Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Disney favourites turned into skinny minnies for Barneys campaign

The US department store has dramatically - and controversially - slimmed down Disney characters for its Christmas campaign, giving new meaning to the expression 'Skinny Minnie'.









The cartoon mavericks already have two fashionable tie-ups planned - Harrods' Christmas windows will be featuring Disney Princesses reimagined by the likes of Valentino and Versace, plus some of Britain's brightest design talents are preparing to show off their couture creations for Minnie Mouse at London Fashion Week next month - but clearly that's not enough.

Now Minnie, Daisy, Goofy and other legendary characters have been given a makeover by the likes of Balmain, Lanvin and Dolce & Gabbana for luxury US department store Barneys Christmas campaign. Titled 'Electric Holiday', the campaign will feature a three-dimensional electric light show; a moving art short film in the window displays of the Madison Avenue store that will turn Disney's most-loved heroes into runway supermodels and famous fashion designers into Disney characters. Plus, they'll be various exclusive Disney-themed designer objects available in store.

But, as exciting as all that sounds, what's really got people talking is the spindly-legged illustrations of a Lanvin-clad Minnie Mouse, a Dolce & Gabbana-wearing Daisy Duck and a Balmain-bedecked Goofy. Gone are their cuddly feathered, furred and perfectly-proportioned physiques to be replaced by 5'11" human bodies.

"When we got to the moment when all Disney characters walk on the runway, there was a discussion," Barneys creative director Dennis Freedman told WWD . "The standard Minnie Mouse will not look so good in a Lanvin dress. There was a real moment of silence, because these characters don't change. I said, 'If we're going to make this work, we have to have a 5-foot-11 Minnie,' and they agreed. When you see Goofy, Minnie and Mickey, they are runway models."

While we think the outfits are an improvement (sorry Minnie, but there's no harm in giving those pantaloons a little holiday), we're not sure it was entirely necessary to alter our beloved Disney favourites to freaky proportions. And don't get us started on the creepy human hands.



What happened to our old time favourite toons? 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...