From the people who brought you Passamaquoddy, Heffalumps and Woozles
as well as Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo, now come Disney Pook-A-Looz.
The official tagline for this quirky new line of plush is “Too cute for their own good.” But these classic Disney characters didn’t get that way all by themselves. They needed the help of
Pook-A-Looz lead designer Jose Zamora. Who then came up with a distinctive look for each of these hot new collectibles.
“What the Pook-A-Looz are are really caricatures of these Disney characters’ personalities,” Zamora explained. “So — as I was designing each of these plushes — I tried to zero in on that one unique feature that came to mind wherever you thought about that character. So for the Red Queen from ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ it was her big mouth. For the Cheshire Cat, it was his crazy grin. So that’s what we focused in on with those two characters.”
Speaking of “Alice in Wonderland” … It certainly didn’t hurt that – as Disney was initially bringing the Pook-a-Looz to market (with the first wave of product popping up in Toys ‘R’ Us’s
Tween aisle just after Christmas, while the Disney Store just getting its own selection
of these distinctive plush in the middle of March) – Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” was looming large on the horizon.
Photo by Jim Hill
“We just can’t keep the Cheshire Cat in stock,” said the manager of one Disney Store that I spoke with last week. “We’re selling a lot of the other Pook-A-Looz. But people actually come into the Store looking for the Cheshire Cat. That’s the one character that they ask for by name.”
Of course, that may be because this person saw someone else carrying a Cheshire Cat Pook-A-Looz Crossbody Messenger Bag, or writing in the Cheshire Cat Pook-A-Looz journal. Or – more likely – because they saw a miniature plush key chain version of the Cheshire Cat Pook-A-Looz dangling off of a friends’ backpack.
Photo by Jim Hill
“We tried to take all of the lessons that we’d learned from our mini bean bag plush line and then apply those to the Pook-A-Looz,” explained John Mallett, director of plush for Disney Consumer Products. “This time around, we wanted to make sure that we gave people multiple ways to embrace this offbeat new take on our classic characters.”
Mind you, Zamora and Mallet knew that they were on to something last September when the Disney Pook-A-Looz were initially put on display at the D23 EXPO and immediately got an enthusiastic response from that event’s attendees.
Photo by Angela Ragno
“We had these people crowding into our display area and pointing at their favorite character,” Mallet laughed. “I remember asking one woman if she wanted to buy a Pook-A-Looz for her granddaughter. And she said ‘No, I want to buy a Pook-A-Looz for me.”
As it stands now, the Disney Store now has 20 Pook-A-Looz available for purchase, while the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts have 17 of these quirky characters up for sale. And once
these are gone …
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“Come this Fall, we’ll be introducing some new characters,” Mallet explained. “And then – if those sell well and everything goes according to plan – after that, every eight weeks or so, there’ll be a new assortment Pook-A-Looz hitting store shelves.”
And given how popular those “Alice in Wonderland” Pook-A-Looz became just as Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” was rolling into theaters … Well, is it any wonder that – just as “TRON
Legacy” makes its debut in Disney Digital 3D this December, that there should be some TRON-themed Pook-A-Looz hitting store shelves?
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“Those plushes were a lot of fun to design,” Zamora said. “To show that these Pook-A-Looz were supposedly made up of pixels, I actually made the eyes of all of the TRON plushes square-shaped.”
And speaking of Tim Burton … That filmmaker is notoriously protective of his characters from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Which is why there were those at DCP who doubted that Burton
would ever sign off on the idea of there being Pook-A-Looz version of Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie.
Photo by Angela Ragno
“But as soon as we showed him the designs and then explained that these ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ plushes were aimed at tweens, Tim immediately gave us permission to produce Pook-A-Looz versions of those characters,” Jose continued. “Oogie Boogie’s actually one of my favorite Pook-A-Looz. Given that – if you look on his back – he’s got this tiny spider who’s just escaped through a hole in Oogie’s seam.”
It’s those little touches (EX: The “O” –shaped mouth that’s hidden under the beard of the Pook-A-Looz version of Geppetto. As if this aged toymaker had just finished shouting “Pinocchio!” as he searches for that little wooden boy) that most excite Zamora about this new line of plush. But given that Jose is something of a Disney geek himself … Well, I then had to ask him that – if the Pook-A-Looz proves to be extremely popular with consumers and Zamora then gets to design dozens of quirky new versions of classic Disney & Pixar characters — which character would he most like to do?
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“I was just talking with John about this,” Jose said. “About how cool it would be to design a Reluctant Dragon
Pook-A-Looz. Or a set that pairs Humphrey the Bear with J. Audubon Woodlore.”
“And that may happen at some point in the future,” Mallet continued. “But – for now – we’re exploring ideas like Mickey in the 30s, 40s & 50s. Creating Pook-A-Looz that will appeal to
collectors while – at the same time – still be something that your average consumer might consider purchasing.”
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And given how strong sales have supposedly been for this introductory set of Disney Pook-A-Looz … Who knows? Maybe Jose Zamora will eventually get his wish and then be able to design a “Too cute for their own good” version of the Reluctant Dragon and Humphrey the Bear. Here’s hoping, anyway.
For further information on Disney Pook-A-Looz, please click on this link.