Who is Duffy the Disney Bear?
Disneyland: I was looking at the Disneyland Resort's official Facebook page, and found something I would like to share with you.
This is a possible continuation of my post about
Characters Kids Might Not Know These Days. Anyway, there was a link on Disneyland's FB page to an
article on the Disney Parks Blog about an unfamiliar Disney character, named Duffy the Disney Bear. He hasn't been featured in any Disney cartoons, as he was just introduced to Disneyland and WDW. I looked at the comments on the Facebook post, and 105 out of 197 comments either ask who Duffy is or dislike the idea of a "Disney Bear" because they think he's another marketing ploy. I actually think that Duffy is a bad idea. What do you as loyal theme park fans think about this "new guy"?
He's supposed to be Mickey's Teddy bear, and I believe he comes from the Tokyo parks. Yeah, it's marketing, but, ultimately, what isn't in the entertainment world?
Disney's made Teddy bears before. My son has one that he called "Freddie" that he got when he was dragged along to the Perfectly Princess Tea Party at the Grand Floridian several years ago. That one's a bit furrier than Duffy, and lacks the sailor suit, but otherwise looks pretty much the same in the face, with the "hidden mickey."
From steve lee
Posted October 25, 2010 at 8:10 AM
I'm way too lazy to research this, but wasn't this originally introduced in the US, bombed miserably, but went on to massive success in Tokyo only to then be reintroduced here as an import from the Tokyo parks to better results than before?
(yes, I'm also too lazy to fix that run-on sentence)
I was going to write a Blog Story about it, but I got too busy and it wasn't exactly huge news outside of the parks.
Duffy the Bear is, for all purposes, "My First Disney Bear", but with a different story (taken from Tokyo).
You have to remember that Tokyo Disneysea is a park that is both nautical and world themed. Minnie made Mickey the bear so that he can have a companion when he traveled AROUND THE WORLD.
I put AROUND THE WORLD in caps because this sounds very similar to another Disney Park: EPCOT. They decided to bring the Duffy story to the States and now he is a meetable character at EPCOT. Also, sorry for all you Millienium lovers, the masks have been replaced with Duffy!
I personally think it is genious for Disney to do at EPCOT: Figment for Future World, Duffy for World Showcase. Also, what else could connect all the countries than a traveling bear? As far as I have seen and heard, this has been a massive hit!
Okay, but he's at California Adventure, too, so that backstory won't play here in LA.
But the bear is cute. Maybe that's enough.
We were in EPCOT on his debut day (Saturday, October 16), and he a big tan teddy bear with a white and blue sailor suit. My 8-month old liked him better than Mickey, probably because he's really fuzzy.
There is a dock at DCA.....ok, so Disney just wanted to rebrand the bear!
From what I have heard, he is a big hit at EPCOT and why not? He is perfect for World Showcase.
However, you do spend pretty big bucks on his clothing from each country.
In addition, some of the comments on the FB post (at the time) mentioned Pooh being the "Disney Bear". In fact, this character was conceived when A.A. Miline (the original author of the Pooh books) took his son, the REAL Christopher Robin, to the London Zoo and saw a black bear named Winnie. C.R. then bought a new teddy bear and named him Winnie the Pooh.
Has anyone been to DCA recently and knows if Duffy is actually doing well there? I know he's a big hit in EPCOT (though still not to the level of Tokyo, where they worship him), but I just don't think he'd take off in DCA where his backstory really doesn't fit.
He's across from the Avalon Cove restaurant in a small port-like setting. The meet-n-greet area isn't very big but year there was some guest who wanted to meet the bear, the last time i was there not to long ago.
EPCOT is perfect for Duffy! Its hard to believe that he is from Japan and not from EPCOT.
It is also interesting to see Disney rebranding their so so "My first Disney Bear" into the Duffy craze!
You've got to love Universal: At USF, in a window pane at one of their shops, they have a bunch of little teddy bears with "DUFF" Beer bottles scatered throughout! :D
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