Does anyone else just not get Duffy....

[addicted2dizney]

All those who think that Duffy was created solely to make money, hate to break it to you, but all of Disney was created to make money..

lol... yes of course but the rest of the stuff seems to be done so under radar that even though we know we're spending money on stuff we probably want to spend the money. I may as well be on the jersey shore boardwalk buying Duffy. For some reason it just sucks a little bit of the magic out of Disney for me.

 

[stitchlovestink]

We were at WDW in June 2010 & got the "Mickey & Disney Bear" book for DD. I'd never heard of Disney Bear then, but I understood who Duffy was when he was introduced later. If you don't know the backstory, I understand why Duffy would not appeal to you.

Well the copy I have of the book titled "the story of Disney Bear A Day at the Magic Kingdom" is copyrighted 2005. So he has been around AT LEAST that long and probably longer. I'm pretty sure he existed prior to my purchasing this book. Personally, I think he's kinda cute although I don't go all out for him. but to each his/her own. It took a long time for vinylmations to grow on me. I thought those things were ugly for the longest time!! LOL!!

 

[TeresaNJ]

Add me to the list of Duffy dislikers! I seriously doubt he will ever grow on me.

 

[kaligal]

I hate Duffy.

I get Disney wanting to cash in on the Build a Bear thing.

I just wish they had been able to make it Mickey and Minnie.

I hate Duffy.

If there were an "I hate Duffy" club, I'd join it.

 

[starstruck93]

I hate Duffy.

I get Disney wanting to cash in on the Build a Bear thing.

I just wish they had been able to make it Mickey and Minnie.

I hate Duffy.

If there were an "I hate Duffy" club, I'd join it.

LOL! I feel the exact same way! He's so generic looking! Totally not feeling the Disney magic in this character at all.

 

[MeLady]

We got our Duffy Christmas ornament in 2005 on our first family trip together. I am a huge Mickey fan & love teddy bears. So this Duffy just made sense.

We read the Duffy story every year as a family when we put him on our Disney tree, though the story goes, Mickey was alone in the park & Duffy was there to comfort him. Hence he has a hidden Mickey on his face & paws.

Not sure about this new story since we love the story we know...

 

[TiggersBuddy]

I can't dislike any teddy bear, but I agree with the majority on Duffy. I didn't like seeing him squeezing our my other beloved Disney characters in the retail shops, etc. We already have a bear, and his name is Winnie The Pooh, thank you very much. I guess Disney doesn't have to pay roylaties on Duffy.

 

[Starscream275]

Time to throw my two cents on this matter, in a manner of speaking that is. Duffy the Bear, where do I start with him? First off, why in god's name do the Japanese have this obession with Duffy? I mean I know it should be expected because the Japanese have a thing for "cute" or anything that remotely looks cute to them. Ya know? Pikachu, Kirby Winnie the Pooh? They like that sort of thing and that's something I get but what I don't get is the fact that Duffy is meant to be quote unquote: "cute and adorable". There's nothing cute and adorable about him he looks like any other teddy bear you'd find at a teddy bear store or to put it in my perspective he looks he's stepped out of the Build-a-bear workshop and then appiled some acid to his head and then came out like...well...that. I don't know he just looks freaky that way I mean a sailor's outfit? Bleh! That's disgusting. Man the things that come out of my head is astounding.

Second, he just seems like an after thought to me. The reason why I say this is because he looks really out of place to be a disney character and seemed like he was intended to be for another company. I mean when I was reading his backstory I was just like: "Okay how exactly does an ugly, scruffball of a teddy bear that hardly looks like Mickey even fit into the disney universe?" I mean this is a universe where a walking talking duck like Donald exists, where toys come to life when we are not around to see them do this and yet Disney felt it was a good idea to include him anyway? He serves no purpose other than to be a toy to the Japanese and most of the time the merchandise for him there along with Epcot itself is bloody everywhere!

Thrid, HE'S ONLY WELL KNOWN IN JAPAN! Nobody in the states or anybody else outside of America doesn't know who the hell Duffy is! I mean it may have worked with Marth and Roy in Super Smash bros Melee to represent their franchise, Fire Emblem but how the hell is anybody whose not Japanese supposed to know who Duffy is as a disney character?!

That's why most of us find him pointless to begin with because he has nothing to offer us other than a way to make money for Disney, he's flat as a character with nothing redeeming about him and above else he looks plain ugly to most folks anyway!

Screw Duffy! I hate his guts and I hope this craze ends very soon!

 

[jcvalenti]

I though Duffy was ridiculous as well ... until our family trip last year. My 5 year old absolutely fell in love with him. He became obsessed with Duffy, and has been for about a year now. We're going back in June, and all my son can talk about is meeting Duffy again, and getting new outfits for his Duffy bears (he has four of them now). When he was playing Disneyland Kinect (which he got for Christmas), my son was walking through the park and saw Duffy, and the squeal of delight as he ran his character up to Duffy and gave him a hug was positively adorable.

I guess that's the magic of Disney - something for everyone to fall in love with. I don't see Duffy as any more of a "cash grab" than pin trading, vinylmation or any one of dozens of other Disney moneymaking schemes that I personally don't care about.

