How long has Series 7 been out? A very long time methinks; I remember seeing it for sale on the web right on the heels of Series 6, but it was months before I’d spot it in the stores and even then, they weren’t just everywhere.
Should we be blaming COVID-19 for these disruptions….? Probably. I am surprised we haven’t seen any Series 8 yet, assuming there are plans for such. But anyway, onto the long awaited Series 7:
- 1 / 6 – Mulan
- 2 / 6 – Sebastian
- 3 / 6 – Cheshire Cat
- 4 / 6 – Wreck-It Ralph
- 5 / 6 – Tiger
- 6 / 6 – Jack Jack
Mulan doesn’t much remind me of Mulan, but I was also a bit older when this came out so it’s not burned into my brain in the same way as The Little Mermaid or The Lion King. There are some obvious features like the paper fan as the spoiler and a shuriken at the upper exhaust. The color scheme is absolutely gorgeous. I love the transition from cream-colored to dark brown to blue and then a kind of sea green.
Sebastian comes to us a cartoony Caddy, and it pretty much looks like Sebastian’s face was molded onto the front of a car. The headlights almost resemble pinchers, and Sebastian’s carapace is evident as the covering of the cabin. It’s like they got off to a good start and then just walked off.
Next is the Cheshire Cat, who can be downright eerie. Overall the vehicle does a good job of representing a portly feline. He’s even got the tail and the pink/magenta stripes. But what do we think of when we think of the Cheshire Cat? Maybe a creepy oversized smile? Those big bright eyes? A floating, disconnected face…? The car tries to capture the smile where the grille would be, but it’s fairly small.
Wreck-It Ralph: truly one of the “new classics” Disney has churned out over the past several years. This vehicle is…unfamiliar to say the least, but I guess it’s supposed to be a more mobile version of your standard crane equipped with a wrecking ball – appropriate enough. There is a certain element of laziness there, like turning a police officer into a police cruiser. Ralph destroys stuff…so does this truck…but what else are we left with to connect…?
Tigger has become a tow truck, so that’s something. The colors are on point, but where is Tigger’s springy tail!? That’s like Tigger’s main thing, bouncin’ all around on his tail… I suppose it’s supposed to be part of the towing apparatus but if so, it just looks broken, or at the least bent the wrong way. What is going on there!?
Last in the set is Jack Jack from The Incredibles who I know next to nothing about. Apparently he’s got a lot of shapeshifting-related powers but you wouldn’t really know that from looking at this compact. If you give it a look directly from the front a rather creepy visage is evident between the lights (rear-view mirrors…?) and the grille…but it looks more like something from a Cars knock-off than it does a baby. They do seem to have gotten the color scheme right at least.
And that, for better or worse, is Series 7. Clearly I am underwhelmed, especially after what I considered a creative high point in Series 6. I dunno if they handed these off to the junior designers or were forced to rush them out or maybe even gathered up rejects from past series, but they feel markedly uninspired and bereft of the creativity that made these so desirable. As if to add insult to injury, 2 of them are imbued with functionless, nondescript pieces of plastic: Ralph’s wrecking ball and Tigger’s towing rig.
So what do you think? Am I being too harsh? Is there something magical about these that I’m missing? Let me know what kind of taste Series 7 left in your mouth, especially when stacked against previous series.
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