Happy New Year!

Hey everyone!
I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year! 

2014 was kind of a crazy year, and I can't say I'm sad to see it go.  In retrospect, though, God knew what He was doing and He kept me safe.  I'm going into 2015 with a lot less friends/acquaintances than I went into 2014 with.  While I at first didn't see the reasoning behind why everyone seemed to be moving on and leaving me behind, I now see that God knew what He was doing and was protecting me from bad influences and letting those who didn't really need me anymore go.  I now see why each and every one of those people entered my life and why they left my life, and I'm thankful for all of them, as well as for God showing me the way and helping me through some very long nights.
I'm hoping 2015 is an awesome year and I'm hoping to focus more on God and I hope to trust Him more than I did this year.  After all He's done for me, though, it's hard not to trust Him and know that He's got this.  All of this.  This year, I'm also hoping to publish my first book, but we'll see how that goes. 

I hope you all have a blessed 2015 and I hope to talk to you guys soon!

Movie Review: Big Hero 6

Hey everyone!
Today, I've got a movie review for you: Big Hero 6. 

I'm not going to be posting major details about the plot - you're going to have to see it for yourself!  It's too good to spoil.  However, if you do not want any details about the movie at all, it's kind of obvious that you may not want to read on!


Basic Plot: Hiro Hamada is a fourteen-year-old genius who graduated high school at the age of thirteen.  He and his older brother Tadashi live with their Aunt Cass, since their parents died when they were young.  Tadashi is in college at SFIT, and makes an inflatable robot that helps and takes care of people - Baymax, your personal healthcare assistant.  Tadashi convinces Hiro to apply for SFIT, and he does. 

After the college goes up in flames in a terrible accident, Hiro, with the help of Tadashi's college friends - GoGo Tomago, Honey Lemon, Wasabi No Ginger, and Fred -, along with Baymax, have to avenge the accident and catch the villain. 

Some Messages Within The Movie: ****POSSIBILITY FOR SPOILERS*****
*Personal loss. 
At one point in the movie, Hiro is depressed.  While yes, Frozen's Elsa was a metaphor for depression, it is flat-out mentioned in the film, and dealt with throughout the movie.  It's not a snap-your-fingers-and-they're-okay-again deal, like what we see in a lot of movies. 
*Team players.
Hiro, at one point, goes against his teammates in a rage, bent on revenge for the villain who burnt down the college instead of justice.  He, with the help of Baymax, eventually understands his mistake and goes back to the team, and they handle the situation correctly. 
*Never give up. 
While Tadashi never gave up on Baymax or Hiro, this message goes deeper than that.  The movie tells you to never give up on your dreams, on other people, or yourself.  I don't know about you guys, but I think this is something everyone needs to think about.  Earlier this year, I really needed this message!

Main Characters:

Honey LemonVoiced by Genesis Rodriguez, Honey Lemon is the optimistic of the bunch.  Even if someone's trying to kill them, she's seeing the silver lining to the situation!  She's quite a lot like Tangled's Rapunzel in this sense.  She's the chemist of the group. 
Hiro HamadaVoiced by Ryan Potter, Hiro Hamada is a robotics prodigy, as well as the main character in the story.
Tadashi HamadaVoiced by Daniel Henney, Tadashi Hamada is the older Hamada brother and Hiro's role model.  His entire purpose in life is to help people.
Aunt Cass
Voiced by Maya Rudolph, Aunt Cass is the owner of the Lucky Cat Cafe and the guardian of Tadashi and Hiro.  She's the one that has to run after and control her two genius nephews. 
Wasabi No-Ginger
Voiced by Damon Wayans Jr., Wasabi may be the biggest and beefiest character in the movie, but he's just a giant kitten.  He's hindered by severe OCD tendencies and has to overcome these in the movie.
FredT.J. Miller voices Fred.  He's not a mega genius, but is the mascot for SFIT.  Even if he's a huge nerd and doesn't get into all the science-y stuff that the rest of the characters do, he's just as important as the rest of them.
GoGo TomagoVoiced by Jamie Chung (who is Mulan on Once Upon a Time), GoGo is the snarky mechanics geek of the bunch; a real Clint Eastwood type.  She's a woman of few words, but she gets her point across!
BaymaxVoiced by Scott Adsit, Baymax is the inflatable, huggable robot that is very innocent and childlike.  He's the glue that holds the entire team together.

