D56 Minnie’s Arabesque Figurine Review

Reviewed by Michelle M

When the opportunity presented itself to review the new Minnie Mouse Arabesque Figurine by Department 56 I jumped at the chance. I’m a big Disney fan and whist I love the princesses, the original characters will always have a special place in my collections.  Minnie Mouse also happens to be my friend’s favourite Disney character and as she has many Minnie items and Minnie themed home furnishings I have been looking for something slightly different to get her for Christmas, preferably something she wouldn’t be likely to buy for herself and this perfectly fits that bill. 

Department 56 is a website best known for their hand painted, illuminated Christmas villages which they started creating in 1976.  Their products include themed ornaments from Disney, Harry Potter and Game of Thrones as well as more generic snowgnomes, North Pole and Santa themes. All their pieces can be stand alone ornaments though many also go together in collections to form a larger ornamental display.  They have gained a reputation for quality decorations, collectables  and giftware over the years they’ve been in existence and are a well known name among collectors. Find out more about them, explore their products or read their blog on the website here. 

My parcel arrived with the figurines decorative box well wrapped in lots of bubble wrap to keep it safe inside its packing box. The figurine itself was packaged in a pretty decorative cardboard box which identified it as a Disney and Department 56 figurine. The front shows what this figurine looks like, the name and a snowy scene with a smaller Mickey and Minnie dressed in their Christmas finery at the bottom. The figurine itself was packaged in a small plastic bag which fitted into a cut out section of a polystyrene block. The lid to this block was securely sellotaped to the base and the whole block fitted tightly into the much prettier decorative box for the figurine. Whilst all this packaging did a fantastic job of keeping the Minnie’s Arabesque figurine safe in transit I couldn’t help but cringe a little at the polystyrene use given its not recyclable. However I can think of no better way to keep Minnie safe, and once Christmas decorations come down the packaging will be reused to help protect the figurine whilst in storage. I do look forward to the use of more environmentally friendly materials though. 

The figurines box is approximately 8 by 12 centimetres in size, whilst Minnie herself stands at 7.5 centimetres tall. Minnie Mouse is dressed in her pink ballet shoes and tutu. She is standing en point on one foot in an arabesque ballet pose, as if she is mid dance. Each piece has been handcrafted from cast stone and each detail, from her red bow at the top to the pink ties on her shoes has been hand painted giving Minnie her beautiful characteristic happy smile.  Minnie is posed on a sparkly white pedestal which I would suggest represents glittery snow very nicely, suggesting Minnie is performing in a Christmas ballet performance. The underside of this pedestal contains the authenticity stamps confirming it is a genuine  Disney, Department 56 figurine, the year and the copyright as well as three small felt circles to prevent scratches. 

The website write up suggests the Minnie’s Arabesque figure is an ideal companion to the Minnie’s dance studio which can be purchased here from Department 56.  At the time of writing there is an offer to receive the arabesque figurine as a free gift when purchasing the dance studio. Both the arabesque figurine and the dance studio are pieces in the wider Mickey’s Merry Christmas Village Collection, all pieces of which can be seen here and I feel would make a lovely magical village display. I’d certainly be delighted to own all of the collection. 

This figurine feels high quality and will delight year upon year. It is very definitely an ornament rather than a toy so not suitable for a young child however it is very suitable to give to an adult or teenage Disney or Minnie Mouse fan as a Christmas gift and I know my friend is going to love receiving it. I’ll have to wait to find out if she keeps it just as an addition to her Minnie Mouse themed Christmas decorations or is inspired and it becomes the first piece of the Mickey’s Merry Christmas Village Collection she owns. I might even add another piece to her collection next year as I do think they are fairly priced for the quality collectible pieces they are. 

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £25.99 (reduced in the sale to £18.95 at the time of writing this review) 

Minnie’s Arabesque can be purchased from the Dept 56 website