Tomorrowland Pin Set (2005)

Here is a lovely pin set released in 2005 to coincide with Disneyland's 50th Anniversary celebration. It features the poster art of three classic Tomorrowland attractions: the Skyway, Submarine Voyage, and Autopia, with pins for the blue Skyway cabin, mermaid, and blue car in each respective poster.

 

As you can see, the top says "Disneyland" and the bottom says "Tomorrowland" - this bottom qualifier implies that this could have been part of a potential series, for all the lands. (Otherwise, why include the "Tomrorowland" distinction?) This was the only one released as far as I know, but as an optimistic Disney dreamer I always love to think "what if...?"

Bambi: Diamond Edition Premium Packaging

Some of you may be rolling your eyes (this is a pretty fresh Disney treasure, just went into the Disney Vault a couple months ago) but this is nonetheless a treasure - just a contemporary one!

This is the Bambi Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, in the Disney Movie Club-exclusive Premium Packaging. I bought this when it was released in February 2011, and it officially went in the vault April 30, 2012. Kind of expensive (suggested retail price is $69.95) and doesn't come with any goodies inside, but the packaging is gorgeous IMO and, for me at least, Bambi is worth splurging for. By far one of my favorite Disney movies, possibly my favorite during Walt's lifetime.

Anyway - to the pictures!

Front cover. Really gorgeous packaging!

Thumper rolling and laughing. Great artwork, really captures his character!

Includes certificate of authenticity - I didn't sign it but I don't know who I'm going to need to validate it for ;-)

Back cover. Again, gorgeous! I almost wish this had been the front because I think this would better represent the movie, with the picture of Bambi and his mother on the back instead.

To me this seems to denote sadness...

While this represents the adventure and life experiences that I think the film is ultimately about.

 

No real "goodies" inside but if you are a sucker for presentation and quality packaging, I recommend trying to hunt this down. This had a limited print of just 2500 copies (which I didn't realize until I looked at the Certificate of Authenticity!) so if you are a hardcore collector it's probably worth it to you. Still, it's paying $70 for a Blu-ray combo pack you can buy in stores for $30, so it depends how much you value fancy packaging. (Clearly, I value it a lot hahaha!)

Also, I have not yet watched all of the special features for this Diamond Edition, but one that really blew me out of the water was the Disney Second Screen. This is a new technology Disney has developed, starting with this Bambi release, where you can synch up the movie viewing experience to your iPad. For Bambi, as the movie plays, the iPad shows concept art, work-in-progress animation, and games. I'm sure it varies release by release but this made the experience a lot of fun to explore. Definitely distracting if you haven't seen the movie before (you would barely look up at the TV!) but a lot of fun if you're already familiar with it.

Disneyland Thermos

This is a thermos I found at a thrift store a few months back. It's definitely not in clean (usable) condition but the metal is undented and it's cool to look at the artwork design on it. The size is 16 oz (half pint) and is made by Aladdin Industries in Nashville, TN.

Mark Twain Riverboat

                       

Casey Junior Circus Train and Mark Twain Riverboat .... in real life these attractions are nowhere near each other!

Tom Sawyer Island raft and Casey Junior Circus Train

Fort Wilderness (Tom Sawyer Island) and Mike Fink Keelboat

 

   There is no copyright year or date given, but based on the artwork provided, we can make assumptions on when this was created and sold in Disneyland. The newest attraction featured is Tom Sawyer Island (1956) and the use of Casey Jr as the train in the background (as opposed to the Mine Train Ride Thru Nature's Wonderland, which opened in 1960) tells us that the Mine Train Ride had not yet opened, dating the thermos some time between 1956-1960.

Pirates of the Caribbean Pocket Watch in Treasure Chest

Here are some photos of a lovely Pirates of the Caribbean pocket watch I got off Disney Movie Rewards in February 2012. It came in a little treasure chest, and the watch itself is heavy and very nice. Aside from the Pirates font and logo (both of which started with the first film in the series, The Curse of the Black Pearl [2002]), there is nothing that is tied to any specific film in the series. It is worth noting though, that in the chronology of the series, I got this watch almost a year after At World's End was released so the Reward likely came available because of that.