It Might Be "An Honorable Proposal," But It's A Lousy Ornament!

The Good: Generally good sculpt
The Bad: Sound clip is entirely underwhelming, Terrible balance, Incredibly light detailing, Seems pricey.
The Basics: The 2016 Gone With The Wind ornament makes the de facto argument that Hallmark has fully played out the film with An Honorable Proposal.


When it comes to Hallmark ornaments, there are few works that have been so over-mined as Gone With The Wind. Gone With The Wind may be a classic film, but it has surprisingly few iconic moments and all of those were done years before Hallmark released the An Honorable Proposal ornament. With the 2016 An Honorable Proposal ornament, Hallmark creates an ornament that seems to imply that they have truly given up on the franchise, even if they continue to release ornaments from it!

For those unfamiliar with the film, Gone With The Wind (reviewed here!) includes a scene wherein Clark Gable’s character Rhett Butler proposes on bended knee to Scarlett O’Hara.

It is Rhett Butler, holding Scarlett's hand as she recoils slightly, that is the subject of the An Honorable Proposal Hallmark Ornament. To add extra value to this one, Hallmark provided this ornament with a sound chip.

Basics

The An Honorable Proposal ornament recreates the moment Rhett Butler proposes to Scarlett, while kneeling down before her. The ornament includes the Rhett, Scarlett and a very simple brown base all cast in solid plastic. The ornament, released in 2016, is a mixed bag as it has a decent and generally accurate sculpt of the characters, with virtually no detailing on costumes and the faces of both characters are lacking in detailing and realistic shading, which makes the characters look a little more like animated versions of themselves as opposed to real live people.

Hallmark tried on both Rhett and Scarlett, but their costumes and facial sculpts are very minor. Scarlett has no coloring to her lips and Butler’s eyes do not have any of the color or vivacity of Clark Gable’s actual eyes. Moreover, the thin mustache on Rhett hides his lips. Measuring four inches tall, four and a quarter inches wide and two and one-quarter inches deep, the An Honorable Proposal ornament is a decent-sized Hallmark ornament. Unfortunately, at the original issue price of $24.95, it is a bit expensive, especially compared to other Gone With The Wind ornaments that featured more of the scenery for the same or less money.

The An Honorable Proposal ornament has Rhett looking up and Scarlett looking slightly away. The faces are very basically sculpted and poorly colored. Neither Rhett nor Scarlett looks quite like Clark Gable or Vivian Leigh. They look like caricatures of their characters with minimal facial detailing or coloring. Rhett’s mustache seems like a dirty lip. The characters are mirrored in the base, which is very simplistic.

This ornament remains fairly easy to find at Hallmark stores, so there is no reason (yet) to look for it in the secondary market. This ornament features a battery to power the sound effects.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, An Honorable Proposal has a sound effect, but no light effect. There is a button, when pressed, activates the sound chip. The sound chip actually contains a single sound clip from Gone With The Wind. The chip has several seconds of actual dialogue from the scene the ornament represents that plays with sufficient volume out the bottom of the ornament. That said, the clip of the dialogue between the two characters from the scene that the ornament embodies is not the most recognizable or iconic sound clip.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake An Honorable Proposal ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate movie nostalgia Christmas Tree, the An Honorable Proposal ornament is a somewhat expensive option that is quite an extravagance beside ornaments from The Wizard Of Oz and prior Gone With The Wind ornaments. The ornament has the standard steel hook loop embedded into the top of Rhett's arm in pretty much the center of the ornament. From that position, the An Honorable Proposal ornament is very backheavy and it hangs with a ten degree pitch that is accented by the attached base.

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition original U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (reviewed here!). Within a few years, virtually every classic film franchise jumped on the bandwagon and began merchandising with Hallmark as well. Classic properties like Barbie, Disney, The Wizard Of Oz and Gone With The Wind have been made into Hallmark Keepsake Christmas ornaments. An Honorable Proposal is one of many Gone With The Wind ornaments on the market, though it is the only one mass produced for the franchise in 2016. Fans of the book and film are unimpressed by the An Honorable Proposal ornament; it is still exceptionally easy to find in the Hallmark stores at this time. Given that only the Limited Edition Gone With The Wind ornaments have appreciated, this mass-produced ornament is not likely to be a great investment piece.

Overview

Fans of Gone With The Wind, Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, and Hallmark ornaments are likely to be entirely disappointed with the An Honorable Proposal ornament!

For other Gone With The Wind Hallmark ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2015 As God As My Witness
"2014 Scarlett's White Dress
2013 Scarlett's Green Dress
2012 Scarlett Meets Her Match
"2011 Almost A Kiss
2010 Scarlett O'Hara
2009 Frankly My Dear

1.5/10

For other ornament reviews, please visit my Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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