Disney Insider Holiday Gift Guide – Part 1
1. Haunted Mansion Dooney & Burke Bag
The Dooney & Burke bags made for Disney Parks are always stellar, but our favorite is definitely their line inspired by the Haunted Mansion. The print is inspired by the Haunted Mansion’s iconic wallpaper, meaning it’s not too showy or in your face. We picked the shopper tote because it’s big enough to include all of the items you’ll need for a day at Disneyland or Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. In fact, there might be enough space for 999 happy haunts. But as you know, there’s always room for one more.
2. The Art of The Good Dinosaur / The Art of “Sanjay’s Super Team”
These two hardcover coffee table books from Chronicle are, of course, gorgeous in a way that only coffee table books about the making of a Disney•Pixar film can be. But they’re also more than that. The Good Dinosaur book allows you to luxuriate in the movie’s painterly artwork and pre-production sketches, and gives you a peek at storylines and characters that never made the final cut. While “Sanjay’s Super Team,” written by filmmaker Sanjay Patel, gives you the personal story of Disney•Pixar’s most autobiographical work yet.
3. Twenty Eight & Main Mr. Toad’s Taxi Service Baseball Cap
We’ve already talked about how much we love Twenty Eight & Main, the new high-end Parks brand for discerning gentlemen who also love riding Dumbo. And this is one of our favorite items from the line so far: A baseball cap that features beloved bad driver Mr. Toad (star of Disneyland’s Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride). On the side of the cap, “Toad’s Taxi Service” is embroidered, with the metal Twenty Eight & Main emblem further down on the same side. It’s also been intentionally distressed, giving it a cozy, lived-in look. It’s so rad.
4. Silly Symphonies Vinyl Box Set
It cannot be overstated how epic this collection is. This first-of-its-kind collection features the complete restored soundtracks from all 75 Silly Symphony shorts from 1929-1939. That equals over eight hours of music, spread over 16 vinyl LPs, packaged in gatefold jackets with original animation art. We’re practically salivating just talking about this behemoth, which first debuted over the summer at the D23 Expo. It’s the kind of box set that makes you want to invest in a high-end record player, just to be able to listen to it all.
5. Cogsworth/Lumiere Figures
These figures are truly incredible—they’re about the size you’d imagine the characters from Beauty and the Beast would be in real life, and they have unique features. (They look exactly like they do in the animated classic.) Flick a switch on Lumiere’s base and watch his flames flicker. And Cogsworth doubles as a really-for-real clock. These are the kind of definitive figures that you can place on a bookshelf or in your kitchen, and immediately prompt a huge discussion; they’re adorable conversation-starters. (Check the Shop Disney Parks app for availability.)
Marvel’s Agent Carter, which returns with a two-hour premiere in mid-January on ABC, is an absolute blast. And if you haven’t seen the first season, anchored by a peerless performance by Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter (who you might remember from the two Captain America films), as she battles international criminals and good old-fashioned sexism in post-war New York City, then this Blu-ray box set is perfect for you. It’s a powerful little corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we can’t wait to return to.
7. Marvel Phase 2 Blu-ray Collection
This box set has the complete “Phase 2” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man, in their deluxe 3D Blu-ray edition. All of those movies are awesome. But if that wasn’t enough, you’ll also get an exclusive bonus content disc (including extras that allude to the upcoming conflict in Captain America: Civil War) and the entire thing is housed in a replica of the Morag Orb from Guardians of the Galaxy. Getting this for Christmas would probably cause us to squeal like our 10-year-old self getting a Super Nintendo.
Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland, which was a futuristic adventure steeped in the iconic mythology of Walt Disney and the original Disneyland theme park, is a film that rewards repeat viewings, which makes this Blu-ray a must. (The audio/video presentation, too, is ridiculously amazing.) But what makes the disc really special is its bevy of bonus features (including a look at what it was like to shoot on a real-life NASA platform) and the ability to watch the abandoned animated prologue to the film (produced by Pixar Animation Studios) before the movie begins.
9. Disney Parks Castle Playset
This towering playset is a technical achievement, with doors that swing open, music that plays, and fireworks that ignite on the outside of the castle. (It also has a “swirling” dance floor and working elevator.) But what will make you really excited is that the castle is a nifty, glittery composite of almost every Disney Parks castle, the world over (including Shanghai!) This is a castle for every age group and demographic and it’s really, really big.
10. Dali & Disney by Dave Bossert
This is a fascinating, wonderfully told coffee table book that looks at the friendship and creative collaboration between Walt Disney and surrealist Salvador Dali. Dali & Disney charts their relationship, first as mutual admirers and then as potential peers on a segment for a proposed follow-up to Fantasia and then, finally, as an animated short called “Destino,” spearheaded by Roy E. Disney. It’s a terrific tale, occasionally heartbreaking but always fascinating, with totally awesome artwork, but from its original incarnation and the version that was eventually released. When two creative geniuses come together, magic happens … eventually.
