she strives to get it.

Tiana really is a great character and for me she is absolutely the very best Disney Princess.

Moana Revisited

When I saw Moana at the cinema back in 2016 I was pretty unimpressed. I know my review did not exactly line up with other people’s opinion of the film. I haven’t watched Moana since I saw it in the cinema, until now. So having revisited the movie I thought I would share my opinion of what I think of it now.

To get straight to the point, I was wrong. My original opinion was wrong. I think when I saw it originally at the cinema I was expecting a movie like Frozen. Moana is not Frozen. I think it actually has a lot more in common with Mulan. Personally I prefer Frozen, however Moana is a good movie. It’s not the best Disney movie ever, it’s not my new favourite Disney Princess movie, but it is a well told ‘chosen one’ narrative. I am glad I finally watched Moana again and without that notion of expecting it to be Frozen.

Moana herself is a great character, very likeable. She is very determined, competent, intelligent, opinionated and passionate, but she is also flawed, and has moments were she struggles which helps make her feel like a well-rounded character. I think Moana can truly stand up with the best of the Disney Princesses – like Merida, Anna, Elsa and Tiana. Next time the princess dolls go on offer I need to add Moana to my collection…

I still think some of the songs are weak. You’re Welcome is far too auto-tuned, I also don’t find it funny and overall it makes me dislike Maui. Shiny disappoints me, it sounds like a poor attempt at the classic Disney Villain song, such as Poor Unfortunate Souls or Friends On The Other Side. However my opinion on How Far I’ll Go has seriously changed, I don’t think it is as good as Let It Go or Almost There, but it is a pretty good song and a great expression of who Moana is as a character.

I am still not entirely sold on Maui. A lot of his humorous moments fall flat for me, the Twitter joke still really makes me cringe. However I can appreciate his character arc more than I did previously. Despite my lukewarm reaction to Maui, the movie is really Moana’s story and so he is ultimately of secondary importance.

In conclusion, I was wrong. Moana is so much better than I had originally written it off as being. I am glad I finally decided to give Moana a second chance.

My Haul – A Good Start to March

In the first few days of this month I have found some interesting items, so I thought I would do a Haul of them.

Snoopy is at McDonalds! I have collected Snoopy figures for years and years and years. So I was excited to see McDonalds in North America are doing a Snoopy Happy Meal whilst I am here in Canada. So far I have Snoopy as a baseball player, an astronaut, and a detective, none of which I have seen versions of in the UK! I really want to get the pirate Snoopy.

I’ve mentioned before I collect Pez dispensers. In Dollarama I tracked down Jasmine who is one of the most elusive Disney Princess Pez.

Disney Happy Places series 2 hit the shelves of Walmart and I bought the Rapunzel starter pack. For the amount you get (not all items are shown) the starter pack is good value compared the blind boxes, it also includes larger items like cabinets. My favourite items in the pack are the lamp, sewing machine and mechanical pencil sharpener.

Another Dollarama find was a TsumTsum blind bag. I got a Toy Story alien! It comes with a little rocket to display it in and the rocket has the claw attached.

In my February Haul I mentioned I had found Young Justice comics in Dollarama for $3 each. In a different branch of Dollarama I found another three volumes. I love the cover art of Kid Flash on the volume in the middle.

Finally, in my Black Panther review I talked about how I thought Shuri was awesome. In Walmart I found the Shuri action figure and I knew I had to get. I think this is a good figure of her and I particularly like how her gauntlets are removable.

All of these items have been found in the first few days of this months and so I think it has been a good start to March.

It’s Been a Good Week to Be a Disnerd

Usually I don’t do news roundup posts, this is just not the type of blog. But there’s been some rather exciting Disney news over the past week that I wanted to do a post sharing my reaction.

© Disney

Tuesday – Disneyland Paris is Getting Bigger

After I’d had breakfast on Tuesday morning I checked my Twitter and saw an announcement from Disney. Disneyland Paris (my Disney theme park) is getting a major new expansion for the Disney Studios Park. The new stuff looks so amazing: there’s a new Toy Story ride, and then a Star Wars land, a Marvel land and a Frozen land! There’s not really been much in the way of specific details announced just yet but the concept art looks stunning. I honestly was not expecting Disneyland Paris to be getting anything like this or anything on this scale in the near future. The thought that the world of Frozen is coming to Disneyland Paris is just super exciting to me.

