Pasta is one dish often served in my home as it’s easy to make and there are many options (gnocchi and angel hair pasta are two favorites). I want to visit Italy someday, as I heard the food there is amazing! The closest I get these days is the Italy Pavilion at Epcot (which coincidentally also has great food and desserts – hello, tiramisu and espresso from Tutto Italia!). I recently saw some new merchandise at the pavilion that captures the essence of Italian travel posters of the 1950s and 60s. This awesome artwork was created by long time Disney Design Group artist Brian Blackmore. I spoke with Roger Dressen, product developer for World Showcase, about the items.
“This past year, we have been finding ways to incorporate Disney characters enjoying iconic things from each World Showcase pavilion,” said Roger. “Brian did a great job combining a romantic travel poster style with something many people can relate – food.”
I’ve known Brian for many years. I still have a drawing he made of Donald Duck on one of my Disney Ambassador business cards from 11 years ago. That is probably the reason why I’m drawn to his image of Donald looking to enjoy some delicious treats. Brian explained how he created the artwork.
“I made a few pencil sketches first,” continued Brian. “I then worked with an artist named Dan Salgo to have the images rendered digitally. The rendered art is what was used on the merchandise. The images were so popular with the development team that I was asked to make a few original paintings using the art. They will be a nice size when I’m finished, measuring about four-feet by two-feet. Look for them coming to the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival this year.”
The digital artwork was applied to a variety of items including spoon rests, petite prints, coffee mugs, aprons, magnets and more. Roger told me that the most popular item is a beverage coaster set which contains all four images.
These items won’t be carried on the Disney Parks online store. If interested, I suggest contacting Disney Parks and Resorts Merchandise Guest Services at 1-877-560-6477 or via email – merchandiseguestservices@disney.go.com.
Ciao!
Read more news about Epcot in the posts below:
Comments
My husband and I saw these at Epcot a few weekends ago and FELL IN LOVE! I’d love to see these inspired by some of the other countires, especially France! Can we expect something like that in the future?
@Melanie – That sounds like my kind of kitchen! I love espresso 😉
@Jennifer – It seems like Luigi from “Cars” and you would get along very well. Next time you are at Epcot, you must try the tiramisu.
@Kelly – I spoke with Sylvie who is currently in development with a few new things for France pavilion. They won’t be anything like the Italy art program. She is hoping to have a few new things come December. I’ll share once we get final artwork and samples (which may be around November). Please stay tuned.
Italy is on the top of my list of places to go and I love visiting Italy Pavilion when I’m Epcot (love the Ferarri merch, my favorite F1 team!) I’ll have to try the tiramisu next time, especially since it’s one of my favorite desserts. Yummy! My tummy is looking forward to it
Thanks for the great post, Steven! I love the kitchen decor. The Donald Espresso Cafe sign would fit in perfectly with my coffee kitchen decor… I know what I am buying at Food & Wine this year!
Think these produts will stick around a while? I’m still sad that I missed out on all the Orange Bird merchandise. There was such fanfare here for that product line and it was sold out by the time I got there in early July.
@Michael – I agree! Those masks are incredible. I’ve photographed several of them during visits to Italy pavilion.
@Kimberly – From my understanding, the program has been popular with Guests since being introduced. There are no immediate plans for things to be discontinued. Sorry that you missed out on Orange Bird items from the spring.
I love this stuff. Very nice. They should do more for the other Epcot Pavilions. 🙂
I always pick up one authentic Venetian Mask when I go to the Italian Pavilion. Love it!
Since you indicated that these items won’t be available for purchase through Disney’s online store, is there a catalog or a PDF listing of the items? I don’t like to make purchases sight unseen and the pictures that were posted are not clear enough to determine which items I could call Disney’s guest merchandise services to describe (I have done this before). And I currently don’t have any plans to visit WDW to view these items in person unfortunately 🙁 I hope you make them more readily available because they seem really cute and would go perfectly in my newly renovated Tuscan themed kitchen!
@Mary Ann – So I guess dinner will be held at your house 🙂 Congrats on the newly renovated kitchen; I’m sure you are glad to be done!
I located the item numbers and retails for the merchandise currently available in the pavilion. Sadly we don’t have a way to create a catalog for these items. I hopeful this list will give you a better idea of each item we are carrying. Please note that all retails are subject to change without notice.
Donald Duck – Italia Espresso Caffé
400006782694 – 11”x14” Print – $24.95
400006782625 – Cutting Board – $24.95
400006794598 – Hand Towel – $12.95
400006782687 – Magnet – $6.95
400006782632 – Mug – $12.95
Goofy – Pasta Al Dente
400006782670 – 11”x14” Print – $24.95
400006782663 – Clock – $34.95
400006782656 – Cutting Board – $24.95
400006794604 – Hand Towel – $12.95
400006782700 – Magnet – $6.95
400006782649 – Spoon Rest – $19.95
Donald Duck – Dolci
400006794512 – 11”X14” Print – $24.95
400006794567 – Apron – $34.95
400006794581 – Hand Towel – $12.95
400006794505 – Magnet – $6.95
Goofy – Italia Mangiare!
400006794536 – 11”X14” Print – $24.95
400006794574 – Apron – $34.95
400006794611 – Hand Towel – $12.95
400006794529 – Magnet – $6.95
400006782601 – Four Coaster Set – $19.95
400006794543 – Viva Topolino Tote – $34.95
Can’t wait to give a taste test to Tutto Italia and we’ll be sure to check out the new merchandise when my wife and I return to WDW this fall. Love the retro look of the poster recreations!
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