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Ultimate Guide to Disney Costumes: All You Need to Know Before You Shop
By Admin
It's hard to keep track of the immeasurable amount of Disney Costumes on the market. There are hundreds of thousands of brick and mortar and online costume retailers, and guaranteed, each will have a combined selection of current Disney characters and select classics from iconic films. And as if the cast of original Disney characters wasn't big enough, Disney is always on the hunt for popular franchises to buy out or partner with. Never mind the acquisition of networks like ABC and ESPN—which have a whole host of original characters of their own—Disney's conglomerate now includes stellar franchises such as Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm, which has more than tripled the list of characters under Disney's umbrella. Naturally, the list of officially licensed Disney costumes also grows exponentially every time that the giant takes a new subsidiary under its massive wing. The Marvel Universe alone is home to thousands of superheroes, villains and their supporting characters, all of which can now call Disney their home. As an online Halloween retailer that takes pride in our vast collection of Disney costumes, we created this ultimate guide to give you a comprehensive breakdown of the manufacturers that hold official licenses to produce Disney costumes and all the characters that have a suit made after them. This guide will be modified and updated periodically as Disney's cast expands through new movies, TV shows or corporate acquisitions. Stay tuned.
A Little Background: Timeless Costumes for All Ages and Genders
Disney costumes have been known to transcend time. Kids today are still very likely to dress up as characters from classic Disney films from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, just as much as they would wear costumes from modern Disney animations. Interestingly, adults (at least the ones that still like to dress up) that grew up on classic Disney oldies are also just as likely to embrace an outfit from a modern Disney film like Frozen or Brave. The internet has made it more acceptable than ever for grown-ups to buy costumes without guilt; we actually found some interesting facts about adult costume shoppers and wrote about it on our blog. The secret behind this reciprocal acceptance of Disney costumes between generations is Disney’s fail-proof formula for successful stories. If you are familiar with Disney’s musical-comedy-drama-(and sometimes action) films, you know that they are the epitome of predictable. It’s been that way since Disney first introduced Snow White in 1937. You know exactly how every Disney movie is going to end—and you know you have seen this exact story play out in other Disney films—and you can’t help but watch. This powerful ability to captivate audiences translates very well to merchandising. It is why Disney Costumes are available to everyone from male babies to female elders, and everyone in between.
Licensed and Non-Licensed Manufacturers
While Disney produces original merchandise to sell at their theme parks and the Disney store, they don’t specialize in costumes, so the selection they carry in their gift shops is limited in contrast to Halloween specialty stores. What Disney does—wisely—is issue licenses to manufacturers that specialize in the industry and let them handle all the ‘dirty’ work. Production, marketing and sales fall in the hands of third parties who must meet Disney’s standards and in turn, they have to pay royalties to Disney.
Imitators are many but there are only a handful of manufacturers that are authorized to make officially licensed Disney costumes. There are two ways (see below) that you could end up with what many shoppers call “illegitimate” Disney character costumes; but mind you, the companies that make these outfits are in all their lawful right to produce them. It is up to you to learn to identify the types of outfits produced by non-licensed manufacturers.
Some Characters Don’t Require Licenses
You may see them—even while browsing our website—and not realize that they are not from official Disney manufacturers. Many characters are indeed original Disney adaptations, but remember that many of the characters that Disney proudly owns are not necessarily their own creation. Disney is just wonderful at taking classic fairy tales and storybook fables and re-creating an audio-visual experience that resounds well with everybody. Many people don’t even know the origin of the characters but they existed long before Disney was around. That’s where non-Disney licensed costume manufacturers cash in; by piggyback riding the success of Disney’s adaptations and making costumes based on the original characters. Take The Snow Queen, for example. You may be more familiar with Frozen; after all, it was this Disney hit that made the character of Elsa popular across the world. But The Snow Queen was the original fairy tale—which did not have a parallel story line with Frozen—and the main character never had a costume made after her until Disney’s Elsa became known. Suddenly, after the success of the 2014 Frozen costume fever, every manufacturer that did not have a Disney license decided to produce Snow Queen dresses that looked very much like Elsa’s. The same occurred with the Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, etc. As a consumer and as a passionate Disney loyalist, you may want to look out for any product that is not clearly named after the intended character, makes no mention of the film title or doesn’t clearly state that it is an official Disney costume.
Unofficial Manufacturers That Make Similar Costumes
Have you ever seen a Mickey Mouse costume with the big round ear cap, red pants or shorts, and black top? Pretty much everything you would expect from an official Disney costume. Then you notice something odd; no reference to the name Mickey, no reference to Disney and maybe a generic name like the ‘Mouse Man’ or ‘Toon Mouse’. If you bought one before realizing this you may be thinking, “I’ve been had,” lied to and sold a cheap knock off. The truth is this is a gray area. The manufacturer of that costume never said it was Mickey Mouse and the similarities with Disney’s version are merely “coincidental”; after all, a mouse is a mouse. This same situation translates to any other Disney character—because “it’s just a blue princess dress,” or “it’s just a cowboy doll costume.” The savvy shopper is well aware of the inconsistencies between originals and imitations. Even if a generic knock-off is being deceitfully sold to you as a Disney original, you will know what to look out for. Here are some details to consider:
• Description says “Inspired by” the character in question: Officially licensed Disney costumes will never say this. They will directly associate the character with the outfit.
• They will let you know they are the real deal with a branding seal: Seriously, look for the Disney logo on the product as well images of the character taken straight from the movie.
• Look for names that seem to be a little off: Maybe something along the lines of “Toy Tale Cowboy,” or “The Jungle King.” But if you know your Disney trivia well enough, you will know exactly what is real and what is just plain sneaky.
• Fairytale titles but no association with Disney: As mentioned earlier, classic fairytale and storybook characters don’t require licenses. You may find Cinderella or Alice in Wonderland costumes that resemble the Disney version but are not officially licensed. These are the trickiest ones because they are allowed to be named with original character names that are also used by Disney and the design is almost up for grabs.
• Know your manufacturers: Disney costume licenses are few and they are given to the highest bidder. That means there are hundreds of manufacturers trying to get a piece of the Disney action but only a few companies are officially allowed to produce them (see info in the section below).
With that explained, you can look at Disney costume imitations from two different angles. You may be a hardcore Disney fan who would not be caught wearing a character lookalike, or you could be hardcore Disney fan on a tight budget and decide that you are happy enough with the similar costume—and maybe even take on a DIY project to customize it.
List of Licensed Manufacturers
Disguise: This is the sole license holder of official Disney costumes, exclusive of some of Disney’s subsidiaries. Only for a short period, the license for adults was issued to a competitor, Leg Avenue, but they are now once again the official license holder. According to their website, Disguise was established in 1987. That is much less time in the industry than their competition; yet, the company has quickly grown to become a force to be reckoned with. In 2008, Disguise was acquired by Jakks Pacific, Inc., a publically traded children’s product manufacturing company. With the backing of Jakks along with a strong foundation, Disguise acquired the license to the majority of Disney’s franchises. They manufacture anything from Disney princess gowns to CG animated characters. They even contested with Rubie’s costumes for the license of Marvel and several other Disney subsidiaries. It is probable that the company will continue to hold this license due to their long-standing relationship with Disney and their results-based reputation in the Halloween and costume industry.
Rubie’s: Little by little, Disney is taking over the world. Rubie’s Costumes is the official license holder of Marvel, Star Wars and Indiana Jones costumes, all of which were acquired by the Walt Disney Company. In addition, Rubies also holds the license to the stop-motion animation remake of Frankenwee
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