Wednesday – Wreck it Ralph 2 and Happy Meals

The trailer for Wreck It Ralph 2 dropped on Wednesday. I think it looks promising and there were definitely some moments in the trailer that made me laugh. Disney and Pixar are masters at showing just enough in a trailer and not giving away too much of the plot and this continues that pattern. (Although I was slightly disappointed we didn’t get a glimpse at any of the cameoing characters but I wasn’t really expecting that just yet.)

For a Disney collector there was also an interesting announcement, Disney have renewed their licencing deal with McDonalds, which previously ended back in 2006. The old Happy Meal toys were really nice (such as Pocahontas and Meeko pictured above), I’m interested to see what is coming next. Hopefully they can do a Disney Princess collection to release Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Elsa and Anna!

Thursday – Elsa

Nothing has been 100% confirmed but it has been hinted that Elsa might be getting a girlfriend in Frozen 2! #GiveElsaAGirlfriend has been a pretty popular hashtag but honestly I never thought it would actually get listened to. Viewers have already got to know Elsa from the first movie and the short films so if it turned out that she was a lesbian then Disney would have a character who was not defined by their sexuality. I really hope Disney actually have the guts to make such a popular character gay because that would be absolutely incredible LGBT representation. If this does turn out to be true I think I just got even more obsessed with Frozen!

Friday – Black Panther

I’m going to see Black Panther – the latest Marvel movie – this evening. I was a little unsure at first but I have decided that I want to see it. There will probably be a review on my blog at somepoint.

Disney Streaming Service Shows?

So as you might know Disney are going to be launching a major new online streaming service later this year. It was recently announced that they will be creating original series and original movies for this new platform. I thought I would share some of my predictions, speculation and wishes for what new content I would like to see.

Zootropolis – The Series

Zootropolis was a fantastic film. It really deserves a sequel but Disney don't seem to be developing one at the moment so a series could be a good alternative. Given Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are cops there’s pretty obvious potential to develop a crime/mystery series set in Zootropolis. A series could also be a good format to further explore the racial subtext of the film. Why do I want to see this series on the streaming service? Because it could be a really good binge watch series as you try to figure out the mystery at the same pace Judy and Nick are figuring it out.

Disney Princesses United

If you’re a Disnerd you probably know that in Wreck It Ralph 2 the Disney Princesses (from Ariel to Moana) are going to be appearing. Given all the excitement from the announcement that the princesses were going to be meeting each over for the first time (in forever!) I wonder if  Disney will want to build on that hype. One way to possibly do so would be through a series that featured the Disney Princesses united.

Princess and the Frog

Do I even need to say that I love Princess and the Frog anymore? Because I really love it! I have talked before on this blog about how Princess and the Frog deserves more and in that post I mentioned that a TV series could be interesting. The Disney streaming service could be an ideal platform for a series of adventures about Tiana dealing with running her restaurant. A series could also show more of Tiana’s close friendship with Lottie.

Disney Villains

On the complete flip side of the Disney Princesses we have the Disney Villains. The Disney Villains are an enduringly popular group of characters and yet Disney have not really done much with them in the past few years. A series could be a fan pleasing new outlet for characters like Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula.

Star Wars Live Action Series

There’s been reports that there will be a new Star Wars live action series on the Disney streaming service. I think this is a good idea and will probably be a big draw for many geeks to subscribe to the service. Personally I would like to see a series set between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens that explored what was happening in the time between the trilogies. I’d also like to see this Star Wars series use completely new characters and not have any appearances from existing characters in order to really expand the galaxy far far away.

So that’s just a few speculative ideas, I will be interested to find out what Disney actually decide to put on their streaming service when it launches.

Some of the Reasons I Love Princess and the Frog…

I just watched Princess and the Frog again and I thought it was about time for another blog post where I talk about just how much I love this movie.

I know quite a lot of people focus on the fact that Tiana should have spent more time as a human instead of a frog, (it is true, she should have) but if that’s the part that people focus in on then I think they’re missing a lot of wonderful stuff. So I am going to share just some of the reasons I love Princess and the Frog…

·         Princess and the Frog is the rare Disney Princess movie that features female friendship and shows it as being important. Tiana has clearly been friends with Lottie for a long time and during the ball when Tiana gets knocked down Lottie immediately helps her get back up.

·         "The only way to get what you want in this world is through hard work." I love that line.

·         Naveen is not Tiana’s happy ending. I’m sure we all know the problematic trend in Disney Princess movies of having a man be a woman’s happy ending. However Princess and the Frog avoided this trap, Naveen is a part of Tiana’s happy ending but he is not all of her happy ending.

