The Good: Surprisingly good balance, Excellent sculpt and coloring, Great size for the price, Impressive audio clip (for duration, volume, and quality!)
The Bad: None that I can find (though it is magnetized)
The Basics: The 2016 Beauty And The Beast 25th Anniversary ornament is a perfect ornament, much to my surprise!
As I make preparations for the whole new season of Hallmark ornament releases, I am finishing up the last of last year's ornament evaluations. 2016 was my biggest year for Hallmark ornament reviews and I was very excited by the width and breadth of the Hallmark ornament line. As I began to recognize just how many ornament reviews I had done and how many I had left, I decided that for my 300th ornament review, I wanted to review a truly special ornament. So, when I pulled out my wife's 2016 Disney's Beauty And The Beast 25th Anniversary ornament today for review, I was prepared for special; I was pleasantly surprised by perfection. The 25th Anniversary "Beauty And The Beast" ornament is wonderful and, perhaps unsurprisingly, perfect.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, “Beauty And The Beast” is a holiday ornament that features the the title characters dancing in front of the castle's somewhat expository stain glass window. Those who love the Disney animated film Beauty And The Beast (reviewed here!) will instantly recognize the scene and characters depicted in the ornament. The protagonists, a portion of the floor and the windowframe backdrop are all effectively incorporated into the 2016 Beauty And The Beast ornament.
Basics
“Beauty And The Beast” recreates dance scene between Belle and the Beast on a piece of the castle floor right in front of the stain glassed window that shows Belle dancing with the Prince. The sculpt is incredible, with all of the characters looking incredible and accurate. Measuring 5 1/2" tall, 4 1/8" wide and 2 1/8" deep, the “Beauty And The Beast” is comparatively huge and sold out fast from most Hallmark Gold Crown stores at the original issue price of $24.95. Despite 2016 being pretty well flooded with Disney ornaments, the 25th Anniversary Beauty And The Beast ornament was a pretty fast sell-out.
The Hallmark “Beauty And The Beast” ornament is made of a durable plastic and has the floor, windowframe and characters incredibly well-sculpted and then attached to one another. One of the instantly impressive aspects of the 2016 Beauty And The Beast 25th Anniversary ornament is that there are no noticeable seams on the ornament. The 2016 Beauty And The Beast 25th Anniversary ornament features instantly recognizable characters for Belle, with even the most subtle smile molded into her face, and the Beast. The castle floor and windowframe are molded with deep lines between the stones, which makes it look real, like it was constructed. The 2016 Beauty And The Beast 25th Anniversary ornament is molded precisely and accurately, making for one of the highest-quality Disney ornaments Hallmark ever produced.
On the coloring front, the Beauty And The Beast ornament is incredible. The window would seem to be the weak spot of the 2016 Beauty And The Beast 25th Anniversary ornament as it is a sticker instead of a translucent plastic insert (which other ornaments have done in the past). Rather incredibly, the sticker matches the tone and coloring of the characters on the ornament and the castle portion frame looks incredible with the coloring. The shading and depth of the rocks plays beautifully off the pearlescent quality to Belle's yellow dress. Every line of the colors for the Beast's outfit is crisp and clean; this is an immaculately colored ornament, down to the pin on the Beast's front ruffles.
The sculpt and coloring of the 2016 Beauty And The Beast 25th Anniversary ornament is incredible.
Features
As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, “Beauty And The Beast” has a battery-powered sound effect and it comes with two watch batteries to activate the sound effect. The sound effect is simple: pressing a button concealed that is fairly well-concealed in the rocks on the front right of the ornament causes the main song "Beauty And The Beast" to play from a speaker on the bottom of the ornament. This is Angela Lansbury singing the main song from the line "Tale as old as time . . ." through one chorus of the song. Despite the fact that Lansbury's character is not on the ornament, the sound clip works! The sound is clear and instantly recognizable to the fans.
Hallmark includes the batteries needed to operate the ornament. There is no light effect to the 2016 Beauty And The Beast 25th Anniversary ornament, but it is wonderful on its own without one.
Balance
As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake “Beauty And The Beast” ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate Disney Christmas Tree, the “Beauty And The Beast” ornament is an incredible ornament. The ornament has a steel hook loop that comes out of the top of the windowframe backdrop. From that position, the ornament hangs perfectly level. This is an exceptionally stable ornament that only sways when it (or the tree) is bumped or the button on the base is pressed.
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!). Since then, they have delved into virtually every other collectible franchise in an attempt to cash in on every major license. The Disney line-up has had a ton of ornaments made for it, with Beauty And The Beast being incredibly well-represented long before the 2016 Beauty And The Beast 25th Anniversary ornament. Despite that, the 2016 Beauty And The Beast 25th Anniversary ornament has exploded in value, arguably because of its quality. This ornament was one of the few non-limited edition Disney ornaments that was a sell-out in 2016 and fans seem to have responded to that. This was an incredibly pricy ornament initially, though it appreciated in value already. While the 2016 Beauty And The Beast 25th Anniversary ornament might seem expensive even at collectible prices, it is worth it!
Overview
2016 Beauty And The Beast 25th Anniversary ornament has a great sound clip, incredible balance and looks good in both sculpt and coloring, making it one of the best Disney - and best Hallmark - ornaments ever!
For other Disney Beauty And The Beast Hallmark ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2016 Lumiere Beauty And The Beast (Limited Edition)
2014 All Eyes On Belle Beauty And The Beast ornament
2013 Beautiful Belle Beauty And The Beast
10/10
For other ornament reviews, please visit my Ornament Review Index Page, there you will find an organized listing of all the ornaments I've reviewed!
© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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