Marvel OriginsBig Hero 6 is a Marvel comic series that isn't very popular at all.  The names of the characters and some minor plot details are used from the comics in this movie, but that's about where the similarities end; however, I have not found the actual comics yet to really read them - though I would love to!  The comic series Big Hero 6 is virtually a love letter to the Japanese culture. 

SoundtrackThe soundtrack is amazing.  The composer is Henry Jackman, the same composer who worked on Captain America: The Winter Soldier's soundtrack.  If you've read my review for The Winter Soldier, you'll know I'm in love with the soundtrack.  Big Hero 6's soundtrack is just as good!  If you liked Jackman's work in The Winter Soldier, I highly, highly recommend this soundtrack as well!  It's on YouTube if you'd like to check some of them out. 

GraphicsThe.  Graphics.  The CG in this movie is simply stunning.  A+ animation.  Not many flaws, and they obviously took their time with creating the film.  

StorylineThe storyline is excellent.  There aren't too many plot holes that I can find - if any - and that is a very, very good thing. 

Overall: I would give the movie a 9.5/10.  I'm docking half of a point because of some suggestiveness in the beginning of the movie whilst Baymax is talking to Hiro about puberty - in which, Hiro cuts him off at a very convenient moment, and I feel like they could've left that out, but overall, the movie is amazing.  It has a very good storyline and very deep, heartfelt messages.  You'll laugh, you'll cry - a lot - and you'll likely fall in love with the movie and want to see it over and over again. 
Plus, there is an after-credits scene with Stan Lee.  It's worth it.  It's worth sitting through the credits. 
Have any of you seen Big Hero 6 yet?  Are you planning on seeing it in theaters? What are your thoughts about the movie? 

Review: The Making of Beauty and the Beast

Hey guys!  Before I get into today's review, I just wanted to thank you all for your patience and willingness to keep up with the blog.  Never thought I'd get over 9600 views and 13 followers on this blog! You guys are all amazing, and I'm so thankful for each and every one of you. 
This review's for "The Making of Beauty and the Beast".  I apologize ahead of time, Blogger's being a jerk and uploading photos sideways.  Again.  *facepalm* But anyway. 

The book, of course, is much like the "Art of" books, like Brave, Tangled, and Frozen's, only a little shorter.  There's a neat little section in the margin of one page, shown above, that describes Belle's "warpaint", or where blush, shading, etc. would be placed. 

The book also includes plenty of concept art, like the amazing concept of Beast shown here.  I apologize for the glare, the pages are shiny and..yeah. 

The side margins on the book also include a lot of information about some of the artists that worked on the movie.  The margin above is about Glen Keane, of course.  (Oh boy, these sideways pictures are really getting on my nerves..I'm so sorry guys!)

It also has a lot of information about the architecture in the film, especially about the castle.  There's actually a bit of a floorplan shown!  It's very neat. 

It has a table of contents, which shows how the book is divided into a prologue and two parts: "From Legend to Film" and "The Elements of Animation." 

In the back of the book, a glossary of animation terms is printed.  It'd helpful for if you don't quite understand what some term is! 

And finally, here's just a fun little picture of Belle with her "Making Of" book.  I couldn't resist, because...she's a girl with her nose stuck in a book, reading about the girl with her nose stuck in a book.

Overall, I'd give the book 4.5 / 5 stars.  I'd like to see a bit of a thicker book, for the price, but it's still very informative and I really enjoyed it.  Any fan of Beauty and the Beast would likely enjoy it!   

