Theme-park characters drive attendance and merchandise sales. This year, Disney has a new worldwide line of softgoods with scents called Munchlings, while Universal expands its Earl the Squirrel sphere. In keeping with the fictional theme, “The Magic Kingdom” tells a Central Florida tale that dates back before castles but not before sinkholes.
Meet the Munchlings
Munchlings are Disney’s latest craze, and they mix food and characters to make fresh merchandise.
A series of the plush dolls present, for instance, Mickey Mouse if he were a cinnamon bun or Winnie the Pooh as a honey cake. Those have funnel cake scents, but there’s a pineapple-scented Stitch version as an upside-down cake with a cherry on top. They sell for $34.99.
They’re 14-inches tall, basically the size of your head, unless you’re wearing a Mickey Mouse costume at a theme park. There are smaller Munchlings sold as blind draws so folks aren’t sure which character they’re getting.
“We really feel it hits a wide demographic, where it can be your young at heart, it can also be your collectors who gravitate to this,” says Karen White, director of merchandise for Walt Disney World.
More information: shopdisney.com
A mythical ‘Magic Kingdom’
“The Magic Kingdom,” a novel by Russell Banks (“Continental Drift”), centers on a Florida man — named Harley Mann — who sold property that would become Walt Disney World.
Banks’ book is set about 50 years ago, when Mann is recording memories on reel-to-reel tapes of a much earlier time. Plot points include young (forbidden) love, a Shaker colony, beehives, tuberculosis and assorted Floridians, including a crackpot or two.
And since it’s based in the Sunshine State, there are panthers and sinkholes, literal and metaphorical.
“It’s an engrossing morality tale,” wrote a Los Angeles Times reviewer. “The Magic Kingdom” retails for $30.
More information: PenguinRandomHouse.com
Go nuts with Earl the Squirrel
Earl the Squirrel may be methodically taking over the holidays.
The character, an offspring of Universal Orlando lore involving a Christmas tree and the bushy-tailed guy, has an array of Earl-y merchandise at the resort. He currently has an entire room dedicated to him in the Tribute Store at Universal Studios theme park.
We’re drawn to the cartoonish plush of Earl, which sells for $17, but there’s also a more true-to-life squirrel doll that sells for $15. Earl also is featured on ornaments, candles and apparel, including a spirit jersey that announces “Merry & Nutty.”
More information: shop.universalorlando.com
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