·         I love that Tiana’s goal is to open her own restaurant and I love that she is willing to work hard to achieve that.

·         The music is fun. It’s a little different from the more traditional Disney Princess songs but Princess and the Frog has a really upbeat soundtrack that I can listen to repeatedly.

·         The animation is beautiful. I feel like Princess and the Frog deserves more appreciation just for the fact that it is (at the moment) the last hand drawn 2D animated Disney Princess movie. But not did it use the traditional animation style one last time it used it really effectively in many very visually striking scenes.

·         And finally, Tiana is the best Disney Princess.

My Haul – Christmas Decorations from Canada!

It’s the first of December! That means it’s the start of advent and officially (if you haven’t already) it is finally time to get the Christmas decorations out!

In the spirit of getting out the Christmas decorations I thought I would do a My Haul post to round up all the Christmas decorations that I have bought since I have been in Canada. I am going to be organizing this post in the order I bought them.

The first decoration I bought was an Adipose from Doctor Who. The Adipose are adorable blobs of fat and one of the strangest Doctor Who aliens ever. I’ve never actually seen Doctor Who Christmas decorations before but when I found this one I had to buy it!

I talked about my collection of Disney Princess Christmas decorations and how Rapunzel is my princess for 2017 in the Haul post about when I bought her in Toronto.

The Starbucks Christmas cup! Does this count as a Christmas decoration? Well it does to me! I have a collection of Christmas coffee cups which I have been gathering for the past few years, this year’s Starbucks cup is the latest addition and one of my favourites.

I love Raccoons, they are my favourite animals. I couldn’t resist this cute little raccoon skiing and wearing a Santa hat.

A Dollarama find! I got a pack of 8 mini disco balls which have ended up going in front of my doll display.

Anna in her outfit from Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, I mentioned her in the haul post from the trip to Toronto when I bought her.

How perfect for me is this Flash Christmas decoration? I knew I had to get him for my Christmas tree as soon as I saw him in Walmart.

I have loved the Peanuts comic strips and the Charlie Brown cartoons for years, Woodstock is my favorite character. Technically this one isn’t for me, Woodstock is destined to go on the family Christmas tree, but he’s too sweet not to include on this haul post.  

Wonder Woman stocking! Probably one of the coolest stockings you will see this Christmas. I knew I wanted it as soon as I saw it.

Another one for the family Christmas tree. My Dad, my Mum and me all loved Zootropolis (or Zootopia as it’s known in North America) and when I spotted Judy Hopps I knew we needed her.

Finally (and appropriate for today) is my advent calendar. This year I have decided to go for the Star Wars one, mainly because it has Rey front and centre where she should be.

Well that was quite a long post! I’ve been collecting all of these for a number of weeks (since the end of September) and I am very pleased with what I have added to my collection of Christmas decorations.

My Haul – Heroes and My Favourite Villain in Toronto

At the weekend I went to Toronto. If you know me than you know that I cannot go to a big city without buying something so here’s a haul post detailing what I bought.

Last time I went to Toronto I bought Itty Bitty’s from the Hallmark in the Eaton Centre. I did the same this time. Maleficent is my favourite Disney villain, I just had to get her Itty Bitty given how fabulous she looks.

I didn’t like the Rey Itty Bitty that was released for The Force Awakens, however now the collection for this years The Last Jedi has been released and I think that the new Rey looks a lot better than the previous one. There wasn’t much question about adding the second best Star Wars character to my collection (we all know Leia is the best).

In my last haul post I mentioned that Tsum Tsum lip balms are now a thing. In Toronto I was able to track down Maleficent’s!

In my post about my day in Toronto I mentioned that I visited a comic café. From there I bought Volume 3 of the ongoing DC Rebirth Flash series. So far this series has been really good so I’m glad to add the latest instalment to my collection, especially as it was from somewhere so cool!

Every year Disney Store releases a collection of Disney Princess Christmas Ornaments and every year I buy one princess. I limit myself to only one of the princess decorations because otherwise I’d end up with hundreds of Disney Christmas decorations. I was really torn about who I wanted to buy this year but when I noticed that Belle and Tiana had already sold out I decided to take the plunge and buy Rapunzel. I really like how detailed she is and I love how they made her usual dress look a little more winter ready. Now in years to come when I get out my Disney Princess Christmas Ornament Collection I will look at Rapunzel and think of how I bought her in Toronto during my year abroad.

That’s what I bought this time during my visit to Toronto.