Merry Christmas!

Hey guys!
I'm so sorry for leaving this for 22 days.  Ugh.  I didn't expect to be going to play practices for my church youth group almost every single day this month.  But the play is over with, and I've never been prouder of my church's youth group.  We all did so well this year, despite several little hiccups with planning this year's Christmas play :D 
Anyway, with that over with, I'll hopefully be posting more.  I have so many ideas and reviews to post about..just not the time. 
But without further ado, I hope you guys all have a very merry and blessed Christmas, and don't forget that Jesus is the reason for the season! 

Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast book review

Hey guys! 
I've got a review for you all today - a review of the book "Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast" by Bob Thomas. 
A note here: I am SO sorry that almost all of these are sideways.  Blogger decided to load them up the wrong way and it's just plain not wanting to work today, so bear with me.  Sorry!

This book is very informative.  Now, if you're interested in any of the other Art of books, or Disney history, you'll most likely enjoy this book.  It includes information on the origins of Walt Disney's company, and about most of (if not all of) the animated features up to "Beauty and the Beast". 

Side note here: this is kind of a 2-in-1 deal here.  It also includes a second book, "The Making of Beauty and the Beast", also by Bob Thomas.  If I would have known this pre-purchase, I wouldn't have bought that book separately (review to come. :P) So in other words, don't pay $11 for The Making of Beauty and the Beast *AND* $5 for Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast when you could just get both for $5. 
Moving on.

The book is divided into several sections...

And includes a lot of interesting information on all of the movies Walt was involved in, especially Snow White.

Part of the table of contents. 
This book seriously has a wealth of information - I couldn't put it down!  It's not like it's riveting and full of action or anything, but I just find it really interesting xD

The side margins of the book has a lot of photos of the workers at the company, as well as captions.  The information in these are also kind of neat! 
The book also includes quite a bit of neat concept art, even including a two-page spread of the movie Fantasia. 

If you're interested in Disney history, this book would probably be an excellent thing to look into.  I bought it from Amazon.com used for about $5, so it's definitely a decent price for such a good book!

I will be posting the review for The Making of Beauty and the Beast book after this, and then will be posting reviews for the Big Hero 6 Junior Novelization, probably The Hunger Games trilogy (and the first two movies, I suppose), a movie review for Big Hero 6 (*muffled screaming* it was amazing), annnd probably a few other things I just can't think of right now :P

Happy [early] Thanksgiving and Upcoming Posts

Hey guys!
SO sorry I haven't posted in awhile...again. 
I'm hoping to get some time set aside to work on some drafts soon - 'tis the season for incredible busyness, right? 
Upcoming posts will include a couple of Disney book reviews and a movie review I think you'll be interested in.  Oh, as well as a soundtrack review and a photoshoot as well - in other words, there will be a lot of posts.  xD  Hoping that I'll get some time to do these all over Thanksgiving break, sometime after Thursday, hopefully. 
So 'til then, happy Thanksgiving to everyone and thanks for your patience! (:

Disney Store & Big Hero 6

Hey guys!
Is anyone going to see Big Hero 6 this weekend? It came out yesterday!

Just wanted to pop in and let you all know that the Disney Store is having a 25% off your entire purchase thing going on until Tuesday with the code DISNEYPAL . 

In other news, I'm trying to get a photoshoot completed and done for you all - in amongst all of the additional commitments I have going on right now: 'tis the season :P 
I'll see you guys soon! 

Disney Store -New Merch

Hey guys!  Just wanted to drop in and let you all know that the Disney Store put two new Frozen doll sets up--an Anna and Elsa skating set and a DAC Elsa/Anna set.  While both sets are absolutely ADORABLE, I likely won't be purchasing either--they're a bit pricey, but they do have both sisters, so...not really I guess xD Anyway, the skating set is $34.95 and the toddler set, I believe, is $99.95.
In addition to this, there is a new DAC Aurora set and a DAC Rapunzel set for $59.95 each.  The Rapunzel set is simply ADORABLE, but I might be a lil biased :P
Anyone planning on purchasing one of the new sets?
Also, there is a sale up for a few toys--the link is on the front page of the Disney Store website if you wanna go check that out as well!

