Scooby Doo – we stock the range of Scooby Doo Costumes – an ideal couple costume idea
Toy Story
Shrek – this has a whole host of different characters to use for a costume
Take a look at our range of Cartoon Character costumes, but it is also worth your while looking at our range of superhero costumes as many of these have been cartoon in either comic books or on the television.
Today would have been the 75th birthday of Jim Henson, Creator of the Muppets had he not sadly passed away back in 1990, at the age of just 53. Disney purchased the Muppets back in 2004 and in the US this November there will be the first Muppets Movie for over a decade. Unfortunately, in the UK it is not due for release until February 2012. You do not have to be a Muppet when it comes to costumes, and in fact with only two official costumes currently out there (Kermit and Miss Piggy) there is not much potential for a Muppet theme. Broaden it out to Cartoon Characters and here at propsnfrocks there are a whole host of suitable costumes for you to choose.
Cartoon characters is today’s fancy dress theme as we celebrate the début of a screen star who is as popular today as she was back in the 1930s. It was on this date in 1950 that Betty Boop made her first appearance in a cartoon called ‘Dizzy Dishes’. She was not actually the star of the short film – she was a French poodle-like performer who was appearing with a chorus line of flapper cats in a club – but she made an impact on the central character and went onto evolve a film career in her own right. Being a cartoon character, she was able to be more risqué than a ‘live’ performer could be. She became something of a sex symbol, dressed in short skirts and heels and reminding people of the carefree Jazz Age of the Twenties with her flapper-like looks. She was also associated with the ‘Minnie the Moocher’ song by Cab Calloway, appearing in a film of that name about a runaway teenager. The theme for today is Cartoon Characters.
We stock a huge range of Cartoon Fancy Dress Ideas – why not take a look at our fantastic range? It is a great theme for couples and groups, with lots of costume choices.
Cartoon Characters is today’s fancy dress theme. As regular readers of this blog will know, we do try and look at what has happened on this day, in days gone by for our costume inspiration. Today the Austrian musician Gustav Mahler, born 1860, died 100 years ago today, aged 50, but we are a little at a loss to find a suitable theme – Great Composers? (Or, if they are dead, Great De-Composers- a sort of zombie theme) So instead we will note the passing of one of those often unsung ‘behind the scenes’ people – Daws Butler. Daws, who died this day in 1988, was the voice of many well-known characters from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon studios, including Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss and Yogi Bear. He was also the voice of Woody Woodpecker for a time and in the 1950s collaborated with the American comedian Stan Freberg on spoofs based on the TV series Dragnet – ‘St George and the Dragon-net’ (which was the first comedy record to sell over a million copies) and ‘Little Blue Riding Hood’, both of which you can find on YouTube.
If you need a fancy dress theme, how about ‘Cartoon Karaoke’? Huckleberry Hound regularly sung ‘Darlin’ Clemetine’ and there are some memorable tunes in many cartoons and animated features – even a few specialist DVDs and gaming programmes to help! If that is too difficult, just leave it as Cartoon characters…
As we have mentioned in previous blogs, in these days of mass media and 24 hour TV it is difficult to remember that at one stage there was only BBC & ITV. Today marks the day that BBC2 ran its first TV programme which was Play School (this ran from 1964 until 1982). The channel had originally intended to launch the previous evening, but a mass power failure throughout Central and West London (which included Television Centre) meant plans were scuppered.
Now we hope if you are holding an event over the next week or so, that everything will run smoothly and it is not beset with such difficulties. In honour of Play School, we thought we might mention a few characters from children’s TV of yesteryear, so today we take a look through the round window. (If you have never seen the programme, this might not mean much to you!).
From Play School itself, there was Humpty Dumpty (very topical for Easter); Jemima the Rag Doll; Big Ted and Little Ted and the much hated Doll Hamble.
Other childhood memories that could give you costume inspiration include:
Morph. Morphsuits are the BIG thing in fancy dress at the moment
You may also remember your baby brother or sister, so why not dress up as a baby, or maybe a Scout, costumes are available.
What books, or comics, were you reading? What hobbies did you have? Take a trip back down memory lane and you may be surprised what you end up being dressed up in!
Today we have two inter-related fancy dress theme ideas for you, one is Cartoon Characters and the other is Animals. The first choice of event is because American Cartoonist Charles “Chas” Addams was born this day in 1912. (2012 will be the 100th anniversary). For those, who think the name sounds familiar, amongst some of the macabre characters he created, were the notable Addams Family, who aside from animated & live-action TV series, also had several films and a Broadway musical based around their characters. Though, much of Charles Addams work was based around the human form, many cartoon characters also tend to be animal related, such as Scooby Doo, Tweety Pie, Sylvester, etc., which brings us on to our second theme: Animals.
January 7th was also the birth date for Gerald “Gerry” Durrell, who founded the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and also Durrell Wildlife (formerly known as the Jersey Zoo). A keen naturalist, conservationist, author and television presenter, he died on January 30th 1995, but left an enduring legacy. Much of his work was ahead of its time, particularly with regard to preserving endangered wildlife, so animals is a good choice for a costume theme.
To be honest, there are so many costume ideas for Cartoons, below is just a small selection – take a look at our complete range of cartoon costumes:
The Flinstones
Comic Book Characters, including Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman, Spiderman & Supergirl – take a look at all the superhero costumes
Toy Story Characters including: Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr Potato Head
Scooby doo Characters including Scooby, Fred, Velma, Daphne
Shrek Characters including Princess Fiona, Pinocchio, Puss in Boots, Donkey
Disney characters – choose costumes from Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beauty, Aladdin
To help you with an animal costume theme, we stock a large range of cat accessories and a huge range of animal masks, take a look here to see our full range of animal costumes & accessories.
Today’s fancy dress theme suggestion is cartoon for on November 18th we say Happy Birthday to Mickey Mouse, probably the most well known symbol of the Disney Corporation. It was on this date in 1928 that the short animation Steamboat Willie was released. This was the first appearance of Mickey Mouse (who was almost called Mortimer) in a ‘speaking’ role after a cameo or two in Walt Disney’s early silent cartoons. A star was born and Mickey has since put in over 180 screen appearances (not to mention his work in other media such as comics and video games). He won his first Oscar in 1932 and helped Walt Disney achieve the record for the greatest number of Awards awarded to an individual. He is possibly the most recognisable cartoon character ever and even shared screen-time with his great Warner Brothers ‘rival’ Bugs Bunny in ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’. In tribute to this timeless legend, our theme today is ‘Cartoon Time’.
Now using the Cartoon theme opens up a wide range of costume suggestions and means you can still use some of Disney characters but you willget a broader range of costumes. Take a look at our cartoon costume suggestions but below is just few to get your brain cells working…
Scooby Doo costumes – a great idea if you want to go as a couple or a group
Flintstones – a great costume idea if you want to go as a couple or a group
Shrek – this gives a large range of costume suggestions as many famous fairytale characters show up in the series of films
Superheros – most superheros have appeared in comic books and as a cartoon on the television
Wizard of Oz characters – Oz is portrayed as a cartoon
