Sunday Post - Week 9

Greetings & Happy Holidays from The Stuffed Animal Review, a publication dedicated to the analysis of stuffed creature design and their larger worlds.  You have stumbled upon what The Review refers to as its Sunday through Friday posts: random images of stuffed animals doing silly things.  Feel free to dig deeper into the purpose of this blog by clicking on the “Philosophy” page. Join us on Saturday for more substantive musings.

Sunday Surreal 
Holiday Special: Introduction 

Holidays are for family, celebration, connection, and themed stuffed animals.  The Review imagines toy company executives salivating at the opportunity for additional sales at these special times of year.  Setting aside the crass commercialism, one can find unique, high-quality stuffed creatures associated with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter. One can also find unsettling and/or shoddy creatures around these special days.

In the spirit of the season, this week’s Sunday through Friday posts focus on Christmas, with a footnote on Halloween.

A plethora of creatures come out of the woodwork during the Christmas holiday: snowmen, reindeer, Santa Claus, ginger-bread men, and cold-climate animals such as polar bears and penguins.  And you will always find a standard teddy-bear “dressed-up” in Christmas-winter-appropriate garb: anything from scarves to mittens to Santa hats. 

Some loose Guidelines for vetting Christmas Creatures. 

Guideline #1: Dedicated readers know The Review is categorically opposed to clothes and props on stuffed creatures.  These additions physically interfere with animation and softness, and they give your stuffed creature a pre-set identity.  Stuffed creatures should be allowed to develop a personality, not come swaddled in one.  During the holidays, however, The Review relaxes its stance.  A little bit.  A scarf or hat on an adorable and well-designed creature might be allowed to slip past the radar. 

Guideline #2: The types of animals associated with Christmas are typically good candidates for translation to the realm of stuffed creatures: polar bears, penguins, and reindeer.  These animals are cuddly and amusing compared to some of the animals associated with Halloween, such as spiders and bats.

Snowmen are a non-animal stuffed creature that can be highly successful, but be wary of a stuffed Santa Claus.  Santa Claus is fictitious, yes, but human, making his translation akin to a doll.  And we all know that dolls are inferior to stuffed animals, so make sure your stuffed Santa Claus is something special.

Halloween Sidenote: Halloween is ripe with stuffed creature possibilities: witches, ghosts, bats, spiders, pumpkins, and black cats. But on Halloween, you might consider thinking outside the box: stuffed creatures can help you construct a smashing Halloween costume.  A Review reader, Lisa Brownell, sent the following pictures of her delightful daughter Ellie to illustrate this point.  Ellie decided to be a tree this past Halloween, a creative and sweet idea.  Lisa brought her idea to life with a brown sweatshirt and felt leaves.  The stuffed squirrel and stuffed birds nest perched on her head animates Ellie the tree and elevates this costume to a higher level.  The stuffed acorn – her little brother Jonas – is a brilliant touch.