Tag: Disney

D23: the World of Disney Fanaticism

With a convention for just about everything with a fan following, for a long time it seemed odd to me that there was no convention for Disney fans (especially growing up in LA, where it was impossible not to meet at least a few people who didn’t go to Disneyland practically every weekend). Disney fans always fascinated me, because there was always a certain quality that struck as almost cult worship. So it seemed odd that I had never heard of a convention devoted to Disney when so many other pop up conventions existed.

That was, until I was seventeen, when one of my old friends mentioned that she and her family had gone to D23.

“What’s that?” I had asked her. She had initially answered that it was a convention devoted to Disney, but when I looked into it, I found it was so much more than that. You see, in its most general form, is Disney’s “Official Fan Club” founded in 2009, which features articles about movie easter eggs, park history, along with character searches and other such Disney-related topics. There are multiple levels of membership for this club, the General membership being free, and the Gold membership being around $80, and the Gold Family membership being $105.

Gaining a membership seems to get you a series of discounts and offers to exclusive Disney items, including jewelry, clothes, toys, and hotel rooms at Disney resorts. Gold members also get early bird access and special prices to the biannual D23 expo. This convention, which happens in Anaheim (right next to the Disneyland Park), and Tokyo (at the Tokyo Disneyland Resort). What happens at this convention? Think of everything related to Disney ever and smash it into a convention (kind of like Comic-con). They have panels for movies, meetings with Disney legends, and plenty of vendors selling Disney items. Oftentimes as well, there will be “exclusive D23” Disney merch, sold only at the convention, making it practically invaluable to Disney fans (I will admit that I have a D23 Japan exclusive tsum tsum hat, but that was a by luck find on ebay). It’s the place to be if you are a part of the Disney-fever club.

And of course, as with any convention, there are plenty of cosplayers, or someone who dresses up as a fictional character. People get in costume as a character anywhere from Disney itself to Marvel and now Star Wars, as thousands of people want to dive fully into the atmosphere of the D23 expo.

I have never been to a D23 expo (nor do I plan on going to one), so I can’t say in great depth what exactly goes on at one of those conventions. But I could probably guess that its exactly what you would expect when you hear the words “Disney convention”.

 

Tsum Tsum’s and Ufufys: What are they?

If you know of Disney, then by now I’m sure you’ve at least seen a tsum tsum or an ufufy, even without knowing what they are called. These things are everywhere (as with most things Disney)- but what exactly are they?

To start, we have to look at tsum tsums. The first set of tsum tsums premiered in Japan in 2013, as merchandise to go along with the release of the tsum tsum mobile game, where people can match the tsum tsum versions of characters for points and coins.

These stackable versions of Disney and Pixar characters, named after the Japanese word ‘tsumu’, which literally means “to stack”, quickly gained popularity within the nation, for their cute appearance and their variable sizes (anywhere from small to giant).

In 2014, because of their popularity, the tsum tsum line was released in the US, with Paris following quickly thereafter. They are now sold in disney stores, at disneyland and disneyworld, D23, and various other locations around the world. They’re cute, soft, and collectible, which makes them insanely popular. There are even shorts about tsum tsums, which can be found online or showing at a Disney store.

But what about Ufufys? What was the point of them (aside from merchandising)? Well, unlike being tied to a game, the ufufy is simply a part of the “kawaii collection” initially sold exclusively in Japan in 2016. These versions of the characters are supposed to be “born of the clouds”- light, fluffy, and filled with happiness. These characters are pastel colored and in the shape of balls, and they some with a spray to make them smell sweet. They took off without a hitch in Japan, to the point so that they were released in the US and other locations less than a year after their Japanese release (a slightly shorter time period than the tsum tsum).

The word ‘ufufy’, unlike tsum tsum, is not based off a word. It is simply to add to the cuteness of the ufufy. That doesn’t make them any less cute, however (I have a weakness for cute stuffed animals, if you couldn’t already tell).