Disney Store Classic Elena of Avalor doll review

"Jetzt wissen wir, wenn wir uns wehren, sind wir stark"

 Literally: now we know, if we defend ourselves, we are strong

From the musical Marie Antoinette by Lévay & Kunze - Frauen von Paris (Women of Paris)

Wanted to post some Mini Princess Adventures but didn't have the time to finish those posts so enjoy an Elena of Avalor review.

The second treasure from the giftbox is an Elena classic doll. I originally wanted the Wardrobe Set with Elena but it was already sold out. The Elena from that set has hinge knees and ankle joints while the classic doll has click knees. I like the first one a little better so I was a little disappointed but now at least I have a better version of her signature dress. And her face is just as pretty.

She has the most beautiful box, decorated to match her red signature color and her palace and her homeland, Avalor. The shape of her box is unique as well.

It can be seen best  from the top, the backside  is not flat, like it is with the usual boxes. Also some nice floral decoration can be seen, red and blue and two shades of yellow and I think a light teal shade were used. It might be the same kind of flower Elena wears in her hair. The pattern continues on both sides of the box.

 On the right side, there is a Disney sign as well

The left side has this flowerpattern only.

The two floverpatterns "meet" at the front, just below the Elena of Avalor sign. There is also Elenas name once more and a warning.

The backside is just as carefully decorated as the other sides of the box. It has a slight bend in the middle, to make the unique form of the box. On the top ther is once more an Elena of Avalor sign and the castle.

Elena of Avalor! And a bit of tissue paper, from Hans' box

 Right under her home, there is Elena artwork as well, showing her in her formal attire. This is a bit strange since the doll in the box wears the regular red dress.

Ther is also a sign with the text 'Ready to rule' which is also the title of the first episode of the series featuring Elena. This young crownprincess has a really carefully designed box with not only children but collectors in mind who would like to leave the doll in the box. I'm not one of those good collectors, I couldn't resist (didn't even try) and took her out, but I tried not to harm the box.

Hi! I'm Dolly, let me help get out of there!

Let's get to work and debox her.

It's not that easy. Unlike Mulan, she didn't have a paper petticoat but a lump of tissue paper to keep the form of the dress. She didn't have those annoying plastic tags in her head. But she had half a dozen smaller ones in her dress. Just to make deboxing fun.

Now, here she is, in all her red glory. The red part of the dress is cowered in glitter but it doesn't shed very much. Her rubbery legs love it, though.

The skirt has two layers, a white satin (I think) underskirt and the skirt part of the red dress. The gown is all one piece and closes at the back with velcro but the belt is removable and is secured at the back.

I must say, I really like this gown, it is pretty and elegant and has a princessy touch but it is not too fancy for daily tasks.
This young ladys hair is not black as I thought when I first saw the stock photos of her different dolls, but a very dark brown. It's a bit darker then her haircolor in the series.

It has the most styling product in it I ever saw in a dolls hair. Her ponytail is actually a stiff lump. But the haitstyle is extremely accurate to her on-screen self, not even the shorter section of her ponytail was forgotten.

The flowers she wears, an Apricot Mallow, which grows in Sonora and Baja California in Northwest Mexico were made into haircomb and are sewn to her hair. (Information about the flower comes form DisneyWiki)

She has her earrings as well, they resemble the ones redesigned Jasmine has. Well, Elena herself resembles Jasmine a bit in my opinion. She wears a bracelet as well, which is secured to her arm with elastics. I left it on so the bracelet won't get lost.

She has beautiful shoes that match her jewellry but they look big compared to Mulans shoes. They have moulded and painted details, just like the bracelet.

She has a kind and pretty face and I think it is quite accurate. She doesn't look angry like the newer Disney store Jasmine dolls. I think Jasmine is beautyful but her dolls doesn't really catch it in my opinion, mostly because of those eyebrows they give her. She would look so much friendlier with Elenas eyebrows.
I thought these two princesses resemble each other so let's compare their dollforms a bit.

(I'm sorry, but it is unclear what will happen to this Jasmine doll, so she has to stay in her box. :( )  Their faces are quite different but the eyes look very similar and I don't think Jasmine has such thick lips, her smile in the movie looks like the Elena dolls smile. Here is a picture of Jasmine to compare, pulled from https://animationscreencaps.com/

She looks a lot like Elena, only her eyebrows are thicker

Both dolls have the usual articulation of a classic princess doll with klick knees: head, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hips plus those klick knees I don't use at all.
Now, how does she compare to her mini self?

The faces are the same, but there are some minor differences due to the size difference.
The rope she came with is a lot like the shoelaces from my fathers shoes only it's shorter and the ends aren't finished. It was given to the Minis, so they can climb around in the bedroom a bit more easily. This particular Elena doll is very generous. She is called Valancy, after the main character of the book The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery.
She is a beautiful, accurate and quite well-made doll, I would recommend her to older children and collectors. She costs a bit more than the regular classic princesses but in return she has a bit more details than the others. I'm not sure about that rope, it is too short for the classic doll to play with it. But she does swing on a rope during the intro song of the series. I would have preferred her sceper or her crown. But it is just perfect for the mini dolls, perfect size and very useful.

Bye!