When Disney Took Toontown to the Mall (Ep. 119)

Jim Hill and Lauren Hersey kick off October with a look at Toys "R" Us and the surprising return of large-scale pop-up retail, including a connection to Disney's own limited-time stores. Then Jim digs into Disney's history of taking theme park promotion on the road, from the enormous Ear Force One hot-air balloon and the Lim Mouse Zine to Mickey's Mouse-O-Rail and an eight-story inflatable Maleficent. The main event is the 1993 Mickey's Toontown mall tour, which brought Disney characters and elaborate installations directly to shoppers across the West Coast. NEWS • Toys "R" Us prepares to expand its physical retail presence with 120 new shops ahead of the holiday season. • Lauren explores the Go Retail Group connection between Toys "R" Us locations and Disney's recent limited-time retail stores. • The rise of "kidulting" helps explain why major toy and entertainment brands are taking another look at brick-and-mortar retail. • Jim checks out The Art of Gravity Falls, a new coffee-table book celebrating Alex Hirsch's enduring animated series. FEATURE • How the 1993 Mickey's Toontown mall tour promoted Disneyland's newest land by bringing Mickey, Minnie, and elaborate sets directly to shoppers. • Jim traces Disney's oversized promotional stunts back to Ear Force One, a nearly 100-foot-tall Mickey Mouse hot-air balloon created for Walt Disney World's 15th anniversary. • The Lim Mouse Zine turned a dramatically stretched Lincoln Town Car into a traveling Disney-MGM Studios publicity machine. • Disneyland's Mickey's Mouse-O-Rail transformed part of an actual monorail into a road-going promotional vehicle for the park's 35th anniversary. • An eight-story inflatable Maleficent helped promote the nighttime spectacular that eventually became Fantasmic!, even as Disney repeatedly changed the show's name. • Jim explains how those ambitious road tours eventually helped steer Disney toward elaborate mall promotions like Mickey's Toontown, Hercules, and A Bug's Life tours. HOSTS • Jim Hill - X/Twitter: @JimHillMedia | Instagram: @JimHillMedia | Website: jimhillmedia.com • Lauren Hersey - X/Twitter: @laurenhersey2 | Instagram: @lauren_hersey_ FOLLOW • Facebook: @JimHillMediaNews • YouTube: @jimhillmedia • TikTok: @jimhillmedia • Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jimhillmedia/ SUPPORT Support the show and access bonus episodes and additional content at https://www.patreon.com/jimhillmedia. PRODUCTION CREDITS Edited by Dave Grey Produced by Eric Hersey - https://strongmindedagency.com SPONSOR Planning a Disney or Universal getaway? Be Our Guest Vacations can help with hotel reservations, theme park tickets, dining reservations, and the details that make a Central Florida vacation easier to plan, all at no additional cost to you. Visit BeOurGuestVacations.com to start planning your trip. If you would like to sponsor a show on the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, reach out today. https://www.jimhillmedia.com/sponsor/ Jim and Lauren explore Toys "R" Us's retail comeback and Disney's wild history of promoting Disneyland with hot-air balloons, custom vehicles, giant inflatables, and the 1993 Mickey's Toontown mall tour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices