Everyone has to go to Disney in Nov.

[Ex-Imagineer]

This just in... If you ever saw any of the Peanut's statues in Saint Paul, MN over the years this will get your attention....

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St. Paulites get sculpture gig that'll honor Mickey Mouse
Curt Brown, Star Tribune

Published July 23, 2003


Randi and Hart Johnson, the St. Paul sister-brother design tandem behind four summers' worth of "Peanuts" sculptures, are going to Disney World.

At a news conference scheduled for today in Los Angeles, the Johnsons will join Walt Disney Productions CEO Michael Eisner and comedian Drew Carey as they unveil the first of 75 6-foot polyurethane Mickey Mouse statues slated to pop up in November to honor the lovable rodent's 75th anniversary.

The first sculpture is expected to go on display at Disney World in Orlando on Nov. 18, the anniversary of Mickey's debut in 1928. The sculptures will resemble the Snoopys, Charlie Browns, Lucys and Linuses that have dotted St. Paul street corners the last four summers as a tribute to the late hometown cartoonist Charles Schulz.

The Mickey Mouse figures will be created at Tivoli Too, the Johnsons' sculpture and design studio on Ford Parkway in St. Paul. Celebrities, including Carey and actor John Travolta, will decorate the figures.

The Johnsons befriended Schulz and his family before his death in 2000 and won their blessing for the public arts tribute, modeled after a Chicago display of cows.

The Mickeys are expected to go on display at Disney properties, but more specifics won't be available until today.

"We're pretty excited about it," said Hart Johnson, Tivoli Too's vice president, speaking Tuesday from L.A. "The Disney people have been working on this for a couple months, but we were ordered not to say a word."

Curt Brown is at curt.brown@startribune.com.

 

[KNWVIKING]

We will be there the last day of Nov and the first week of Dec. I assume they will still be there ? Are the Mickey's going on display one at a time as they are produced ? Or are they already done just waiting to be set up ?

 

[Cricket2]

Here's a Lucy to show an example.

 

[crusader]

That Lucy looks dreadful.

 

[Planogirl]

Originally posted by crusader
That Lucy looks dreadful.

I agree but there is a normal looking Lucy barely visible in the background. I hope that we don't end up with pink Mickeys all over the parks. It reminds me too much of that cake!

 

[Cricket2]

Originally posted by crusader
That Lucy looks dreadful.

There is a not-so-fine line between art and graffiti. I don't like to think of myself as having any taste at all, but I agree with the above "dreadful" in this case.

Somehow, Drew Carey and finger paints don't sound like a classic combination.

"Sounds dangerous" to me


JC

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Am I reading that wrong? I think Drew Carey is just there to "unveil" them- not to actually paint or design any of them??

 

[crusader]

I hope that we don't end up with pink Mickeys all over the parks.

Pink Mickeys is being way too kind. That things been Attacked!!!!!!

Remember - the emperor really wasn't wearing any new clothes.

 

[CookieGVB]

The story says, "...celebrities, including Drew Carey and John Travolta, will decorate the statues."

I've seen similar things to this before. Celebrities decorate items that are later auctioned off for charities. Some are cute...some...well...

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Well, I did ask if I was reading that wrong. Apparently I was just reading one part mentioning Drew Carey and skipped over the part you showed. My bad.

 

[C.Ann]

If the Mickey's look ANYTHING like that Lucy, the "powers that be" at Disney should be placed in a 12-step program - immediately !!!!

There's bad...and then there's BAAAAAAAAAAADDDDD..

 

[emmagata]

Well, if any of the Mickey's look like that awful (gag, barf) Lucy, I'm glad to say that we'll be gone by the 16th!

 

[FriendsOfEeyore]

This should actually be pretty cool.

I live in the Twin Cities, and work in downtown St. Paul. I have seen almost all of the Charlie Browns, Snoopies, Lucys and Linuses.

Each one is painted and accessorized by it's artist. Granted the one Lucy that is shown here is truly awful, but each artist has a vision or an episode that they were trying to follow.

My favorite Lucy statue was one where she was real estate agent and she was trying to sell Snoopy's Dog House.

Keep an open-mind on this idea....

Edward

 

[jlambrig]

This is no different than the cows in Chicago, pigs in Cincinnati, Indy cars in Indianapolis, etc etc. Artists are creating different visions with basically one central theme. Regardless of whether you think that one Lucy is dreadful, it would be no fun if they were all normal looking. While I may not like one particular version, I enjoy the entire collection as a whole.

 

[crusader]

Regardless of whether you think that one Lucy is dreadful, it would be no fun if they were all normal looking. While I may not like one particular version, I enjoy the entire collection as a whole.

Depends on who is paying for the collection. The buyer should be entitled to decide whether or not they want to purchase and display every single piece. Hopefully they will immediately toss anything that looks as bad as the example we are being shown here.

 

[jlambrig]

Originally posted by crusader
Hopefully they will immediately toss anything that looks as bad as the example we are being shown here.

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

 

[crusader]

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Well that's a relief!!!
For a minute there I was afraid they wouldn't know where to look!

 

[eeyorefanatic]

If you look at their web site you will see that they have already done design work for Disney including the SImply Pooh line of collectible figurines:

And here is a photo of one of the peanuts sculptures they have done:

I think their work looks just fine to me

 

[*Robin*]

Originally posted by crusader
Depends on who is paying for the collection. The buyer should be entitled to decide whether or not they want to purchase and display every single piece. Hopefully they will immediately toss anything that looks as bad as the example we are being shown here.

God knows we don't want any free thinking around here!! Disney falls into that trap far too often anyway, don't you think?

I for one am thrilled they are doing this, and look forward to seeing it!

 

[ppony]

I too am in the Twin Cities and I work dowtown St Paul so I've seen my share. I liked a lot of the Snoopy's. I'll try to dig up a pic to show. Yes, that Lucy wasn't a good example there were LOTS that were nice. But honestly, I wish they had just done Snoopy, Woodstock (which they haven't gotten to yet) and maybe CB. the Linus now looks really weird.

The Mickey ones will be great if real artists do them I'm sure. If only celebs do them, well...you know what they could be.

We'll be done at WDW the second week of Dec. Hope they're still there.