Playhouse Disney Live/Disney Junior Live Puppets
Nov 13, 2023 5:46:57 GMT
littlemisssmallcut likes this
Post by Springy on Nov 13, 2023 5:46:57 GMT
This is in dubious "lost media" category, about the same as the previously considered to be lost puppets from Pokemon Live. Playhouse Disney Live (later known as Disney Junior Live upon the block's rebrand) was a stage show at the Disney theme parks. What made it unique compared to other Disney park stage offerings is that the show utilized puppets to bring the preschool block's shows and characters to life. I am a pretty big fan of theme park history, so I already have a playlist of the show's history compiled here for reference for those that are curious.
During a nostalgia deep dive today, I stumbled across a reddit post that peaked my interest. According to it, unlike most Disney theme park items which are stored away in the Disney vault, the current whereabouts of the Playhouse Disney puppets are a mystery. Here's a quote from the post for those who would like to skip the fluff I suppose:
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PUPPETS? (And what we know so far)
Give a bit of a background first. After the show ended for a long time, they were put in a “big rolling box”. They would use the puppets for rehearsals and practice backstage. They say they were probably still around today.
There is a building off site the Disneyland park: Miller Building Systems and Supplies. There, they repair, paint, fix and do a lot of printing for things in the parks. They fixed puppets there. Miller probably had the two rolling boxes and inside them were the majority of the puppets. The puppets would be easy to store, thanks to them being soft and plushy.
They were very confident that the puppets were still there. They had known that puppets were not used in recent times. They did not understand the reason to get rid of them because they were very useful.
Disney had held on to these puppets called “The Disney Crew”. It was a drug awareness program. They would use the Disney Crew puppets for the rehearsals. When Disney Junior took over, in rehearsals, they would use the Bear in the Big Blue House puppets. So, what happened to them?
Here’s what the source says, what they think happened to the rest of the puppets. They said that the majority of the puppets were destroyed by The Walt Disney Company due to the company’s disinterest in storing props, and it is also expensive for them to store things. I remember having a theory that the puppets were stolen by urban explorers. It can be easily debunked, though. One person told me that they do not think it was stolen, nor destroyed.
Another source said that one of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse puppets was put into someone’s office who works at The Walt Disney Company.
Give a bit of a background first. After the show ended for a long time, they were put in a “big rolling box”. They would use the puppets for rehearsals and practice backstage. They say they were probably still around today.
There is a building off site the Disneyland park: Miller Building Systems and Supplies. There, they repair, paint, fix and do a lot of printing for things in the parks. They fixed puppets there. Miller probably had the two rolling boxes and inside them were the majority of the puppets. The puppets would be easy to store, thanks to them being soft and plushy.
They were very confident that the puppets were still there. They had known that puppets were not used in recent times. They did not understand the reason to get rid of them because they were very useful.
Disney had held on to these puppets called “The Disney Crew”. It was a drug awareness program. They would use the Disney Crew puppets for the rehearsals. When Disney Junior took over, in rehearsals, they would use the Bear in the Big Blue House puppets. So, what happened to them?
Here’s what the source says, what they think happened to the rest of the puppets. They said that the majority of the puppets were destroyed by The Walt Disney Company due to the company’s disinterest in storing props, and it is also expensive for them to store things. I remember having a theory that the puppets were stolen by urban explorers. It can be easily debunked, though. One person told me that they do not think it was stolen, nor destroyed.
Another source said that one of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse puppets was put into someone’s office who works at The Walt Disney Company.
Due to conflicting information, it is uncertain if these puppets were destroyed or kept. And if destroyed, how many still survive today and what condition the remaining puppets are in.
To add to this search, I used to be a member of the WDWMagic forums, and I swear reading a post years ago that some of the puppets managed to turn up on Ebay or some other similar auction site. Take that with a grain of salt though, memories can be faulty like that.
But yeah, looks like another puppet search may be on the way!
