Sharing the magic of A christmas carol - a story told with Vivis help

"A múltunkat átírni nem lehet"

Literally: It is impossible to rewrite our past
It is the first line of a song from the hungarian musical version of A Christmas Carol by Müller Péter, Tolcsvay László, Müller Péter Sziámi

Merry Christmas everybody :) This post is kind of a mix between a mini princess story and a magic of music post. First some thoughts on the musical you might find interesting. There are quite a few changes from the source material but the music helps a lot with the story and because this was the first version I got to know of this story, it is my favourite adaptation.
The quote I started this post with is  said at the point where Scrooge starts to realise that his life has gone wrong and he wants to change his past. But that's impossible. I think it is important to add that we may not be able to change the past but, as Scrooge learns as well, we can do something so our future won't turn - with time - into a past we still hate and want to change. You don't have to agree but I didn't want to convince anybody. Just share the experience. :)
If anyone is interested, you can watch an older version of the performance here (I saw that first version as well, too and loved it), although it is in hungarian so most of you wont understand but the names but maybe the music helps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4o5ebPJkLQ
It is an official recording made for television some years ago featuring one of our best actors as Ebenézer Scrooge. :) I watched a newer version now, it was different but I still loved it.

Vivienne Aurora is the newest member of the mini gang and she was interested in posting on this blog from the start, like the others. She's a bit shy so it wasn't easy for her to become part of a group of friends that have already been through so many adventures (told and untold) together and she not having anything to tell about yet.
So I took her along yesterday. Vivi, the keyboard is yours.

Vivis part:
This was a last minute idea and I was the perfect choice, besides beeing a newcomer, because my hair was tied up and braided nicely and even travelling in a  reticule wasn't able to ruin it. But it was still very nice of Meritre. She actually brought her camera with her so I can have better pictures than the ones she can make with her phone. I knew from the others that a trip like this is an amazing experience, I read their posts about them and listened to them describing some other events. I must admit I was longing to go and visit those places full of magic. To me it seemed like magic although the others assured me that everything is perfectly real even if some tricks were used to reach the effects. But they agreed that it looks and - most important - it feels like magic. It started as soon as we entered the building.

There were even chrismas decorations here and there.

For exaple snowflakes on the smaller chandeliers.

I knew already from Arabellas Marie Antoinette post that there is a bigger chandelier in there, where people sit during the performance.

Meritre let me explore a little, too.
"Todays piece will be extra magical" Meritre told me. "A Christmas Carol is a very well known story and, as you already guessed it, the story has a lot to do with Christmas."

The cast

I assumed I won't have to spend a lot if time explaining the story.

A ruthless, thrifty elderly banker is visited by the ghost of his businesspartner, Marley, who passed away exactly seven years before the story starts, on Christmas Eve. Marley shows Scrooge the past, the present and the future. (In the book these are all different ghosts but were all combined into one character on stage) But he does this in a way that makes Scrooge see the mistakes he has made and is a changed  man, kind and good-hearted. Nothing outrageous, no seven headed dragons, evil witches or anything. But I think this was one of the greatest battles Ebenezer Scrooge won: he was battling himself.

The iron curtain some minutes before the performance started

I'll just mention some of the most memorable moments.
The first one is the song the quote at the beginning comes from. It starts with the recognition that the past can't be changed. Marley assures Scrooge that he feels the same. Than Scrooge starts to ask questions, why does the past hurt, why is Marley doing this to him, it's no use the past is beyond recovery. Why is he torturing him, does it make him happy to see Scrooge in pain? Why can't he leave him alone. He gets really angry and tries to chase him away. The ghost disappears but it will come again for his second visit.
Meritre was so kind to add a link so you can watch it if you like - but I'm afraid you won't understand a word, since it is in hungarian. I wonder if the music still can pass such barriers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-wtuVyfi5A
The second song that was very touching was also sung by Scrooge, he thinks his life is worth nothing and he would give all his money to have just a moment of rapturous joy. If only he could start it all over he would do things differently and much better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioRZRZxIqFk
The third one was sung by Crachit, the employee of Scrooge and shown to be the one person who was touched by the death of his master. His song is about not knowing, what other people go through and why do they behave the way they do. He was a human just like you or me or anybody, human and unhappy, Crachit sang. I think I love this song the most. I even cried a little when I saw it on stage and heard it live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IGg_MGo1kU

It was just as musical and magical as I imagined it would be.

Frozen girls made for the new short, Olaf's Frozen Adventure - part 3 - Elsa and her clothes

"Wenn ich tanzen will, dann tanz ich so, wie es mir gefällt"

Literally: If I want to dance, I do it the way I want to do it

From the musical Elisabeth by Lévay & Kunze, song: Wenn ich tanzen will, it's sung by Elisabeth and Death

The final part of this review, presenting Elsa. She was already partly deboxed but there were some more ties and elastics.

The ties in her head were not as bad as Annas but there was an extra one in her braid. Deboxing is fun except when it's not. :)

Elsa hold by her cape so it looks like it's floating behind her

But I finally won the battle and Elsa is free!