In case you guys haven't seen the Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer that "HYDRA leaked before its proper air date set for Oct. 28", here's the link:
AOU 
Holy cow.
This movie needs to come out now.
Please?

What do you guys think?  Anyone excited for the movie?

Disney Store & JCP updates and movies!

Hey everyone!!
Just thought I'd let you all know that the Disney Store is currently having a sale on the Classic dolls - $10.00 each.  Of course, the Frozen dolls - which are now available -- are not included in this sale, and are still $16.95 (?). 
Also, they have some merchandise for Big Hero 6 up - including an 11" Gogo Tomago doll for $16.95.  I'm debating whether or not I want to get her at some point; I'll wait until after the movie comes out.  I'm hoping they come out with 11" classics for Honey Lemon as well! 
ANDDD JC Penney's has a coronation Anna and Elsa set - both of them for $25.  Of course, their outfits are much simpler and they don't have the articulation, but you can't beat that price.  You can also get free shipping to your local store. 

While I'm at it, some movie DVD release dates that are coming up:
Maleficent: November 4
How To Train Your Dragon 2: November 11
Guardians of the Galaxy: December 9

And, of course, Big Hero 6 is coming out in theaters November 7th!!!  Is anyone excited for it or planning to see it?  I won't be able to see it in theaters, most likely, but I'll be waiting [im]patiently for the DVD release, as always :P 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie review

Hey, everyone!
It has been an INSANE week, but I managed to get some time to write a quick movie review for Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
In a word:  wow.
I feel like it is one of the greatest Marvel movies, but I haven't made a comprehensive list [yet] of the best Marvel movies :P
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the spoiler-free plot summary is this:
HYDRA returns, and Captain America must team up with the Black Widow and Falcon to take down HYDRA as well as the Winter Soldier.  Cap must also deal with being re-introduced into society, especially since it's the 21st century now.
That's it.
That's all I can say about the plot.
This is one of the movies that you just have to watch, and watch closely, in order to understand everything.  Also, if you spoil anything, it just takes all the fun out of watching it!

In The Winter Soldier, we are introduced to Sharon Carter //Agent 13, Sam Wilson//The Falcon, and...the Winter Soldier.  A less-known fact is that we are introduced to another comic book character, *SPOILERS DON'T READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SCREAMING ANGRILY AT THE TV THE FIRST TIME HIS FACE APPEARS ON THE TELEVISION SCREEN WHEN YOU SEE THE MOVIE*
*********************************************************************************
Actually, I am going to have you just click and drag from the start of the next sentence to the asterisks, and once you highlight that sentence, you'll be able to read it.  Boom, problem solved..?   We are introduced to Brock Rumlow /// Crossbones.  
Okay.
That blank spot after "...?" can be left blank if you want to be blissfully in the dark of this matter.  
And if you do read that "invisible" spot, you can comment with any questions, I'll be happy to spill my guts and all my hours of research...which may or may not include spoilers for the third movie.

ANYWAY.  With that said, let's move back to the actual review.  I just kind of geeked out there.

Let's see.  The movie was VERY intense, full of action, explosions, shooting, etc.  It had a lot of 'read-between-the-lines' messages in my opinion, but it was GREAT.  There was some swearing, but it wasn't overbearing, exactly.  Not saying I appreciate the swearing, but I'm not going to have a fit over them using it, because...unfortunately, it's everywhere.  That aside, it's also a very emotional film.  We are re-introduced to Peggy Carter, and let's just not go there.  We aren't touching the topic of the Winter Soldier.

