If you’re checking into MousePlanet each day for fresh content, you are aware that I share the Friday front page with Chris Barry, our columns appearing on alternate weeks. Chris, in turn, alternates his columns between his recurring “Top Five” theme and columns that deal with “Disney Stuff.” “The “Stuff” is where Chris offers looks at his seemingly endless assortment of Disney collectibles.
I’m not much of a collector myself; I think I’m more of a pack-rat than anything. Yet, as I scanned around the shelves and walls of my home, I was amazed at how much Disney stuff I have accumulated over the years, and more importantly, how many of these items will trigger a memory (usually of the “fond” variety) of how I acquired the particular item. For instance, take a look at this photo…
The gang at “Epcot Center.” Photo provided by Steve Russo.
I know they still do something similar in the Imagination pavilion but I really liked the backgrounds here better and… notice how it almost looks like a live shot? The cast member doing the work had a difficult time taking two photos, each with four of us, and merging them together against the backdrop. I have some video of his tribulations.
More recently, in December 2009, I had decided to brave the possibility of ax murderers and join a few dozen others at the Big Meet and Greet of RADP XIV (click here if you’re interested.) During the meet, I spent some time chatting with a RADP buddy, Keane Arase, and we made some tentative plans to meet again later in the week. We met again at his resort, Kidani Village, where I partook of some of his most excellent Macallan’s 18-year old single malt scotch. Laura Gilbreath, a blogger for AllEars, and her husband, Lee, were also along for this soiree. Much to our surprise, Keane brought out several panoramic photos he had taken and “sewn” together and insisted we each take one. That resulted in this hanging today in my bedroom…
Taking me away to Main Street. Photo by Steve Russo.
This photo is roughly 48” wide and I apologize that the quality of his original diminishes a bit in my photo-of-a-photo. Now every time I walk into our bedroom, I can glance up and be immediately whisked back to Main Street in the Magic Kingdom, a great feeling especially when I’ve had a tough day. Keane has since gifted a few more photos, all great, mainly because he’s considering selling some of them and is testing out (and pricing) his ability to produce and ship them. If you’d like to see more of his work, I’ll give him a plug and tell you to visit his site here (Keane’s Web site).
Here’s a great photo that also carries an interesting back story…
Early one morning on a dewy fairway. Photo by Steve Russo… of a Disney photo.
I first spotted this large, framed photo in the late 1990s in Team Mickey in the Downtown Disney Marketplace. Being both a Disney fanatic and an avid golfer I really liked the photo, but for some strange reason, I did not purchase it. A year later, we again visited Disney World and I had made up my mind to buy it. Naturally, it was no longer available. As a matter of fact, the only place I could find it on property was hanging with the other paraphernalia on a wall inside the Comedy Warehouse… and they wouldn’t sell it to me (yes, I tried.)
After that trip, I tried to locate the photo in vain. I called Disney Merchandise, checked on-line, etc. I even posted on RADP and a few other forums but, although I received suggestions, nothing helped.
I had resigned myself to missing out on acquiring this photo when, out of the blue, I received an email from a woman that came across my pleas for help as a result of a Google search. She was trying to buy a personalized golf bag for her husband’s birthday and she wanted a Disney theme. When she saw my message, she contacted me because… wait for it… her husband was Goofy in the photo and… he had, in his possession, the original slides from that photo shoot. OK, you can queue the “it’s a small world” song here.
To make a long story short, I helped her locate the golf bag and she sent along the 24” x 30” photo you see above, and a few more. Here’s one of them next to my birthday wishes from Goofy…
More Mickey and Goofy. Photo by Steve Russo.
I did send along a check, as payment for the enlargements, and a little bit extra to take Goofy out for a birthday drink on me. Really, it was the least I could do.
In the early 2000s, we began collecting Disney snow globes. We’ve accumulated a small collection that includes a few Mickeys, a Pooh, a Tinker Bell and a few representing the theme parks. I’m not even sure if this qualifies as a snow globe but this recreation of the Fantasmic! boat was something my wife and I both liked. It did, however, cause quite a bit of discussion before we agreed to purchase it.
The Fantasmic! boat. Photo by Steve Russo.
We really liked it but, it’s big, it’s heavy and it was quite a bit more expensive than your typical snow globe. Obviously, we did buy it and arranged to have it shipped home—I wanted no part of trying to fit this into a suitcase or carrying it aboard a plane.
It arrived a few days later and, like most Disney shipments, had been wrapped in about 15 miles of shipping material. Even so, when I un-crated it, the first thing I noticed was a small piece had broken off. Goofy’s nose protrudes a bit from the rest of the float and had broken in shipment or, perhaps, during packing.
As I’m sure you’re aware, Disney would certainly replace the item if I returned the original but I wanted no part of re-packing it, shipping it back and waiting for a replacement. I dragged out the ol’ Super Glue and… voila! Goofy’s proboscis was almost as good as new.
The results of my “plastic surgery”. Photo by Steve Russo.
While there’s not a meaningful story beyond them, I’ll include a few more photos just to give you a sense of my Disney addiction. Just inside our front door hangs this car key depository…
My Mic-keys. Photo by Steve Russo.
We came across this in the wood carving shop at the Downtown Disney marketplace and decided that if we had to hang our keys somewhere, it might as well be Disney-themed.
Just across from Mic-Keys hangs a few post cards I found in a Main Street shop. We were just browsing when I fell in love with the photo of a semi-transparent Walt Disney strolling around Sleeping Beauty’s castle. I had no idea how I could display it so I kept looking and decided a few other postcards would fill out the montage nicely.
A postcard montage. Photo by Steve Russo.
So there you have it… just a few of the items hanging around Chez Russo and the back stories of how they came to be. I’ve got tons more so there’s probably another column or two there someday.
As always, thanks for reading.
