DIVE UNDER THE SEA AND CAPTURE THESE TWO WONDERFUL LITTLE MERMAID COLLECTIBLES FEATURING EVERYONE’S FAVORITE AQUATIC PRINCESS — ARIEL! The two items are from my personal collection and were displayed at various times with other Disney and Little Mermaid collectibles. The figurine of Ariel by Peter Mook is approximately 8″ long and the Ariel Bejeweled Box by Department 56 is approximately 2.25″ x 3 tall. This Classic Ariel figurine is part of a set of four Princess figurines created by the British artist Peter Mook. These limited-edition figurines are only available in Europe, making them very rare and desirable to collectors. Except through a distributor. I love Ariel’s pose in this figurine by Peter Mook because she seems so happy and content, and she appears to be watching something. I put her in front of a framed picture of me at Disney World so it looked like she was always watching me. Just an idea for how to creatively display her. Her face also looks amazing, and her hair appears to be floating around her in the water. Any fan of Ariel will want this very special and RARE piece — only available in certain European countries. I bought this one through a distributor in Canada. The Ariel Bejeweled box was never actually displayed. This is a very colorful and shiny box, populated with little jewels and gems. The box is secured with a magnetic closure. You can open it and put little treasures inside it. Two things to note about the ARIEL Bejeweled box. On the back of Ariel’s hair, there appear to be a few dark spots among her red strands. I’m not sure if this is paint or whether its a part of the shading. Either way, it doesn’t affect the beauty of the piece. I didn’t even notice them until I started taking pictures. The other thing to note is the sticker at the bottom of the box and the storage box. It says something about a Bulk Sample. I have no idea what that means. Whether it’s just an internal marking from the dealer, or whether this was some kind of special pre-collection sample (like a Dealer Display) version that Department 56 sent out. Or it may mean absolutely nothing. Again, doesn’t really affect anything — just pointing it out. I do not have the original plain brown box for the Ariel figurine. About the artist Peter Mook and his sculpting work for Rutten. This is one of the most sought-after collectibles from brands like Walt Disney, Warner Bros, and King Features. It was designed by Peter Mook and made from polyester or resin. Peter Mook was born in England in the seaside town of Southport where he still lives and works, below is a brief summary of his career so far. Peter left University in 1993 where he gained a 1st class honors degree in 3-Dimensional Design, the following year he started to work as a freelance sculptor and designer and whilst working with Minster Giftware he lived in China for several years at ceramic, resin and cast-iron factories designing and sculpting giftware including many hundreds of items from 4 upwards, from Teapots and doorstops to mirrors and lamps and has a small selection to view in his portfolio. It was during this time in the PI that Peter was approached by Warner Bros to become an approved artist after which Disney, Kingfeatures, Marvel and Microsoft soon followed making Peter one of very few artists worldwide to be approved as an artist by every major Licensing group and giving him the opportunity to work with many licenses such as Looney Tunes, Mickey and friends, Betty Boop, Garfield, Mr Bean, Winnie the Pooh, Popeye, Dennis the Mennis, The Muppet Show, Sonic, Halo, classic Marvel and Wolverine and the X-Men. One Christmas evening, a group of friends set off to enjoy a dinner of celebration at a small country inn nestled in a quiet river town. As they rounded a bend in the road, they saw the small, old-fashioned village decorated for the holidays. The lights, like fairies, glowed and sparkled amid the freshly fallen snow. All evening, the conversation was full of Christmas memories and the visions the tiny town had evoked. Amidst the jovial banter and magical memories, the idea for a lighted Christmas village was born. That spark of an idea became a reality when, in 1976, Department 56 introduced a series of six hand-painted, ceramic buildings. The rest is history. Over thirty years ago, Department 56 began as part of Bachman’s, a premiere retail florist in Minneapolis. Bachman’s used a numbering system to identify each of its departments. The number assigned to wholesale gift imports division was, you guessed it, 56. Now headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Department 56 has become a leader in the giftware, collectibles and holiday decorating industry and is best known for our hand-crafted lighted villages, SnowbabiesT figurines and extensive lines of holiday and home decorative products. Here’s a little about The Little Mermaid I found on Wikipedia. The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation in association with Silver Screen Partners IV and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale “The Little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Andersen. The film was written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and produced by Musker and Howard Ashman, who also wrote the film’s songs with Alan Menken. Menken also composed the film’s score. Featuring the voices of René Auberjonois, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Jodi Benson, Pat Carroll, Paddi Edwards, Buddy Hackett, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, Ben Wright and Samuel E. Wright, The Little Mermaid tells the story of a teenage mermaid princess named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric, which leads her to make a magic deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to become human and be with him.