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.

Elena of Avalor mini doll set review

"A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew "

from Disneys Aladdin: A whole new world

Yes, they'll get to know a whole new world now that they get out of the box. Moving on to the mini treasures from my sisters treasurebox, they are the one before the last item from that box. All the other minis gathered to welcome the new members.

This set has four characters, as many as the mini doll sets usually have. (Older parks princess sets had five, and now the Tangled mini doll set going with the series has only three dolls)

Just like the box of the Elena classic doll, this box has an unique shape and similar, 'avalorish' patterns. The top of the box has some simple but pretty flower design, different shades of blue, yellow and red were used.

The front side of the box has similar decorations and some more complex flowers as well.

On the left, there is a Disney Store Sign, a picture of Elena swinging on a rope and with her hair down and the usual warning. In the middle there is a sign with the information that this is a Mini Doll Set, both in English and in French.

I'm not sure the sets from the USA have this as well, I got my set online from the UK store. On the right, there is the the Disneys Elena of Avalor sign.

The sides of the box show flower patterns as well, only one of them has part of Elenas hair, her skirt and her foot on it.

It belongs to the picture on the front. Here is another picture, so you can see it as a whole.

Just around the riverbend, ehm corner

It shows Elena in her everyday dress, while the artwork on the back of the box shows her in her formal attire. It is the same picture of Elena they used for the classic dolls box.

There is the Elena of Avalor sign in the middle once more, a Ready to rule sign, again, both english and french. I didn't mention the two languages in the classic doll review but it is the exact same sign maybe the size is a little different. Elenas home is not forgotten, either, it is an other element that already made an appearance on the classic dolls box.

Other than those decorations, there are some more texts I don't understand and the names of the characters who sit in the box as dolls, once more in two languages.

The bottom of the box is not decorated, it is the same color that is halfway between green and blue that is used a lot on other parts of the box. Now, let's move on to the inhabitants of the box. Naomi looks really unconfortable. Besides, she is the only one with an extra tie so let's free her first.

She has short blond hair which is hard and kind of like a helmet because of the amount of hairproduct they used to style it. Her eyes are the same blueish green teal color as her skirt, She has some freckles, a pointy little nose and a smile. She doesn't show any teeth.

She wears a small version of her everyday dress from the series, a white blouse with a darkblue west, a red belt, the already mentioned teal skirt with a darkblue decorative stripe and black boots. There are some unfinished edges so be careful while playing.

Little Naomi even has that little ornament imitated with a piece of ribbon around her neck but she does not have a bracelet. I could not make her stand on her own. She is very cute and quite movie accurate in my opinion.
Next is Elena, she is a small version of the classic doll, wearing her red dress, a white underskirt that is part of her dress and brown flats. She has a belt that is sewn to her dress and she wears her hair in a ponytail which is very stiff just like the classic dolls hair.

She is missing some little details the classic doll has, like the flower ornament in her hair, her earrings and her bracelet. She is still a very good version of Elena and I think she is the most movie accurate of the bunch. Her hair is just a touch lighter then the classic dolls hair but that may be just me. Both Elenas have the same smile with a slightly open mouth.

I think she is the first doll who actually has red lips, the others all have lighter or darker pink shades as their lipcolor. It goes well with her red dress.
Gabe is wearing a nice and detailed version of his uniform which uses a lighter and a darker shade of blue and red. He wears black boots that look similar to the ones Hans wears. I have to check it when I get the mini one out of the box.

His hair is a grayish brown, I'm not really fond of that color but I let it pass. He looks a bit odd in the pictures but he is actually quite nice.

When I saw him for the first time, he reminded mi a bit of Naveen from The Princess and the frog. It's odd, I only had this feeling with the doll, in the cartoon he never looks even a tiny bit like Naveen.
Mateo is the last of the four.

He  has darkbrown hair and eyes and he wears his casual outfit. The color of his outfit changes.

The doll versions and the promo pictures show him with a teal  west and darkblue belt compined with  greyish brown trousers while in the series he is seen with a green west, red belt end greenushblueish trousers. Maybe there are two different outfits. The white shirt and the red tie are always the same. The little outfit the doll wears is all one piece I think they caught his face pretty good, maybe he looks a bit older then he is in the series.He reminded me a bit of Aladdin. :)
Here are a few screenshots to compare, they are from Diseny Elena of avalor Wiki:

All four dolls have basic articulation: neck(Naomis is a bit loose) shoulders, hips and those klick knees I prefer not to use, especially on such small dolls. I almost forgot the background of the dolls, usually it can be used as a room or something for the dolls, like the ballroom for the Beauty and the Beast mini doll set or the room background for the wardrobe sets.

This set has Avalor in a teal version as a background with Elenas castle and the houses and the moutains and all. I'm sure it can be used while playing. :)
Those four little ones are really cute and  great additions to my mini doll collection, I'm really happy that I was able to get them. Besides, two more boys, maybe there will be some interesting events to be reported. No romances so far :}
But in my opinion they are more suitable for collectors than young children.

Dolly: Meritres matchmaking ambitions are impossible to cure. Those little ones have my sympathy.

Looks like they feel a bit uneasy but they'll get used to everything soon. And Elena can play Esmeralda in Pocket Princesses 138

Uhm... hi!

Thhis is a bit awkward...

Well, if you read the first part of their story, you know that it is not just a bit awkward, they have quite a bit of trouble getting to know the others and fit in. Especially the girls.

Announcement

From now on, this blog will be a public one. But if it does'nt go well, I'll just return to this kind of private blog thing I ran untill now. Thank you all. :)

Here is a picture of all the minis I have at the moment. :) Aren't they just cute?