Q: Knowing my love of all things Disney and especially the little Orange Bird (my first souvenir being the drink container when I was five), my nine-year-old daughter happened upon a two-inch-tall figurine of him here locally. She was with her grandmother at the time and insisted on being allowed to purchase him for me. Is there anything you can tell me about this figurine, as I have not been able to find anything online about merchandise of him such as this. It has the “Walt Disney Prod.” stamp on the bottom of his feet. It’s invaluable to me because of it being given with so much love from my daughter, but I thought it would be neat to tell her what she found. Thanks for any help!
Mary, Havana, Florida
A: Your particular figurine is not familiar to me, but with that particular copyright notice, it would date between 1971 and 1987, the years that the Florida Citrus Growers sponsored the Sunshine Pavilion at the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom. During that period, Orange Bird merchandise could be found at various citrus stands off the Florida highways.
Dave Smith