And oh my word, the soundtrack.  The composer, Henry Jackman, created an INSANELY sick soundtrack for this movie, and by sick, I mean amazing.  I could listen to it forever.

Overall  - and I am SO SORRY that I didn't include any spoilers, but trust me when I tell you this: the less things you know when you watch the movie for the first time, the better--the movie is AMAZING.  10/10.  I simply cannot wait for the next installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I'm very excited - and concerned - for the Captain America 3 movie to come out...whenever that's going to be.

Has anyone seen The Winter Soldier?    Is anyone planning (by the way, I'm not sure why my tablet underlined that.  I told it not to, but it somehow did anyway, and Blogger doesn't want to listen... Maybe HYDRA has hacked my tablet...) is anyone planning on watching it?  Your thoughts, ideas, and predictions for Captain America 3?

2014 Rapunzel Disney Store Doll Review

Hey everyone!  Here's the 2014 Rapunzel Disney Doll review I've been promising.  I'd really just like to take a couple of minutes to thank all fourteen of my wonderful followers, and even those who don't follow my blog, but still read posts - you guys are AMAZING, and thank you so much for following me and for sticking with me.  I know I've been terrible for posting lately, so thank you so much. 
Onto the post!
This, as afore-posted, is the front of their boxes. 

And this is the back of Rapunzel's box. 

When I got her out of the box (which was fairly easy.  There were two of those pesky plastic tag things in her dress that left holes, though, which I wasn't exactly pleased about.) 
Under her skirt is an INSANE amount of tissue paper, and it's even wrapped around her legs!  Not sure why she was so wrapped up with the tissue paper this year, seeing as her dress, though glittery, does not shed.  (Which is AMAZING.) 

Here's the beauty herself! 

Front of her dress.  This is the most accurate dress they've made since the original 2010 release, which I was excited about. 

This is blurry, which I didn't notice until just now...sorry!  This kinda shows how full her skirt is, and that the pattern goes the whole way around her skirt.

At first, I was pretty hesitant to buy her -- I mean, to me, she looked a lot like the 2013 release, and I didn't want a duplicate, but on the other hand, I didn't want to break my pattern (I have the 2010, 2011, Wedding 2012, 2013, and now 2014...Only missing a few).  I'm glad I got her, though!  When I first saw her in the box, I thought I probably wouldn't like her, because her eyes are HUGE.  Slightly bigger than the 2013 release's.  Her lips are also a vibrant pink, which I wasn't a fan of.  Buuuut she grew on me, and I love those big eyes!  She's similar to 2013 Rapunzel, but different at the same time. 
Her hair is so silky soft, and a beautiful color.  It goes just barely to her ankles, but it's a lot thinner this year than in previous years.  I'm not meaning that the rooting is poor or patchy or anything, that's fine -- she just has less dense hair.  I don't know how to explain it...
Anyway, like my 2014 Ariel, her hips were really stiff.  Luckily, I was able to work them until they were fine.  And there were no knees harmed in the making of this post.  :D

She has freckles, too! They're bolder once more, but I love 'em anyway.  Also:  her eyes look bluish in this picture, but they're deep emerald greenish in real life.

The gel holding her hair up in her trademark "swoop", as Glen Keane calls it, was almost nonexistent, (which was odd - I got one doll that was gelled wayy too much, and one that wasn't gelled enough!)  so I did the same thing I did with Ariel:  I spritzed her with the fabric softener and water solution and got the gel out.  Her hair falls like this now, and if you position it a certain way, she looks like she has a completely different personality - she goes from bubbly and perky to shy and quiet.  I like it, actually!  It gives her a different air.  

Overall, I give her a 5/5.  While she's not 101% movie accurate (eyes are too dark, lips and freckles too bold), she's still beautiful and nicely made. She's fun to photograph as well!  I need to make a comparison post for her and her predecessor, and I feel a photoshoot coming on.  Anyway, I'd definitely recommend her! 
Anyone planning on getting her?  Anyone have her already? 

