One of the great partnerships the Walt Disney Co. had was with Mattel. They have a long history of bringing great toys to market inspired by Disney’s magic. These are 2 dolls which were a result of this partnership.
Originally sold around 1993 exclusively through the Walt Disney Parks and the Disney Store. Davy Crockett is “inspired by the Disneyland television series, Davy Crockett which premierd December 1955.” The other doll is the captain from Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean; “inspired by the Park’s extraordinary attraction.”
These are the standard 12″ dolls that can play alongside the most popular format of the day.The detail on them is great. The packaging states the pirate comes: With sword and daggers for pirate battles. While Davy Crockett comes: With bowie knife and hatchet for frontier adventures.
The back of the Pirate Captain packaging has a great shot of the doll and reads:
Climb aboard, matey, for the wildest voyage on the high seas ever. Travel back in time to the Golden Age of Piracy, past singing skeletons, crying brides and fighting swashbucklers. “Yo, Ho! Yo, Ho! Watch out,” the Priate Captain shouts, and stirs the midnight air with a wave of his sword. His unruly beard and long, sea-soaked hair is a sight sure to shiver the timbers of any landlubber.
While the back of Davy Crockett’s package reads:
Tall and strong in his coonskin hat and fringed bucksking, Davy Crockett suddenly appears from out of the woods. “I’m here for the big knife-throwin’ match,” he shouts. He takes his bowie knife from its sheath, aims and flings it at the target. It hits with a whack that echoes off the green Tennessee mountains. Everyone cheers, “Yahoo! Bull’s eye!” Once again, Davy proves he is the King of the Wild Frontier.
These are a great timecapsule to a different time for Disney’s toys. When you had to visit the parks in order to get certain toys and products. It made it even more special since you had been there and the treasure was more than a simple toy, but a link to memories from a magical vacation to the Magic Kingdom, or one of the other parks in the Disney universe.
I remember having a similar discussion with some of my fellow castmembers about the special quality a souvenir from Walt Disney World had; it was almost like a talisman. It was a simple toy to anyone who might pick it up, but to a child it represented the chance to recapture some of the excitement and adventure of the parks.
Thankfully, Disney seems to be recalling this too with the introduction of so many cool toys that you can only seem to get at one of their parks; Disney Vinylmation being the first that comes to mind. I look forward to seeing what they will be dreaming up this year for the parks.