Her cape was much like the piece of paper tucked normally under the girls skirt to look nice and full.

I tried to straighten it out a bit but it didn't help much. In the middle part, where that big snowflakepattern is placed, it felt like they used a different material for the cape than for the original Snowqueenoutfits cape. It feels a bit like a raincoat that's not made of fabric. But it's just the print. Where there is no print or almost no print on the cape, it feels very similar to the original cape. I think it is a bit thicker though. Maybe this material holds up a bit better to play but I won't test that.

Both capes are amazing for sure. I just watched a mini video telling that the snowflake on this new cape is inspired by Elsas signature snowflake but at the same time it is made to represent a christmastree as well. (You can watch it here, if you have Faceebook, as I found the video there: https://www.facebook.com/DisneyAnimation/videos/1962587857091506/ )

Elsas footwear is kind of a mix between heels and flats, it has very low heels and Elsa has the flat feet klick knee combination, just like her sister.

The shoes themselves are a nice icy blue matching her dress. I wouldn't call them flats but they are closer to flats than to heels in my opinion.

Under her skirt she has lots of tissuepaper but that stays there as she is going to travel to a friend. :) Her dress has lots of details almost as many as the limited edition version of the dress.

At the bottom there is silver snowflake pattern, just like at the back of the dress.

Her sleeves have some nice details as well.

Her bodice is sprinkled with silver diamonds. They kind of flow down her dress, just like the pattern on the Frozen Fever Elsa dress. That was part of the reason I expected the dress to be visibly one piece. It is one piece but it is also visible that there is a bodice and a skirt part that are sewn together.

Just under the furcollar in the front there is another snowflakelike ornament on her bodice. Her sleeves are not made of a sheer material this time but are made of the same material as the bodice and the skirt part and as you see, have some silver colored decoration on them.

The dress closes at the back with velcro like most dresses. And look, there are some of these silver diamond shaped decorations as well around her waist even on the backside.
At the top, around the neck, the dress is trimmed with white fur and decorated with tiny red beads to look just like Elsas dress in the short.

This collar (well, kind of) sure feels nice but it collects dust and everything small enough to get stuck there. I think if there will be a newer version of this set, the fur will be changed (like on winter Annas hat) so it doesn't collect literally everything. But this is just my opinion, just like this whole review. :) Elsa has, just like Anna, a headpiece in her hair. It is painted nicely and it has lots of little details.

with and withouth flash

 Beautiful!

fist attempt

Elsa has a new facemold as well, so let's compare them.

second attempt

New Elsa has smaller eyes and a less purplish skintone with a bit more blush. My sister said she looks more natural but she couldn't choose between them.

My older Elsa has a wilder look because of her bangs that refuse to be tamed and I like it this way. The later snowqueen Elsa dolls had flatter bangs, pressed more to their heads (see here), although not as much as Chritmas Elsas hair.

Snowqueen Elsa has more sections at the top as well as a lighter blonde haircolor, christmas Elsas hair is a bit more golden. I like both colors. Both Elsas bangs are hard because of the amount of hairproduct that holds the curls in place.

Christmas Elsas braid is shorter which is more movie accurate. The end of her braid isn't one big curl, either but is just as hard as her bangs and that's new to me.

Stiff end and stiff stray curl in her face

Victoria, my older Elsa doll, has a very nice and soft braid, including that curly end.
We can finally have a look at the background without the sisters. I think it is similar to the background the Limited Edition dolls have.

This picture actaully belongs more to the first part as there are all the photos about the box but Elsa only left the box now so I add it to Elsas part. It is a nice snowy picture of Arendelle.
As I had trouble with dressing and redressing my dolls last time I decided to do a sister switch this time, just for fun.

Now, this is not my sister, is it?

Based on the outfit, the girl on the left is Anna, but the girl on the right is Anna as well. Where is Elsa?

Ah yes, here is the Snowqueen. A redhead snowqueen. Interesting. And the gorgeous blue flats of the real  Snowqueen. :)

"You are me and I am you"

I'm confused. Who is wo? :D
Naughty girls taking each others clothes :) But Christmas is coming you should be good.

Anna tried on the Mattel Frozen Fever dress as well. (Dolly came in that dress but it is worn by a half done custom doll now)

I thought Anna wore the snowqueen dress. Where is Anna? Hint: you can see her bun un the bottom right corner.

