Interview - Disney Princesses Toy Designer

Brett Singer — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Disney Princesses are getting a makeover. But don't worry -- unlike the "tween" Dora that Nickelodeon recently introduced, these new dolls are only trying to improve on what's already there. (This is, shall we say, change we can believe in.) "The Disney Store doll design team studied the classic princess movies and fine-tuned each doll’s face design, hairstyle and dress to make them even more true to the original character," according to a Disney Store spokesperson. Plus, now each Princess has friends! We asked Senior Designer Jaime Tracht, a 9-year toy business veteran, about the new dolls:

Babble: What is different about these new princesses?
Jaime Tracht: Everything is new about the dolls. The faces, hair quality, dress designs and accessories are all new. Each dress was created to mimic the silhouette of the original films with the addition of every little girl's favorite ingredient, Glitter! We also lengthened the hair for maximum playability while keeping as true to the character as possible.

B: Which princess is the most popular?
JT: Since the release of the newly designed girls the top spot for popularity has jumped all over the place. We are seeing new favorites, which is very exciting! Our usually titleholder of top princess has been held by Cinderella for years. Since the new dolls have been introduced she has been outsold by Belle, Jasmine and Pocahontas. It’s great to see such excitement for the girls who were previously less popular.

B: Do you have a favorite?
JT: It’s impossible for me to pick. I love Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas and Belle but Aurora and Mulan are so pretty and Snow is so cute and colorful. It’s very hard to decide.

B: Who are the "friends" that now come with the various princesses?
JT: In every movie our princesses have magical friends or sweet little animals helping them along in their journey. They play a special part in each story so they should naturally be a part of the doll. Jasmine has her loyal tiger Rajah and Belle has her enchanted friends Mrs. Potts, Chip and Lumiere. Aurora is accompanied by her 3 magical fairy friends and you can’t imagine Ariel without her mischievous friend Flounder and the musically gifted Sebastian. Each princess comes with these types of friends to complete their stories.

B: What are some of the details you added to the new dolls?
JT: They all capture the true essence of each individual character down to the most minute details. We did a constant comparison to the films throughout the entire process of design with special attention to the faces and dresses. Each character has such specific and identifiable characteristics, whether it be the swirl in the center of Aurora’s bangs, Jasmine’s larger more upturned eyes or the perfect pale yellow of Belles dress, we got it.

The dolls are now available at Disney Stores nationwide. Visit DisneyShopping.com to find a location near you.

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Is it fair to take pictures of Britney's kids?

Brett Singer — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:53:00 GMT

You may have heard about the photographs of Britney Spears smoking while 2-year-old Sean Preston was playing with her cigarette lighter. Well, the actual photo doesn't quite show that. Here it is:

Now, far be it from me to disagree with the celebrity media machine, but this doesn't look as bad as it sounds. In this pic she looks to be taking the cigarettes away from her child. That would be the right thing to do. The better thing to do would be to not smoke at all, and especially not in front of your kids. Second-hand smoke is very dangerous, especially to little lungs. It also makes me wonder if she was smoking while pregnant, which would be much worse. My guess – and I have nothing to back this up – is that she probably was. As a former smoker, I know how hard it is to quit, and it looks to me like the Britster is quite the nicotine addict.

Here's the part that gets me: the photos were taken at her house. Why? Presumably a photog with a mega-ultra-zoom lens – a "Pavarotti", as El Federline famously referred to them on his ill-fated rap album – was suspended from a helicopter or something and took the shot through her window or on her balcony.

She's a celebrity, and over 18 (although emotionally she might be, like, 12, but let's not go there). But her kids aren't. Not to sound like a celebrity defending dipstick ("LEAVE...BRITNEY...ALONE!"), but maybe there should be a law that prevents the kids from being photographed, at least when they're at home. As someone points out over at MomLogic, they didn't ask to be in this bizarre situation.

There are celebrities whose children you almost never see candid pictures of – Madonna, Howard Stern, Christie Brinkley, and I'm sure there are dozens more that I can't think of at the moment. Of course, those people aren't the unbelievable mess that Brit appears to be. At best, this photo shows poor judgment on her part, not only the smoking but also hanging out with her kid in front of an open window where a sleazoid photographer can get a clear shot. Um, curtains? A really high hedge? Move someplace else?

Of course, if nobody wanted to see the pictures, they wouldn't be worth anything, and photographers wouldn't take them. But that's a different topic.

Here are the rest of the photos. Hey, at least she looks pretty good in her bikini.

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