Aurora 2021 classic doll review

 "Fény és tiszta ünnep árad minden lélekből"

literally: Light and pure fesivity emerges from all souls

 from a musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol

 

It's been a while I guess... And I could say that I was busy. I was. But I didn't feel like making time for preparing a blogpost. I'll try and we shall see how it goes.

I wanted this new Aurora doll because I just love her new facemold. She looks calm, elegant, regal - just like princess Aurora. Since I have an earlier edition of Aurora as well, I'll compare the two dolls. But if you'd like to see more details of my older Aurora doll, you can check out my review of her.

The dolls come in completely new boxes this year - no plastic in the packaging. This also means no annoying  plastic tags in the head or the dress, yay! Since there is no plastic, there is no see through part of the box, so you can't take a look at the doll before buying it if you get the doll at a shop but I can only order online so it' not an issue for me. 

 The front of the box has the stock photo of the princess. 

The sides have artwork of the princess and the movie, top and bottom both has Disney Princess on it, the bottom has Aurora and Classic Doll next to that, the later in a few different languages.

The backside has a scene from the movie - Philip and Briar Rose - and additional artwork that looks like their shadows. It's a new and quite nice decoration idea in my opinion. All the usual warnings and the pricetag can be found as well. There is a Plastic free package sign as well.

When the box is opened, the princess appears and she looks like she is standing at a window of her castle. Aurora looks perfect this way. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos when I first deboxed her so these are all from after opening her but I hope you still get an idea what it was like and how it works.

The lower part that covers up her skirt can be opened up, it's some paper hooks. Interesting and smart solution and easy to open.

This also means you can put her back in the box easily for transportation or whatever reason. After opening that up, Aurora was ready to be taken out of the box. 

She wass only held in place at the feet with a paper hook so she was really easy to debox, ideal for kids.

Her hair and that elastics didn't like each other and from the back it needs some adjusting. But from the front, I think she looks perfect.

Here she is in he full glory. 

She comes with her crown and necklace, both securely tied to her with thread and elastics.

 
The top part of her dress changes very little over the years but more on that in the comparing section.

The top layer of her skirt is decorated with glitter patterns

They still do the tull overlayer (covered in glitter) thin underlayer type of skirt. I'm not particularly fond of that construction but I plan to redress her anyway. She has simple pink slippers matching her dress and she has flat feet. They are too small to balance her to stand on her own. So far Moana is the only doll capable of standing on her own, but I have high hopes for Isabela, the eldest sister from the new movie Encanto.

Just love her new face, so pretty and elegant.

The articulation is the usual, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and the hated click knees. Yep, I still hate them with a passion. But I heard the articulation in the arm was refined so she can move in a wider range. Yay for that!

The princesses come with a brush this year, here is Aurora's:

It is also held in place with just paper that's part of the box. It is decorated with a castle at the back. The mold is the same for all princesses (based on stock photos, Aurora's the only princess I got this year) but the colors vary. Many girls have a shade of yellow or gold (Snow White, Pocahontas, Merida, Anna, Moana), different shades of blue are also popular (Cinderella, Jamine, Mulan, Elsa).

Now let's compare her to my other Aurora classic doll, Aurenna.

Both the facemold and the facepaint changed a lot. The left Aurora was ordered in 2017 October from the UK online store, the right one came this year not so long ago.

The older doll, named Aurenna (that's her personal name I gave her)  has a sideglance, bright pink lips and matt gold crown and necklace. I prefer these to the shiny ones the new girl brought. But I was foolish enough to cur the elastic that held the necklace in place, now it dangles around as it pleases. I won't make the same mistake this time. The new doll (she still needs a name) has a forward glance, maybe that's why she looks so calm while the other girl looks livelier. The older doll's open mouth smile may add to that effect. The new Aurora comes with shiny jewelry and darker, more natural colored lips. No it's not a natural color but it fits nicely, better then the brighter color but that's my personal preference. She smiles with a closed mouth. Both have nice violet eyes.of abou the same shade.

The camera doesn't pick it up but her skintone changed, too. New girl has a faint orange tint to her skin, Aurenna is a bit more yellowish, I think. The difference is very small, both work well for Aurora.

The old doll's face reminds me of this screenshot:

While the new face reminds me of how she looked at the end:

 

Aurenna looks like she has more hair since she came with her hair in two bigger chunks while the new doll had her heir in one chunk. Aurora's signature curl in the bangs used to be lower, now it's high up on her forhead.

The bodice part of the  dress doesn't look that much different. except the older one has it covered in glitter. This made the fabric very stiff and I assume hard to work with. The glitterfree bodice follows the shape of Aurora better and so looks more elegant and it fits her more - doesn't look like a hand down from a (non-existent) older sister. The new dress definitely looks better in the bodice part. I'm not completely sure but the fabric of the sleeves feels a bit different. Oh and a pleasant surprise. Aurenna was very easy to redress, although long tigh sleeves are usually a nighmare. 

The sash around the waist is definitely a different fabric, for the old dress, the same fabric was used as for the sleeves, the new dress has a sash from rougher, stiffer material. Probably holds up with children playing with it better but I'm not sure.

The skirt is very different, the dolls I got in 2018 had a very similar skirt structure (Cinderella, Tiana) to the new doll's skirt. Itt hasn't changed much over the past few years, a see-through layer with glitter decoration and a thin second layer. I prefer the older skirt that is made up of lighter and darker pink panels - not completely movie accurate but very nice and still closer than that poofy new skirt.