2014 Ariel Disney Store Doll Review

Hey, guys!
So today, I've got the 2014 Ariel Disney Doll review up, finally.  Yikes...thanks for waiting patiently! 

So this is the front of the Ariel box (and Rapunzel's). 

My Ariel's box was dented in pretty badly, but luckily nothing happened to her nose or face!

Back of the box.

And the beautiful lady herself!  She's relatively easy to get out of the packaging, which was epic. 

The only thing I didn't like was how gelled her hair was.  It was INSANE.  I could hardly even move it, and it was starting to get really messy by the time I got her into a couple of poses.  Luckily, I spritzed her with some fabric softener/water solution and rubbed it gently through the crusty parts of her hair, and she ended up with almost no gel, but her hair still stays in place.  Her hair was incredibly soft once I got all the nasties out :P 

Her beautiful face - she's very accurate to the movie version of Ariel, in my opinion. 

Her tail is glittery, but it's made out of some fabric that doesn't shed glitter.  It's amazing.  The top and the fins are made out of some really thin fabric - almost puts me in the mind of tulle, but it isn't.  Her tail has elastic at the top, so it's okay to get off -- kinda hard, but doable. 

Her top has clear, rubbery elastic straps, and has a bow-like (or should I say shell?) attachment sewn to the center.  Behind that is just a plain bra, basically.  It has Velcro in the back.  I could see how this would be very, very easily broken, just because of those pesky straps.  I remember breaking many, many of those as a child - anyone else have that problem, or was it just me? 

She has the regular, click-knees, which...

Broke.  Her hips were very, very stiff, but I flexed them a coupla times and they were fine.  When I tried to bend her knees, her one leg broke.  See that second bump that shouldn't be there? That's what happens when they break.  Plus, you can bend them wayyy further than you should be able to.  [And no, I'm not an old wrinkly person.  My hands are just in bad shape because I never use lotion...]

This is her other, unbroken knee, just for comparison. 

She's really fun to take pictures of!

Overall, I would give her 4.5/5 stars.  She's beautiful, and her articulation is the same as the other dolls with similar articulation (2010-11, 2013-14 Rapunzels, Belle, etc.)  She's movie accurate and just very fun.  I docked half of a point, however, for the crummy gel, weak knee joint, and her really stiff hips (though they loosened up a bit with some work.)  It might just be my doll, though.  Otherwise, I would definitely recommend her!  She's my first Ariel, so I can't really compare her to other versions, though.  Anyone planning on getting her?  Does anyone have her already? 

I am SO SORRY, guys....

GOOD GRIEF, guys, I'm so sorry!  I just realized I haven't posted anything in nearly a month....I'm so sorry...!  I've been incredibly busy with writing, classes, helping at the local fair last week, and also keeping track of the horse we got in June...who is expectant.  We didn't know she was in foal when we bought her, sooo that was a surprise.  We're thinking/hoping she'll foal soon, she's been really restless and showing some signs that she *may* go this weekend, so hopefully....hopefully things will calm down some.  And we can actually get some sleep instead of being up all night taking turns watching her in case she decides to foal. 
Fun, fun...right?? 
Anyway, I'll hopefully be posting some stuff soon about the 2014 Rapunzel & Ariel dolls (good night, 2014 is almost over and I've not posted that yet...) and also reviews for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, and God's Not Dead.
I'll hopefully see you guys soon, I'm so sorry.  Now I'm probably out to clean horse stalls...it never ends.  I'll maybe get cracking on some of these reviews later today...I hope. 
I'm thinking that after next week, things will calm down a little bit....see, with my class schedule this year, I have all sorts of classes that I HAVE to attend through the first month.  After that, as long as I keep my grades up (with the exception of one class), I will be home free and not have to attend class with the teacher.  The freedoms of cyber schooling, right?  Anyway, so I'll have a lot more time (about 3-4 hours extra per day).  I hope.  Fingers and toes crossed. 

