I spent a nice, snowy Christmas at my Mom and Dad's house in Texas (yes, it snowed in Texas!). Years ago, I got a vintage plush toy of Marie from the Aristocats "for my Mom" for Christmas (yeah, I know I'm busted). It is on display in one of their guest rooms.
Marie has become a fascinating character to me. The Aristocats is not necessarily a well-known movie. I thought the film had some fun moments, but it is not one of my favorites.
Marie is popular because she is cute. I don't know if most kids know what movie she is from. I just saw an episode of "SuperNanny" and one of the parents threatened to take away "Kitten" from her daughter (a plush toy of Marie).
Marie started appearing regularly at The Disney Store some time ago, and has been included in some plush toy lines available at Wal-Mart and other chain stores. There is also a line of Aristocats cat food at Kroger grocery stores featuring Duchess, Marie, and her brothers.
Marie seems to have taken the Tokyo Disney Resort and Japan itself by storm. She also looks to be popular at Hong Kong Disneyland, and an animatronic version of Marie appears in that park's It's a Small World. The Small World pin I have here came from Walt Disney Imagineering's gift shop.
It is funny to see the tag "Walt Disney's Aristocat Girl"----the toymakers didn't even bother to find out her name. I remember seeing this Marie and the other Aristocats for sale at Walt Disney World in the early 1980s. There is something about the simplicity of the design of this toy line that is very appealing. This is not very cuddly---it is from the time period when glue was used to apply noses, mouths and other features.
Today, Marie can sometimes be found paired up with Minnie Mouse on merchandise. Maybe it's time for Disney to just make Marie into Minnie's pet. Minnie already shares Figaro the kitten with Pinocchio and Geppetto, so it wouldn't be unheard of for a mouse to have a pet cat.
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Yep, Tokyo has Marie merchandise up the whazoo. They even have her walking around the parks and in the parades and stage shows.
ReplyDeleteI actually bought a Marie magnet at Disneyland (Anaheim) about 4 months ago, but I was surprised to see it....she really isn't used very much on merchandise here.
Hey TokyoMagic! I think I saw that same magnet at WDW last month. They did not have much Marie stuff, either---very curious!
ReplyDeleteNice post. Now that you mention it.. I've seen TONS of Marie stuff!! It's so great that people can find Disneyana with just about ANY Disney character they are particularly fond of. Pins are a great avenue for this! I'm always on the lookout for Mr. Toad and attraction pins myself!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dad! Mr. Toad stuff seems to be very rare. I agree with you about pins--they are also great because they don't take up too much room!
ReplyDeleteDisneyland did a great beanie Toad set years ago, and I was able to get Mr. Toad and a Weasel (I was unable to get my favorite character from that line--Mole!).