Dazzled by Disney: Disney Inspired Character Dolls in the 1950s

ffiWrewwffiwffi
ffiW
llisney
DisneyInspiredCharacter
Dollsi n the 1950s
t's difficultto imaginea childhoodwithoutWaltDisney.
ffi
Disney's
animated
filmshaveprovidedentertainment
for
ffi
ffi generations
of children.
Butthe companyhasaffectedmore
thanjustthe silversceen.
Drivenby the popularity
of Disney's
movies,
manydoll
andtoy manufacturers
haveproducedlikenesses
of Disney
characters
overthe years.
TheDisney-inspired
dollsofthe 1950s
represent
someof the mostvaluable
andcollectible
of these
dolls.
$no[Illlhile
Disney's
firstfull-lengthanimatedfilm,1nowWhiteandthe
Seven
Dwarfs,
wasreleased
in 1937.
Sincethen,the moviehas
madea lastingimpression
on the dollworld.
producedSnowWhitedollsduringthe
MadameAlexander
decades
followingthe Disneyfilm,includinga pinkandgoldcladSnowWhitein 1952.
Althoughthe dressdoesnot exactly
replicate
the gownwornby Disney's
animatedcharacter,
"WaltDisney's'Snow
thetag on the dressreads,
White,"'
indicating
Disney's
stampof approval.
A 14-inchSnowWhitedollfromthiserain Mintcondition
isvaluedbetween5500-51,000,
with the priceincreasing
proportionately
for the 17-inch
and23-inchdolls.
[inderella
ln 1950,Disney
released
Cinderella.
Almostimmediately,
Cinderella
dollsfloodedthe
White
wasapopular
Disney
character
tobeimmortalized
indollform.A14-inch
market.MadameAlexander Snow
doll
in
Mint
c0ndition
can
bring
5500-51,000.
wasoneofthe first
companies
to capitalize
on
the Cinderella
crazewith
iswortha few hundreddollarsmorethanhercounterpart,
two strung,hard-plastic
typicallyvaluedat 51,000
or morefor a 14-inch
doll.
versions
of Cinderella
Otherhigh-quality
doll manufacturers
alsoproducedstrung,
- o n ei n a b a l lg o w n
hard-plastic
Cinderella
dolls.Usingthe samedoll it usedfor its
alongwith PoorCinderella NancyLeeandNanettedolls,Arranbee
offereditsown Cinderella
dressed
in
rags.
These
dolls
in
1952.
This
14-inch
doll
is
now
valued
at
approximately
5500,
0nderella
wasoneofthefewDisney
dollsthat
fetchingmorefor a 17-inch
or 2O-inch
doll.In the firstfew
ludmenascomoanions.
Here's
Cinderella
with wereofferedin 1950and
(harming.
hince
1 9 5 1T.h ef o r m aC
l inderella
Conilnuedon Paqe82
. www.toyshopmag.(om
.81
January
2007
ContinuedfromPage8l
Alice,andevenprovideda glimpseof the
1950s
alsobearssomeresemblance
to thc
yearsof the decade,Effanbee's
Honeydoll tea partyscenein Alicein wonderland.
Disneycharacter.
Vogue's
Ginnyisvalued
wassoldin a pinkballgownascinderella. sevenmonthslater,thefilmwasreleased. at 5350in commonoutfits,but it is likely
Estimations
of thisdoll'svaluevary
Alicedollswerequitepopular
that popularcharacters
suchasAlicein
between5400-5800.
throughoutthe1950s.
Evenin 1950,
Wonderland
commandmucnmore.
popularitywith the doll
Cinderella's
MadameAlexander
andVogueboth
In additionto theseearlytestimonials
marketwassharedby the 8-inch"toddler haddollversions
of Alicein wonderland
of the popularity
of Disney's
film,Alice
dolls"of the 1950s.
Usingthe doll
in Wonderland
popular
dollsremained
thateventually
becameGinny,a
throughoutthe 1950s.
ln 1952,
American
dollwhosepopularitymayhave
Character
offeredits versionof Alice
startedthe toddler-dollcraze.
- a blondeSweetSue
in Wonderland
Voguemarketed
a Cinderella
doll
dolldressed
in a bluecottondress,
in 1950.
AlthoughVogue's
Ginnyis
bloomersanda whiteorgandyapron.
valuedat $350in commonoutfits,it's
This17-inch
SweetAlice.SweetAlice
- asa special
likelythatCinderella
doll isvaluedat approximately
5500
character
doll- wouldbe worth
for a Mintversion..
considerably
more.
MadameAlexander
continued
yearslater,asthe toddler
Several
makingAlicein Wonderland
dolls,
dollscaughton,Ginny's
competitors
includingan 8-inchsizeto compete
marketed
Cinderella
dolls,aswell.
with othertoddlerdollssuchas
In 1955,
MadameAlexander
offered
Ginny.TheseAlicedollsweremade
Cinderella
in itspopularlineof
from 1953-56,
andtheyareworth
Alexander-kin
dolls.Today,
thisdoll is
5800or more.
worth S800or morein Mintcondition.
Cosmopolitan
sFrontier
GirlGinger
wasoftendressed
in
Cosmopolitan,
the manufacturer
of a
Disney-related
outfi
ts.
