A Closer Look at DISNEY Series 2 Character Cars

Alrighty, this is right on the heels of my other Disney Series 2 article. I kinda wanted to include this stuff in that article, but I was already falling so far behind. At any rate, now that I’ve got all of the cars open, there’s a few more details I want to get into. Remember, the Series 2 lineup is as follows:

• 1 / 6 – Minnie Mouse
• 2 / 6 – Peter Pan
• 3 / 6 – Belle
• 4 / 6 – Pinocchio
• 5 / 6 – Stitch
• 6 / 6 – Sulley

If any of these seems redundant from the previous article, my apologies. It won’t kill anyone to read a couple of adjectives an extra time or two.

Naturally, Minnie Mouse is pretty basic and essentially a feminized version of Mickey from Series 1. The sporty car has a bit of a deeper curve and generally more rounded features. The “ears” comprise what could be considered a spoiler, yet they’re almost obscured by the 3D-ish box that sits on top behind the cabin. It definitely feels a little “simple” but if they’d gone in hardcore with the details it wouldn’t feel much like the classic “Minnie Mouse.” I am slightly interested in what it mightlook like with pink replacing the red (a more modern interpretation) but overall I like the “boy-clone / girl-clone” dichotomy for this pair of characters.

Previously I described Peter Pan as something coming out of the Bugatti camp, and I still feel that way. It’s a little sleeker and more “spaceship-y” than your typical hyper-car. The fin-like protrusion created by Peter’s feather gives it a very sleek look. A couple of touches I didn’t notice until opening it were the small belt in hood area and the sword resting along the right side of the body whereabouts the passenger door would be. Also, the entire green body rests atop a grayish semi-transparent “foundation.” The reason? Well I don’t really know. Maybe it’s a nod to everyone’s ability to fly around. It is a bit of a bizarre addition.

I really love the throwback design of Belle’s car. It’s big and yellow and grandiose like her iconic evening gown. It’s classy, sophisticated…impressive without being flashy or outlandish. The muscle car-ish design belies Belle’s femininity a bit but I’ll let it slide. There is a very cool detail on the back windshield – I won’t bother trying to take a picture of it because it won’t show – but instead of a regular ol’ windshield, it resembles green stained glass and in the very middle is a rose housed within a dome, a very clear nod to the magical rose that drives the plot of Beauty and the Beast.

Originally I pointed out that Pinocchio’s elongated hood was a representation of his famous nose. As I opened it, I noticed a seam about half way down…check it, the front half of the hood (“nose”) pulls forward revealing an uber-tiny engine! It’s almost like opening the hood by sliding it out like a drawer. What’s the one, big, defining feature that everyone knows about Pinocchio? His growing nose! Even though it is a total gimmick, the fact that they’ve worked it into the design without it interfering is pretty cool.

Stitch is neither a character I’m all that attached to nor one I grew up intermittently exposed to, so I sortta judge it from a “super-objective” standpoint. Upon closer inspect, I really like the compact yet sporty shape. It look a lot like something you might expect to see whizzing around the Italian countryside in the next 5 to 10 years. It’s also a very unique, indigo hue that I didn’t pick up on at first, further accentuated by the vibrant turquoise undercarriage.

Besides Minnie, I’d peg Sulley as the most recognizable, provided one is familiar with Monsters, Inc. I’m not sure if anything really jumps out at me now that it’s out of the package…perhaps the prominent brow-line which now functions as the overhang on the windshield is a bit more obvious. It is the only matte piece in Series 2, which I suppose is a small nod to Sulley’s fur. Most of the truck’s lines are slanted, giving it sense of motion and action and not just a boring, static tow-truck. Sulley was hardly the most nimble of the monsters, but he was alive, and all the diagonal lines contribute to the illusion.

So there we go, a little more up close and personal with these newbies. I love the variety of shapes and color, and as bizarre as that Pinocchio thing is, it’ll be a while before its oddness is matched or topped. Let me know what you think below!

SERIES 2 Disney Character Cars (FOUND!)

In these recent dark days, I happened upon a single bright spot early last week. Now I had speculated that this thing may one day be a possibility, and what do you know, here it is!

We’re talking about a bona fide follow-up to the Disney Character Cars, a solid Series 2!

Series 2

• 1 / 6 – Minnie Mouse
• 2 / 6 – Peter Pan
• 3 / 6 – Belle
• 4 / 6 – Pinocchio
• 5 / 6 – Stitch
• 6 / 6 – Sulley

I almost missed ’em. For quite a while since the New Year, my local Walmart has had the same swath of Character Cars and the like, mostly the latest DCU guys, the RealRiders SFV cars, a handful of Jurassic World stuff, and a small assortment of Disney Series 1 Character Cars. Being that Minnie Mouse was at the front my eyes initially passed over it. I had to do a bit of a double take and say to myself, “that’s a bow! Mickey ain’t got no bow!” All told, I spotted 2 Minnies, a Pinocchio, and Belle.