That's how a group photo shouldn't look like, everyone is staring in a different direction

Everyone is back in her original dress now, except Margaret, I can't get her hand back into one of  the sleeves and would be really thankful for any tips. Can these hands be popped off like Ever After High and Descendants doll hands? I don't want to ruin Anna or her outfit but I would be really happy to have her back in her outfit properly.
A quick summary of my opinion and my experiences with this set: I love these new dolls, they are beautiful and detailed I can only recommand them, although it took me a while to get used to their new faces. Especially with Anna. But I'm really happy I got them although Elsa is leaving sometime in January if everything goes as I planned it. Anna, whom I'm going to name Margaret, Meg for short is going to stay here with Dolly Kiki, Hannah, Valancy and the others (If you are confused who is who, you can check it here) I think they are more suitable for collectors as changing clothes may be an issue for children.
And that was my review, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Frozen girls made for the new short, Olaf's Frozen Adventure - part 2 - Anna and her clothes

"Wenn ich tanzen will, dann tanz ich so, wie es mir gefällt"

Literally: If I want to dance, I do it the way I want to do it

From the musical Elisabeth by Lévay & Kunze, song: Wenn ich tanzen will, it's sung by Elisabeth and Death

So I left off with the ties and not telling you why I took one of Annas boots off. Of course to compare it with her other boots. This could be done easily while I put Anna and her headtie aside.

Almost free! I'm almost there, Anna sings

I thought that both pairs of winterboots were based on the same mould. I was wrong. There are more differences than I thought there would be.

The heels are completely different, the older one looks like it has a thicker bottom part.

The soles are not that much different but they choose a new spot for the Disney sign.

The new boot appears to be a bit pointier and has more molded details to make it look like it was sewn together using several pieces. I love those little details, it almost makes them like a Limited Set.

The painted details are pretty as well. The boots themselves are difficult to get on and off, at least for me, since Anna has this new flatfeet-klick knee combination.(Pocahontas has it as well but she runs around barefoot, clever girl)

I took one boot off for the compasion photo but when I managed to put it back on Anna, it was clearly visible which one I had taken off.

Off with the skirt

I didn't only take her boot, but all her clothes as well.

She waits wrapped in a piece of lightblue fabric while the dress is reviewed and the others try it on.

Such a lovely face!

The skirt is nice and wide, made of a material I can't name but it feels a bit leatherly. Her jacket, skirt and Elsas dress is made of the same material. It feels nice and just something they would wear during winter. I love the goat (I think it's a goat but I'm not sure) pattern and the little white circles (I like to think that they are snowballs :) ) that go around at the bottom part of the skirt.

Dolleating skirtplant

This is not the newest dolleating plant, this is the skirt, standing upside down. I thought it looked interesting.

This talented skirt can stand just normally as well.

The sash is very much like the one Kristoff has. Sadly, the short ends are not finished so it needs careful treatment. It's even more sad that I don't have Kristoff so I can't compare the sashes.

Annas top is all on piece, no separate jacket and top and the sash is sewn to it as well.

I tried to photograph the structure of it, I'm not sure if I succeeded. This piece closes on the backside with velcro, just like the skirt.

Fake fur ornament at the shoulders and at the neck

It has lots of details for example on the shoulder part,

Look at those little buttons

the sleeves, the sash itself, the front.

Under the jacket Anna has a very detailed  and nice top made of the same material Disneystore doll clothes are usually made of.

It is a darker blue and there is also a holiday brosh (I think) that adds the finishing touch to that outfit. We worked all out way up from the boots to the top, now it's the headpieces turn!

It's a bit bigger than in the animated short but I don't mind, since this way they were able to add more details. It is a beautiful piece with moulded and beautifully painted white and red details on the green base color. And for the first time they did the braid that runs across her head for a classic Anna doll. It's beautiful.

Yes, that's the tie I wasn't able to cut properly

The whole updo was done in a different way, they made a ponytail and tucked it in, if that makes sense. Something like Cinderellas hairstyle in the animated moviewhen she gets her ballgown from the Fairy Godmother.

She has this new facemold that took me a while to get used to. First I thought she just looks very silly. But I saw more and more pictures of her and now I think she's cute.

She has freckles, big blue eyes, pink lips and rosy cheeks. Annas recent dolls had greenish blue eyes but this doll has clear blue eyes with eyelashes both over and under her eyes. Now let's compare the two faces, Dolly is here and ready to help out.

The new Anna has a slightly bigger mouth, her smile is the mirror image of the older Annas smile, it is loopsided in the other direction, if that makes sense. The bangs are differnt and done better on the new doll in my opinion. Older Anna has slightly lighter haircolor while newer Anna has a lighter lipcolor. The profiles are very different as well.

They are both great representations of Anna in my opinion.
Anna was kind enough to lend Anna, aka Dolly, her outfit.

I think it looks great on her but as one of the sleeves is tigher thatn the other, I wasn't able to put it properly on her. :( I wonder how I'll put it back on Anna. But before that, Kiki borrowed the dress as well. Blue is Elsas color so I thought it would look good on her.

She had the same issue with the same sleeve. I'm not a good doll dresser, I had issues with the icedress as well. In return for lending her dress, new Anna got to try on Victoria's ice dress.

Here I stand

I think it looks good with her red hair, my family thinks it looks much better on Elsa.
I'm not sure how much switching I'll be doing with new Elsas dress, as I don't want to ruin her dress - she is a gift for a dear friend. It was actually her idea to try on Annas holiday outfit on Elsa.

When we're together

The third part will be about Elsa!

31. 12. 2017 Update: my sister managed to pull Annas hand through that sleeve and she won't take off that outfit anymore. :)