The shoes are very similar, simple slippers all the princesses wear. The color is exactly the same. Left is old, right is new.

The shape is a bit more refined for the new doll, the sole is a bit flatter but the differences are very slight and only noticable when you have both of them right in front of you.

Overall she is a really nice doll especially if you like Aurora and Sleeping Beauty but I wouldn't have gotten her if it weren't for the new facemold. Aurora usually doesn't get  that many changes so it was great to see something new for her. I only wish she came in the blue version of her dress, blue is my favourite color and I already own a pink version of the dress. I'm still very happy she joined my little(?) doll family. As soon as she gets a name, she'll go up in the My Classic Dolls section as well.

I know I always say this and then never get the other reviews done (I still owe you Snow White, Anna comparison post and more) but please look forward to my Isabla review. I plan to compare her body to Moana, since I have not yet seen such a comparison.

 

Disney Store 2017 Classic Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) doll review

"Gold hair with a gentle curl"

from the musical Wicked by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, song: I'm not that girl

Aurora is, just lika Belle and Pocahontas, part of my Christmas gift to myself.

She has a simple box and a squirrel friend with her, like all classic princesse that were released in 2017.

The front has the character's name and the movietitle.

The right side of the box shows Aurora and Flora.

The left side has the other two fairies, flying around somwhere in Auroras castle.

A closer look at Fauna...

...and Merryweather.  She is probably about to change the color of Aurora's dress.

The back of the box has Auroras name and the movie's title once more and various warnings and of course the price.

The Aurora artwork takes up the most space. She looks like she is dancing in the woods as her squirrel friend is in the picture as well. She is wearing her pink princess dress and is the redesigned version of the princess just like in the picture with Flora. She is missing her signature curl in her bangs in the artwork but the doll has it.
She is not really difficult to debox, she had two ties in her head  but those were quite loose and not that difficult to cut.

Her crown is tied to her hair. I didn't cut those ties so her crown won't get lost. I cut the tie holding her necklace because I thought it limited her movement. But now I regret it a little.

She has the woods as a background, wich makes sense for the squirrel but not for the pink dress. The squirrel has an extra paper branch to sit on.
Aurora had the usual amount of ties and tissue paper under her skirt to make it poofier.

And to protect her legs from the glitter but this protection didn't really work. Her skirt didn't suffer as much as Belle's - it is quite long and her feet and shoes doesn't show much.

Aurora wears as usual her pink dress which is all one piece.

The skirt is dark pink with a little lighter pink panel in the middle and with a white sashlike part made of triangles around the waist. Her bodice is the same dark pink the greater part of the skirt has and the whole darkpink section is covered in glitter.

It sheds a little and there is quite a bit of it on her rubber legs. Her sleeves are light pink, much lighter than the front section of the skirt. The collar is white andthick and pointy.

The dress closes with Velcro at the back.
She has a sweet face and an open.mouth smile. Her lips are not actually red as a rose as it is stated in the movie but a dark pink that goes well with her dress.

She has flat feet and dark pink flats as footwear. I already mentioned in my earlier reviews that I don't like the flat feet-klick knees combination. I wonder if  for the 2018 classic dolls it will be changed again. It may be my clumsy deboxing method but most of my dolls have some loose joints.

Her hair is quite stiff and hard fresh out of the box and quite untidy from the backside. Also there is this tie around her waist that ensures I undress all my dolls before putting them on the shelf to join the others.

She is a lovely doll.
She comes with a friend, a sturdy little squirrelfigure.

It is secured with two ties.

Once it is out of the box, we can look at that adorable little face.

This little figure can stand on its own very well.
I also own a mini Aurora whom I call Vivienne, who is quite different from her.

Here is a picture to compare. Mini Auroras makeup is lighter than classic Auroras - lighter eyeshadow, lighter lipcolor and Classic Aurora has much more blush on her cheeks, Vivi has practically none. She is also looking straight forward, like some of the older Aurora Classic dolls.
Aurora also tried on some of the new stuff I got.

Blue suits her well. That blue dress is very popular among the girls.
I have a top that always looked like the top part of a pyjama to me and wearing it with the pink trousers I got recently only strenghtens this effect, at least for me.

And the squirrel is her teddybear. Sleeping Beauty goes to bed and to sleep.
My poor Calssic Aurora doesn't have a name yet so suggestions are very welcome. She's a dreamy princess with a beautiful singing voice.

31 day Disney Challenge - Day 25 and Day 26

Day 25: funniest moment:

I choose a bunch of the best to make this pic :) Genie and his neck, Jafar and Iago plotting to marry Jasmine, Hercules and Megara, Hades and his henchmen Pain and Panic, the three good fairies from Sleeping Beauty, hit a guy with glasses, Mulan trying to behave like a man. :) There are so many more I didn't put in here though.

Day 26: saddest moment

As a child, I thought, as many others did, that Mufasas death and Simba trying to wake him up is the saddest. I found now that I think these two moments the most sad.

Beast letting Belle go - in the musical version it is even more touching, since he sings a reprise of  the song 'If I can't love her'
Elsa mourning for her sister -  think that the last of your loved ones is gone and you believe it's your fault - impossible to describe.

31 day Disney Challenge - Day 18 and Day 19

Day 18: favourite villain:
It's got to be Hades, he is such a funny one :)

Day 19:

favourite scene: impossible to pick just one there are so many! I'll try: The three good fairies preparing Auroras birthday and Wreck-it-Ralph and Vanellope making the cart. These are two of my absolute favourites - I often rewatch them :)

Funny thing, both scenes include baking. One has to learn form the best bakers :D