Believe you me, I was frantically searching the store for the missing three. I was checking stores left and right for like 3 days. It just seemed strange to me that there were only 4 cars on the shelf. I mean, yeah, someone coulda beaten me to it, but I go so often and – typically – so early that I don’t want to shrug my shoulders and entertain this possibility just yet. And if there was someone perusing Hot Wheels at such an hour it seems like they woulda gone ahead and gobbled up the entire collection. Now it’s also possible that Walmart stopped stocking midway trough the box. It’s a bit of an unusual circumstance unless the shelves are already saturated, but it does happen from time to time.

Finally I found my missing 3 early Friday morning at the TTC Walmart. Thank goodness.

Based on experience, I would’ve guessed 3 Minnie and 1 of each of the other 5 to a case. However, according to the freshly stocked shelves at Walmart, I saw 2 >Minnie, 2 Pinocchio, and then 1 each of the remaining 4.

Series 1 of the Disney cars are among the most well-designed Character Cars in my opinion, especially as a lot. Yes, I think Mike is kind of a whack choice but that doesn’t take away from the quality of the design. Does Series 2 live up to its predecessor…? I think. There’s a good mix of old and new characters, though I’m quite surprised they’re not reaching into their late 80’s to early 2000’s “Renaissance period,” ‘when so many of their modern day classics came to be: The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Pocahantas, Aladdin, Mulan, whatever else I missed).

First up is Minnie Mouse who, let’s face it, is basically a copy of Mickey with a big-ass bow and a few white spots. Lazy? Eh, maybe, but then again this is kinda how those male-female pairs were portrayed back in the era they were created. You had some simple anthropomorphic animals with the male presented as fairly neutral and the girl endowed with some very stereotypical gender cues: dresses, bows, high heels, long hair, lipstick, prominent eyelashes, etc. The 2 vehicles match each other quite nicely.

Peter Pan was one of those things that was just a little too old for me. I remember it being on when I was a young child, but my memory of it doesn’t extend much beyond “a really long cartoon.” Regardless, this is an excellent car. It looks like something from Bugatti or Ferrari, extremely aerodynamic and built for speed. I guess this is a homage to Peter Pan’s nimbleness and ability to fly. The feather manifests as a center fin in the rear which I thought was a nice touch, and the two-tone green gives it an expensive, exotic, highly customized appearance.

Coming in at number 3 is Belle, the “beauty” from Beauty and Beast. The roomy car has an old school, classic feel to it with a reserved opulence, a restrained beauty. Maybe it’s just big and yellow like her dress. Seems like the Beast would be a better candidate for a Character Car, but I think they did a good job in conveying her wholesome nature.

Next up is Pinocchio which appropriately looks like a little wooden, toy car. This interpretation is slightly more abstract than some. Several colors are used to represent the puppet’s unique clothing and the infamous nose is built into the elongated hood.

Then there’s the extraterrestrial or lab-grown or whatever Stitch from Lilo & Stitch. These guys are a bit after my time so I don’t know much except that Stitch has his “alien form” and another, more passable “dog form.” Car-wise he’s a short blue coupe, which I guess suits him well enough, and the large ears are worked into the shape of the oversized doors.

Disney revisits Monsters, Inc. for its final entry in Series 2, the big blue Sulley. And that’s probably his biggest selling point, his size. In an almost predictable move, Sulley is turned into a tow-truck of sorts, with a soft blue body speckled with pastel purple spots. His horns double as the exhaust pipes and his tail becomes the towing apparatus. The tow-truck itself is pretty cool too. It’s got a sleek, modern look unlike anything you’d see on the real road.

Overall I’m pleasantly surprised by this second offering from Disney. As with Series 1 it’s clear that a lot of time and care went into making each vehicle unique and none of them seem hastily or lazily conceived. Personally I’d swap out Stitch and Sulley for more “classic” characters but I’ve got zero problem with the cars themselves. Peter Pan wins my vote for overall aesthetics, while I think I’ll give “best translation” over to Belle. Obviously I haven’t kept up with much news since I had no idea these were even coming and I feel kinda silly about that, but hell, it’s cool to be completely surprised right there in the store once in a while. The back of the card even shows us the full roster of both series!

Will Series 3 ever happen? I’d say there’s a good chance. I know Disney’s all about the heroes and princesses and whatever, but that doesn’t change the fact that the villains tend to look cooler. I’m definitely down for some Jafar, Ursula, or Scar.

Be sure to check back soon after I open ’em all up and give the a closer look! (You can check out my “closer look” by clicking here now!) I can already tell there are a few surprises to be had once I start handling them…