davidd's A Doll A Day 2019

[davidd]

1 April – Taranee Cook action figure from the comic book and TV series W.I.T.C.H.

There's a funky shadow on her chin that makes her look like she has a beard. I didn't even notice that until I posted the photo just now. Oh well, I'm not gonna attempt a re-shoot. Just pretend she's cosplaying as King Tut from the Batman TV show.

Online descriptions of the Taranee character describe her as as either a "shy 13 year old" or a "shy 12 year old." For a shy pre-teen, she certainly dresses... or under-dresses... or barely dresses in a provocative manner. The W.I.T.C.H. costumes kinda make the Winx Club outfits seem conservative by comparison.

But then, the series, which aired between 2004 and 2006, was French. However, it was also co-produced by Disney. So... okay, never mind.

INFO:
Comic book
TV series


Anyway, I found poor Taranee discarded along a bicycle path nearly ten years ago. I didn't know who the character was, but I brought her home, posted a photo on Flickr, and somebody identified her. I don't think she's seen the light of day since. The figure is in pretty poor condition; to be ekspected, I suppose, of one that was out in the weather getting run over by bicycles. I've thought about discarding her. I've thought about trying to repaint her. Chances are, however, that she'll go back into a box, and maybe make another appearance in five or ten years.

Oh, hey! In looking online just now, I learned that this figure was part of a W.I.T.C.H. (the acronym is based on the names of the five primary characters: Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin) series of McDonald's Happy Meal toys issued in 2005. In near-mint condition the figures sell for... about five bucks. With another five bucks for shipping (thank you, United States Postal Service, for the recent rate increase). The amulet or medallion on the string is supposed to be bright pink, and her now-purple face was originally a light tan color. This girl spent some serious time in the sun out there on that bike path.

Maybe she would have been happier out there on the bike path, rather than being stashed away in a dark box filled with clutter. Perhaps I should set her free out in the woods somewhere. Although that would basically be littering, I suppose.

Little bits of molded plastic with faces on them are so difficult to discard. They just look at you and say, "Oh, please, don't throw me away! Don't donate me to a junk shop, or I'll probably end up as a doggie chew toy! Please let me stay here with the other toys!"

Oh, hey! Additional research... yeah, I'm taking, like, forever to type this caption because I keep looking up W.I.T.C.H. stuff on eBay... indicates that there was a line of 8-inch W.I.T.C.H. dolls; and speaking of Winx Club, the W.I.T.C.H. dolls were manufactured by Giochi Preziosi, the Italian company that made the Winx Club dolls in Europe. Giochi Preziosi also made the tall, slender Hi:Glamm dolls, which were distributed in the US by MGAE in their pre-Bratz days. Apparently Giochi Preziosi specialized in producing figures of trim young girls in revealing outfits. Because, y'know, Italy, which has an even higher appreciation for tolerance for... stuff like that... than France.

Wait... what's this? Now I see that W.I.T.C.H. was a French production based on an Italian comic book! That eksplains a lot!

Apparently Giochi Preziosi also released a line of mini-monster type non-articulated figures that were not based on stylized teen girls called Gormiti: The Invincible Lords of Nature, which are similar in size and appearance to the M.U.S.C.L.E. line of miniature fantasy wrestling figures, which were, in turn, based on Japanese Kinnikuman gashapon fantasy wrestling figures. The Gormiti figures appear to be fairly popular collectables on eBay.

I think this caption has meandered sufficiently far afield that it would be better to stop. In fact, it should have stopped before it started.

TL;DNR version: W.I.T.C.H. McDonald's Happy Meal figure "Taranee," circa 2005.