I loathe him. And I don’t know what it is that inspires so much bitter hatred in me. He just … sucks.
The funny thing is, I like cute. I’ve been known to squee like a Beiberphile over baby animals. I’m all about cute, and I love fluffy things. So why do I want to punch Duffy in the face?
Maybe it’s because he looks exactly like a Build-a-Bear and those Frankenplushes creep me out. Maybe it’s because he’s not a real character. Or maybe it’s because @DisneyParks keeps tweeting about the newest damn Duffy pin. Seriously, there are more pins of Duffy than there are of some actual Disney characters. Maybe it’s because his genesis is so thoroughly transparent, just a blatant ploy for Disney to make some easy money by inventing a persona and slapping it on some merchandise. How cute! A teddy bear! Maybe it’s because two things come to mind when I hear the word “Duffy” – this and this. Maybe it’s because, since his only purpose is to be marketable, Duffy has no other emotions except for happy, smiley, sunshiney, good ol’ Duffy. Just smiling …. all the time….until he kills you.
Also, why does Mickey need a bear in the first place? He has a girlfriend! Did something happen with Minnie that we don’t know about? Or is Duffy just a homewrecker? Does this mean Duffy is actually the spirit of Yoko Ono cartoonified? Important questions, all.
And so, I needed confirmation. I needed to make sure that mine was not the only blood boiling whenever Disney Parks posts about some made-up thing Duffy just did. I did the only rational thing left to do … I turned to Twitter. I asked my tweeps to share their feelings on Duffy, and y’all didn’t hold back:
Duffy is your soft & cuddly old fashioned Teddy Bear with a Disney twist! :) I absolutely love him. - @DisneyPrncsBlog
What's a Duffy? - @danielwanderman
A killer cyborg from the future, sent back in time in cute, cuddly bear form to earn our trust and love before he takes over and prepares us for our new robot overlords. - @jeffheimbuch
J/K I love Duffy - @danielwanderman (Traitor!)
Duffy the bear is not as likable or as much fun as the Duff beer man on the Simpsons. In fact I do not think Duffy has any redeeming qualities. - Bob, a Facebook fan.
Heartless, profit driven, annoying, contrived. - @EPCOTExplorer
A bear with a little brain of fluff and a ravenous appetite for park guest's hugs... and money. - @EPCOTPluto
Duffy: The hugs are not free... He takes your soul as a down payment. - @DisneyEcho
Telling people Minnie made Duffy for Mickey doesn't change the fact that he looks like a Build-a-Bear in a sailor's outfit. - @bonjourmelissa
A Disney-fied Vermont Teddy Bear created by marketing execs who only care about selling dolls and little outfits. - @TheGeekTicket
Duffy: Keeping more children out of World Showcase then Edutainment since 2010. - @EPCOTNRG
The Internet has spoken. Your move, bear.
---
Related Links:
* 10 Signs You Are a Disney Dork
* What Does It Mean to Be a Disney Fan?
* In Defense of the Living Seas
Posts
7 comments:
I admit there are a lot of things I love at Disney but Duffy is not one of them. I guess its because it looks more like Disney Pushing one more thing for me to buy. Duffy needs to be taken out to BayLake in the dead of night and .....well let your imagination run wild
I don't get the whole Duffy thing. I understand marketing, but why come up with something totally random just to sell merchandise? Pull something from the movies and I'm much more likely to buy in.
The funny thing is, "Duffy" as a concept has been around a long time. Back in 2001, I went to WDW on vacation and bought a "My first Disney Bear" for a friend that was expecting, and it looks exactly like "Duffy". I worked in merchandising in Epcot in 2002, and we had a few more bear bits.. he showed up mostly for the infant stuff, on the t-shirts, and my first Disney Bears to sell as infant toys. So I think really this has just been about pushing and capitalizing on that initially successful idea. I think the problem is that they've forced it. It's contrived. Duffy isn't a cute name as far as I'm concerned, and I really don't understand the idea of building pins and more around his "character". If they'd stuck with the Disney Bear idea, and simply allowed it to grow as a persona the way Figment did, I think we'd all be reacting to this a bit differently. Instead, they're trying to recreate the Figment phenomenon by shoving it down our throats.
I find Duffy to be so boring, no 'character' to him at all. I agree with Amber - very contrived.
Agreed! I saw him waddling from World showplace back stage last year and I was feeling weirded out. Who was this character and why have I never seen him before. I get why Disney introduce him - $$$ but I' m not buying it (literally).
Note:I too love cute and cuddly and do not ant people to mistake =me for a plush hater lol!
haha! i was jsut looking at my blog and under followers I saw a picture of spaceship earth! how awesome!I love disney and just went there for my bach. party!
For me, it's the fabrication of back-story that I despise. Since WHEN did Mickey have a teddy bear? He's done nicely without once since 1928, thankyouverymuch!
This is really similar to what they've done with Tinkerbell and the sudden invention of a community of BFFs (Best Friend Fairies) that she somehow managed to live without mentioning since 1953...
ugh, don't get me started!
*~*~*
Post a Comment