Cubic Mouth: Mickey & Friends

October 21, 2010 8:18 PM

Cubic Mouth is a series of plush dolls and toys designed by Satoshi Fumihara, creator of MTV Japan's The World of Golden Eggs and some rather interesting ads for Nissan. (previously) If the dolls look familiar, it's not a coincidence nor is it an artistic imitation; these are legitimately licensed Disney products. (most links in Japanese but self-explanatory) Oh Disney, why do you have to be so buttoned up at home?
posted by 1adam12 (17 comments total)

I don't get it. I know I am going to hate myself for asking, but what do their mouths do?
posted by cjorgensen at 8:48 PM on October 21, 2010

I spent a week in Tokyo this summer and was amazed a) at how much of this kind of oddball licensed Disney merchandise there was, and b) that Stitch is apparently an A-list Disney character in Japan.
posted by aaronetc at 9:01 PM on October 21, 2010

The fact that Stich isn't an A character in the US is a crime.
posted by The Whelk at 9:08 PM on October 21, 2010

Stitch is goddamn everywhere here. If you see a junior/senior high school girl, chances are she's either got a Stitch doll hanging from her bag, her cell phone, or both. Outright bizarre.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:12 PM on October 21, 2010

On the other hand, I just took my wife to Disney Sea for her birthday (good lord, there's very, very little to do in Chiba), and to thank me for a pretty snazzy day, she got me a Pook-a-Looz Eeyore. I guess they're in the States, too. Sadly, they don't seem to have Piglet here yet, as my wife is kind of keen on Piglet.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:16 PM on October 21, 2010

Ha! I've been seeing these around here in Tokyo, and had actually wondered whether they were legit licensing or not. Since they're so visible, I thought, they must be, but also thought, no, Disney doesn't let anyone fuck with the mouse. I was wrong!

Thanks for the post.

If you see a junior/senior high school girl, chances are she's either got a Stitch doll hanging from her bag, her cell phone, or both. Outright bizarre.

Or how about the hideous and dreaded Care Bears? I can't believe how many of those damn things I've been seeing dangling off schoolgirl bags...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:21 PM on October 21, 2010

Now you're making me feel bad. As much as I share your loathing of the Care Bears, I actually managed to find Grumpy Bear. I immediately bought it and gave it to my wife for her birthday. I mean, Grumpy Bear! The sarcastic, unwilling, pouting bear! You'd be grumpy too, surrounded by all those annoyingly positive do-gooders.
posted by Ghidorah at 11:03 PM on October 21, 2010

I don't like Japanese bizzaro Mickey. I think he wants to kill me and sew my skin into a dress.
posted by LiteOpera at 11:10 PM on October 21, 2010 [2 favorites]

I saw some of these today at the local Wal Mart. Almost picked up a Cheshire Cat.
posted by Quasimike at 11:44 PM on October 21, 2010

I see these every day teaching English to middle schoolers here in Japan. They're... terrifying. That empty, soulless stare. That gapping maw, forever frozen in a silent, questioning half-scream. They are the prized ineffectual dopelgangers of the confused, the beautiful, the weird, the normal. They are the us we refuse to see in the mirror.

What do they want from us?
What do they want from?
What do they want?
What do they?
What do?
What?

I am so glad it's Friday
posted by gc at 3:43 AM on October 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

I love the near-universal availability of Stitch, though. And I can talk about Pixar movies with the kids, because they love 'em here, too. Every time I ask them about Wall-E, they ask among themselves, translating my bizarre accent to their own, and then one of them says "OH! WOOOOOOOOOOL-EE!"
posted by gc at 3:45 AM on October 22, 2010

Sooo... I'm not the only one who clicked on this related ad, right (nsfw-ish)
posted by delmoi at 4:05 AM on October 22, 2010

As much as I share your loathing of the Care Bears, I actually managed to find Grumpy Bear.

When it comes to bears, count me among the Gloomy Bear fans.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:03 AM on October 22, 2010

Ahem: Slave Bear of Care-A-Lot. Care Bear BDSM crackfic. Not remotely safe for work or sanity.
posted by kmz at 6:18 AM on October 22, 2010

I saw these all over Japan and I was really wondering what the hell they were and why the makers weren't getting sued to death by Disney.
posted by azarbayejani at 6:55 AM on October 22, 2010

The best cross-branding I saw in Tokyo -- or maybe ever -- was a 12" Hello Kitty wearing a Gloomy Bear costume. I just wished they'd had the reverse, a Gloomy Bear wearing a Hello Kitty pelt.
posted by aaronetc at 10:47 AM on October 22, 2010

Hello Kitty wearing a Gloomy Bear costume.

Snapped this example of cute overload two days ago: Kitty-chans in bunny suits.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:02 PM on October 22, 2010