by magkelly » Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:17 am
I have a love/hate thing going on with Disney dolls. One one hand I love the characters and I tend to like the bodies, the hair et all but inevitably the doll looks so animated and fake face-wise that I can't stand them after a while. One of the reasons I really liked the first Belle dolls much more than I like the later ones is that she's not all big teeth and fake smile. As much as I love Ariel otherwise, and I really do love me my Little Mermaid's, that's always been my favorite Anderson tale even before Disney took it on. I really, really wish they'd make an Ariel that doesn't have the same toothy grin all the time.
The only non-smiley Ariel dolls I've ever seen are expensive Tonner type dolls, kid versions and the Brass Key porcelain. Okay, they're all nice, but they're much bigger dolls not Barbie type dolls and mostly Barbies are what I collect in terms of Disney dolls. I'm very tempted to get the Tonner and might if I ever see it at a price I can afford but I'm not buying it for $100-200. I have a proto-typical Ariel 12" doll and she's not got as big a smile as some, but what I really want is a closed mouth 12" Ariel, for once.
I really like this Merida doll except for the huge size of her head and that smirk. If she didn't look like her head was blown up like a balloon and she didn't have that smirk in at least one incarnation I'd be thrilled to have her. I love her red haired Anne of Green Gable type look, and particularly dig her freckles, but I'm not going to be getting her if she's going to always look like that. The smirk is cute, on one variant of a doll. I have a My Scene doll like that. She's really cute because it's not overdone. But if every MS doll had that smirk? I'd have never collected them at all.
I know Disney is ruler of animated movies. Always has been, always will be, but they used to make some Princess dolls that were just a bit less animated and more realistic and I really miss that. Tiana is about the only Princess of late that I can stand and even then I don't like every 12" version of her. They've totally spoiled pretty Belle with a toothy smile and Ariel her smile has gotten so big on some dolls it's almost comical. She looks like the Joker in Batman almost. I guess the kids must like it or something but I sure don't.