So, the story goes like this... Duffy the bear was originally conceived as a mascot for Tokyo Disneyland Resort. Duffy became something of a phenomenon when he was introduced at Tokyo Disneyland's sister park Disney Sea. Thats the thing about Duffy. he wasn't in an attraction, he wasn't a character in any show at the park... He was just Duffy the Disney bear at Tokyo DisneySea. Then he became a craze. If you think Mickey Mouse is the most popular character at Tokyo Disneyland, you would be wrong... because it is Duffy. Duffy is on everything. Pins,shirts,books you name it. Duffy's meet & greets are among the busiest at the park. There are points of interest through out the park where you take a picture of your Duffy bear against that scenic vista. Duffy even eventually scored his own show at DisneySea. In Short, Tokyo loves Duffy.
Sunday night at a Passholder only event, Duffy was introduced to America for the very first time. Disneyland Imagineers have said that Duffy is going to have a huge impact on the North American Disney parks. Duffy will be Disneyland and Disney World parks for meet & greets, there will be special Duffy photo areas, he will be on pins, he will be in books, t-shirts...and for you Vinylmation fanatics, word has it that Vinylmation figures will no longer be shaped like Mickey, but instead will look like Duffy. So who is Duffy, and why should American audiences care? Well, Duffy has a very cute back story.
Since everything a DisneySea has to do with the sea's, so of course is Duffy's origin story. Basically Duffy is Mickey's teddy bear. He was made by Minnie Mouse and she gave Duffy to Mickey one night before he shipped out to sea. Mickey always kept the bear close to him, in his "duffle" bag.
Needless to say Duffy is gonna hit the states in a big way, but will American park goers be as fanatic about Duffy as the Japanese? Only time will tell but in the end he is a very lovable, Hug able, cute teddy bear with a Mickey Mouse birth mark on his butt. He is gonna be huge.
-Admiral Duke
1 comment:
wow! This is cool, it was so hard to find Duffy before hand in Disneyland. I will actually be there for the premiere of the new store!
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