2011 Belle & Mattel Beast/Adam doll review

Hey, guys!  I'm so sorry, I completely forgot about the Belle and Beast review until now -- so without further ado, here it is. 

This is a Mattel Beast/Adam doll.  I'm not sure what year or anything, but he comes with a removable plastic Beast head and jacket. 

I love the detailing on his shirt!

To show you how different his joints are, I pulled out the JC Penney's Hans and Disney Store 2013 Flynn dolls for comparisons. 
His elbow joints can go straight forward like Flynn and Hans', but they can also swivel in towards him, which is pretty awesome. 

May I just say?  Ow.  This is as far as his arm will bend the wrong direction. 

His legs can't split at all, so there will be no horseback riding in his future.

This is how he sits...

It's bad when he sits in a more ladylike manner than the 2013 Disney Store Anna can.

Going back to his costume...his fabric boots are not connected to his blue pants, which is superb.  I don't know how many Ken dolls have their boots sewn onto their pants, and I don't know about anyone else, but when I was little, once those things were off, I could never get them back on.  Soo I was really happy to see that the boots weren't sewn to his pants -- makes life easier for little ones as well as the parents!

His shirt is also not attached to his pants, and has Velcro in the back.

Now for this horrendous thing.
The head and paws are made out of plastic and attached to the jacket/suit/whatever-you-wanna-call-it.  I kind of wish that it wasn't, because then you could use the jacket without the Beast attachment, but I can also understand why it needed to be made that way. 

Putting this sucker on is no easy task, and I could see little ones easily getting frustrated.  First, you gotta squeeze him into the head, and not mash HIS head in the process.  His head is made out of really, really soft, squishy plastic, so it mashes easily. 

Once you have that on and the arms wormed into the sleeves, there are these two little plastic pegs sewn into the inside of the jacket: one on either side.  These will have to be wedged into the holes on the Beast attachment's shoulders, and those things are incredibly challenging, both to get them in and then back out! 

Once he's all put together, Beast looks like this: 

Buuuut it makes him top heavy.  Very, very top heavy.  So if you have quick reflexes and a quicker camera, you can get shots like this

Or this. 
It's quite amusing, actually!  :P

Moving on......

I now interrupt this review with a random Chip. 
This came with the lot as well.  I don't know where he's from, but he's cute!  :P

And now we have Belle.  She is a 2011 Disney Store Belle, but her dress is either from the Wardrobe set or from the 2010 Disney Store Belle--I'm not entirely sure which. 

At first, I was a little concerned about buying the 2011 Belle doll, because her face looks worried.  I didn't think I would really like her face, but she's actually very, very pretty and a lot of fun to photograph! 

Her hair is VERY long, and definitely not realistic to the movie, but it's nice.  It tends to get frizzy at the bottom, but it's nothing a good fabric softener spritz and a little bit of brushing won't fix!

Back of her dress

Front of her dress

And she came with these cute little shoes, but I don't know what or who they're from, if the 2011 Belle doesn't normally come with these style shoes.

As far as her body and articulation, it's just the same as the 2011 or 2010 Rapunzel model - Rubber legs, articulation at the shoulder, elbow, and wrist.  Belle's head can bend to the side a little more than the 2010 or 2011 Rapunzel, though, which is interesting.

She's very photogenic, but I think Chip's a wee bit too big for her.

Annnd that's about it!
I would give Belle a 5 out of 5, despite the inaccurate hair, and would definitely recommend her!
I would give Beast/Adam a 4/5, docking a point because of the tricky Beast attachment and the top heaviness - though the top heaviness is completely understandable.  

Do any of you have a Beast or Belle doll?  If so, what year/brand, and what do you think of them?  Or are you planning on starting a Beauty and the Beast collection sometime? 

Coming up will be a 2014 Rapunzel and 2014 Ariel review, and various movie/book reviews.