Ginny-type
doll namedGinger,
also
PeterPan,the nextDisneyfilmto be
offereda Cinderella
in its Disneyland
line
available.
Althoughthe moviewasn'tdue
released,
debutedin 1953.
Thatsameyear,
of dollsin the mid-to-late
1950s.
out for anotheryear,Alexander's
l4-inch, MadameAlexanderofferedtwo versions
Cinderella's
popularitydid not stop
1B-inch
and23-inchAlicein Wonderland of a PeterPandoll.Oneusedthe same
with the damselherself.
BothMadame
dollsworeclothesthat lookeduncannily bodyasan 8-inchQuizKin- a dollwith
Alexanderand Effanbeeoffereda prince
similarto the Disney's
character's
outfit,
two buttonson itsbackto shakeits head
Charming
to go with theirversions
althoughthe lightbluetaffetathatwas
yesor no.
of Cinderella.
Thesedollsareworth
usedto makemanyof the dresses
tends
ThisPeterPansportedan unusual
approximately
and5500-S800, to fadeto lavender
S700-S950
overtime.
reddishor blondcaracul
wig.Theoutfit
respectively,
in Mintcondition.
Vogue
Thehairstyle
of MadameAlexander's consisted
of tightsanda felttunic,hatand
manufactured
bothPrinceCharming
and
Alicedollsalsoreflects
Disney's
character, shoes,modeledafterDisney's
character.
the FairyGodmother
to keepCinderella
with blondehairsweptoff the forehead
to
Alexander
alsomanufactured
a l4company.
reveala highwidow'speak.TheseAlicein
inchPeterPan,dressed
similarly
to the
Wonderland
dollsarevaluedat S500-S7OOsmaller
doll,anda 14-inch
Wendyasa
for the smallerdollsandup to 91,000
for
companion.
Eachof the PeterPandollsis
OnChristmas
Dayin 1950,Disney's
the largerversions.
valuedat 5800or more,whileWendyis
OneHourin Wonderland
oremieredon
In 1951,
MadameAlexander's
Alice
valuedat S500-S600.
televisions,
introducing
the upcoming
alsocamewith a trousseau.
Thisrareset
animated
film.Theone-hourshow
is now worth upwardof 52,000.
Vogue's
featuredKathrynBeaumont,
the voiceof
8-inchAlicein Wonderland
of the early
WhenSleepi
ng Beautywasreleased
Peler
Pan
Allce
inWonderland
Sleeping
Beauty
82ToyShop.January
2007
__ ptsNEYmuS
soldthree
MadameAlexander
in 1959,
Sleeping
Beautydolls
Disney-approved
andthroughspecialty
at Disneyland
catalogs.
Beautywas
Thesmallest
Sleeping
madeusingthe headandbodyof
fashiondoll,Cissette,
10-inch
Alexander's
exceptwith flat feet and a wider painted
mouththatturneddownslightlyat the
Thedollworea skybluedress,
corners.
goldnetcape,blueslippers
anda crown.
Beautyis more
Thisversionof Sleeping
commonthanthe others,so it isworth
approximately
5350.
Beauty
Sleeping
Themedium-sized
16-inch
usedthe bodyof Alexander's
but with a vinylhead
fashiondoll,Elise,
for Disney's
character
madeespecially
(alsousedon the largestdoll).Thisdoll's
outfitwassimilarto the smallerdoll,
exceptthatthe dressusuallyfadesto
lavender
with age.
Beautyis harder
The16-inchSleeping
to find andisvaluedat 5650.However,
Beautydollsis
the rarestof the Sleeping
the21-inchdoll.Beingdifficultto find,
thisdollisvaluedat $850or more.
(|lherIfisney-lnspired
llolls
dollsof
Notallof the Disneycharacter
werebasedon the Disneyfilms
the 1950s
fromthatdecade,
DollandToyCo.,which
Cosmopolitan
madean 8-inchtoddlerdoll named
Ginny,
Gingerto competewith Vogue's
madea lineof Disneyoutfitsspecifically
forGinger.
of the mid-to-late-1950s
Thecatalogs
listedseveral
differentDisneythemes,
suchasa SunPrincess
futuristic
concepts
eachof whichofferedseveraloutfits
andSpaceGirl.
on a dollor
thatcouldbe purchased
priced
Gingerdollsareregularly
separately.
at 5200for a Mintdoll,but the Disney
underthemessuch
Categorized
andharder
versions
aremoredesirable
as"Gingervisitsthe MickeyMouse
more
in
to find,makingthempotentially
Club"and"GingervisitsFrontierland
valuable.
the outfitsrangedfrom
Disneyland,"
release
of Snow
SinceWaltDisney's
thetypicalOfficialMickeyMouseClub
popularity
hasonly
company's
White,the
to
andan IndianPrincess,
- and
with eachgeneration
increased
children's
First
as
so hasitsmerchandise.
playthings,
nowas
but increasingly
Disney-inspired
valuablecollectibles,
the films'
dollshaveimmortalized
generations.
for
characters
KatharineSwanis a freeloncewriter
fromEnglewood,
Colo.
. www.toyshopmag.(om.
83
2007
January