 

[KathleensKid]

He's extremely popular in Japan as is the girl version Shellie May. Here they are in a crane game at an arcade in Tokyo (photo by my friend who lives there):

 

[jensen]

I know he's getting pretty popular but is there anyone else out there that just not get the Duffy thing???

I guess I'm a Disney purist so when I see some random bear and they make a big hype over it, it just kind of kills the magic for me a bit!

It's like i'm zapped into any other generic theme park looking at this dumb bear. I know they have created a whole back story about it in Japan but keep him there!

I guess if there was actually some movie clip from years back showing Mickey with a bear that resembled Duffy I could try to get over it but he just irritates me! lol! anyone else? your thoughts for or against Duffy?

Help me not feel alone or share your reasons why you like him and help me try and accept him into the Disney family.

I totally didn't get the Duffy thing, either... until DD insisted that was the souvenir she had to have on our last trip. I tried and tried to talk her into something more "Disney", but that darn bear was all she wanted. So, now I get why he's there. Kids love him and parents will shell out rediculous amounts of money to buy him... and his outfits. I did!

 

[Andtototoo]

I had never heard of Duffy before going to Epcot last year and I assumed he was from a Disney Channel show of which we are ignorant because we don't watch kiddie shows. I actually asked a CM about it and she told us that he was a Japanese character, but that Disney used him to cash in on the build-a-bear craze.

I dunno, there is something about it that I don't like. It's one thing to sell, say, snow-cones because every amusement park sells snow-cones, but it seems like another thing entirely to introduce a character without a backstory apparent/known to most park visitors for the sole purpose of cashing in on it.

I guess... I think that given that Mickey Mouse became an icon because of his personality and the entire company was built on that personality, it bugs me that they've introduced an object for sale and then made a vapid character out of it. It seems backward, like the tail wagging the mouse, kwim?

I have NO objection to them making money off of "real" characters, but creating this thing seems unnecessarily cynical and greedy to me and makes me all too aware that I'm in a setting the sole purpose of which is to separate me from my money. In other words, Duffy is pulling back the curtain of illusion and showing me that it's not about giving me a magical experience, but giving me an opportunity to give them my money.

 

[eliza61]

All those who think that Duffy was created solely to make money, hate to break it to you, but all of Disney was created to make money..

LOL. very true. So then let me clarify. It seems Duffy was created to gouge money without any thought of imagination or creativity.

I think that's the big problem, Duffy is absolutely boring. He is no more special than any build a bear product. What distinguishes him as "mickey's bear"? If you picked him up at Walmart would you say "disney"?

If I wanted a gift for some one that would give them a clue that it had any thing to do with Disney, Duffy wouldn't be it.

So IMO Disney just threw some thing together because they wanted some thing to compete with build a bear.

 

[luvthemouse71]

LOL. very true. So then let me clarify. It seems Duffy was created to gouge money without any thought of imagination or creativity.

I think that's the big problem, Duffy is absolutely boring. He is no more special than any build a bear product. What distinguishes him as "mickey's bear"? If you picked him up at Walmart would you say "disney"?

If I wanted a gift for some one that would give them a clue that it had any thing to do with Disney, Duffy wouldn't be it.

So IMO Disney just threw some thing together because they wanted some thing to compete with build a bear.

I think even if you picked Duffy up at Walmart, he'd still say "disney". He's got Mickey heads on his paws and face. I think he's cute- and my 2 year old niece loves him.

Give me Duffy over Goofy, Figment and most of the Princesses anyday.

 

[MedicBill]

I hate this bear! The only reason he gets any attention is because he sleeps with Mickey. What kind of message does that send to children?!

 

[Starscream275]

He's extremely popular in Japan as is the girl version Shellie May. Here they are in a crane game at an arcade in Tokyo (photo by my friend who lives there):

There's a bloody female version?! What the fu-?! No! Noooo! Why Japan why?! Why are you doing this?! You just don't know when to stop do ya?! God stupid Japan and their stupid "cutesy wootesy" ways! RAGE! RAGE! RAAAAGE!

In all seriousness I don't get the Duffy craze either and I've already said what I need to say on this matter. It doesn't matter if the kids don't know who Duffy is they'll love him anyway with his customizable costumes and everything that comes with him!

God damn it, Disney. I can see it now, Duffy Bear the movie starring Ben Stiller as Duffy! And he'll can frollocking away in the dusty dusty woods with all his friends! Set your adorable levels to 10!

Bleh! Just the thought of that makes me mad.

 

[rn448698]

Duffy is the devil reincarnate. I don't get it. It should go away. Please.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

I don't know who Duffy is or when he came about. I've seen some things at the parks about him but I totally gloss it over so I don't really notice it. Then again, I don't get vinylmation either.

 

[CurlyJo224]

Eh, I don't like Tinkerbell, but she's really all over the place. Everyone has a character (and like it or not, Disney has made him a character) that they don't like. You just have to go on with your life.

 

[kaligal]

Eh, I don't like Tinkerbell, but she's really all over the place. Everyone has a character (and like it or not, Disney has made him a character) that they don't like. You just have to go on with your life.

He isn't a character. He's a bear with cute outfits.

And he sucks.

I don't like Sassy Tink. I like good old Tinkerbell, but not giant-eyed, semi sleazy, extremely sassy Tink. She annoys me. But I can't actually work up hatred for her.

I hate the stuffing out of Duffy.