October 20 - Mickey Mouse

"The brain you stole was labeled 'Abnormal.' ... ?"

~ Young Frankenstein (1974)

"It's alive!!"

Two round ears rose slowly from the slab ... and grinned.

"The brain you stole was labeled 'Adorable'.. ?"

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This isn't Mickenstein, this is Dr. Mickenstein's Monster.

This is one of the designs taught by Dave Brenn on his Patreon.  

This and the next few posts are being made in absentia (hopefully), and appropriately themed for where we are.

(view other Mickey Mouse)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Dave Brenn:

January 17 - Loopy Mouze

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."

~ Walt Disney

I don't really care to get my picture taken with a Disney or any other character in those photo opportunities.  I find it hard to get enthusiastic because brain doesn't say "OMG MICKEY!!!", it says "oh hey, a Mickey costume".   

Still -- you have to fake it.  Like in a haunted house, if you don't suspend that disbelief and scream a little, you might as well have stayed at home.

The absolute worst though is when they force you to interact with them.  I took one of my sons to a Kylo Ren meet and greet, and as soon as the doors shut with us he started hard pressing "Do you swear allegiance to the First Order!?  DO YOU?"   Uncomfortable improv moment.

I have invested in reading so many of the 30+ years of Star Wars books, my guilty pleasure, that I DO have some pretty strong words to say on the subject.  Disney trashed some crazy amount of books, amazing canon that was a universe being carefully maintained by a team of experts who cared about the universe more than how they could market that universe.   Honestly a travesty to art and storytelling.

So I said - "uhhhh .. I ... ... sure?"   whomp whomp.

I included the version I built the day after watching the Loopy Headz video.  They're incomplete, and I didn't realize it until I looked through the resources that were included in the video.   I had thought the eyes might look better outlined against the blush and can confidently say that I immediately regretted it about 1/4 semi circle in ... I kind of feel like you only really need to outline an eye if you're not going to color it white (or you're on a white balloon).

(view other Disney)

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Other balloons by and inspired by David Brenn:

November 20 - Chibicoro Disney

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

~ Walt Disney

Chibicoro balloons are a balloon concept I stumbled across last year in a hunt for balloon art. (link)

But what is a Chibicoro? The word "Chibi" roughly translates to "short" in size. From the website, using google-translate I've learned that the design is intentionally small and simple, easy to build and perfect for the decoration of a gift or a greeting.

This is the first "free" balloon concept that I've used this year, the Chibicoro site (link) demonstrates how to create the basic forms and gives a LOT of examples.  Because this is available freely, I am happy to share the specific elements that I used to create my versions of the designs as I try to explore the concept further.

This time I've explored a few Disney characters - the "Big 3"; Mickey, Goofy and Donald.

First built was Mickey to refresh my memory and using the design they demonstrated in their archive (link).   Then I attempted Donald and finally the Goofy.  Goofy is a bit of a cheat on the form by adding the shoes, but he's such a tall character to begin with and I really like the way they ended up. In fact that one works well standing on it's own.

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Other Chibicoro balloon designs:

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October 6 - Clockwork Mickey

~ Steamboat Willie (1928)

Steamboat Willie is actually the third Mickey Mouse movie, but is known as Mickey's debut as it's the first distributed and first made with synchronized sound.

I already named the previous entry "Clockwork Mouse" - so here is Clockwork Mickey, also from the Christopher Lyle release Clockwork Yellow.  This Mickey is based on Patrick Van de Ven's "Little Guy" concept that was explored earlier on this blog, but with a completely different head style.

I didn't get a very good picture this time, I brought these in to Starbuck's while my youngest was at his dance lesson and thankfully took this picture there because my earlier photos at home were blurry.  I was also pleasantly surprised to see Katie - who has since moved on to manage her own store but was probably my favorite person to bring balloons for because of her excitement.

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Other balloon designs by Christopher Lyle:

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