Who on Earth is Duffy?

[mjaclyn]

I've been reading on the Disney Park Blog about their plans to incorporate Duffy into the parks. I vaguely remember seeing a bear at some point during my 20+ years of going to WDW, but the whole thing is so obscure. I didn't know who Duffy was or why they were bringing him to Epcot with a meet and greet as well as an entire line of merchandise. They are even getting rid of the kidcot masks and replacing them with a Duffy that can be colored and stamped in each country. Am I the only one who thinks this is strange? Even Disney recognizes that most guests don't know who Duffy is - the opening paragraph of their blog post contains the question: 'But who's Duffy, you might ask?'. I asked myself that very question and even after reading the back story on the bear think it's a stretch. There are Disney fans that are already confused about which bear this is. One bear was made for Mickey by Minnie Mouse for him to take on all his travels. Another bear was brought to life by Tinkerbell for a lonely Mickey visiting the Magic Kingdom. I just don't get the whole idea of Mickey's stuffed bear being a meet & greet character... Why couldn't Disney pour this much time, money and effort into marketing Figment who is the actual mascot of Epcot and is relevant? The whole thing seems pointless to me. Just another way for Disney to suck money from the masses.


One other thing... the name 'Duffy' is just plain bad. It makes me think of Duff Beer from the Simpsons.

 

[mikelan6]

It's just a way to make more money. Just like Vinylmation and the Pin collecting.

Duffy is HUGE in Tokyo Disney, so they're trying to recreate that here in the U.S.

 

[WaltD4Me]

Actually, Duffy is Mickey's teddy bear. At least he is in the book about Mickey visiting the Magic Kingdom...they talked about the book on one of the podcasts. It's a really cute book! Anyway, Duffy is Mickey's bear and he has Mickey heads on his paws. I have one. I got him several years ago. He started out as just a cute stuffed bear, but now they are doing the whole thing where you can buy him outfits and accesories. So yes, another way to make money. I can't believe he is getting his own Meet & Greet, but like Mike said he is really popular in Japan.

 

[mikelan6]

Here's a few Duffy photos I took in April ...

 

[WaltD4Me]

Interesting pictures. Who wants to lug three bears around a theme park? And why? Even one would be too much for me.

 

[mjaclyn]

Wow Miklan6... I can definitely see him being big in Tokyo. I think the Japanese culture is much more into those kinds of characters than we are in the states. You only have to step in to Mitsukoshi in Epcot to see what I'm talking about... Not that I don't like them but I definitely see how it's more widely accepted and loved in the Japanese culture. Which again confuses me as to why they want to saturate Epcot with it. I can see why they would sell Mickey's bear in the Emporium or MouseGear, but it seems like they're going overboard.

 

[duffy]

One other thing... the name 'Duffy' is just plain bad. It makes me think of Duff Beer from the Simpsons.

Hey! What's wrong with the name Duffy? It's been my name for almost 50 years!!

Remember, you can't get enough of that wonderful Duff!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Oh great. Another stuffed animal I'll have to talk DD out of wanting since her room is overflowing with them.

I can't wait.

 

[mjaclyn]

Hey! What's wrong with the name Duffy? It's been my name for almost 50 years!!

Remember, you can't get enough of that wonderful Duff!

LOL!!! I just don't think Disney meant to have their guests thinking of Homer J. chugging a cold one every time they mention Mickey's Teddy.

 

[Madi100]

They used to have a bear similar to Duffy at WDW. It wasn't called Duffy. We had two. A blue one and a purple one. The blue one was well loved (still is). The purple one sat on Em's bed for 3 years. We sold it for $400 on ebay. My mom also had a purple one that she sold for $700 on ebay.

 

[GenieCat]

An old James Coburn movie in which he says "Groovy" every ten minutes