Lightning McQueen, WALL-E, others shine on Disney-Pixar stamps

[Editor's note: This is the third part of Bill Silvester's entertaining three-part exploration of stamps that depict characters from the popular Disney-Pixar films. Part I: Uganda issued first stamps depicting Disney-Pixar characters; Part II: Australia, Austria, U.S. stamps feature Disney-Pixar characters]

By Bill Silvester

Singapore released a “MyStamp” series of user-personalized stamp sheets in 2007 showing scenes and characters from most of the Pixar films. Thailand issued souvenir sheets of five or 10 stamps, combining regular-issue stamps and Pixar-design labels.

The Thailand souvenir sheet shown here has 10 3-baht stamps (Scott 2346, issued in 2008) depicting a stylized male and female holding a heart alternating with 10 Pixar film images.

Andrew Stanton, who had directed Finding Nemo, had another smash hit with a 2008 film about a futuristic robot named WALL-E. This film also was featured in an Austrian booklet of two sheets of three stamps with WALL-E characters.

Belgium issued a 2008 Duostamp booklet featuring WALL-E, and the robot also appeared on U.S. Scott 4557 in the 2011 “Send a Hello” set of Disney-Pixar film characters.

Disney-Pixar’s charming film about a lonely old man, Up, was released in 2009, opening the Cannes Film Festival and garnering five Academy Award nominations, and eventually winning for best animated feature and best original score.

Carl Fredricksen and Dug the Dog from Up appear on U.S. Scott 4556 from the “Send a Hello” set.

Following the success of its predecessors, Toy Story 3 was released in 2010. As a result, John Lasseter became the first producer of animated films to receive the Producers Guild of America’s David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Motion Pictures.

Toy Story 3 went on to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, until usurped by Disney’s Frozen in 2013.

In June 2011, five years after the success of Cars, its sequel, Cars 2, arrived in theaters. Austria released a set of four folding booklets featuring Mater, Lightning McQueen, Finn McMissile, Holley Shiftwell and assorted other characters from Cars 2 in its fifth Pixar-related booklet.

A second set of five U.S. forever stamps (Scott 4677-81) depicting Disney-Pixar film characters was issued June 1, 2012, under the title “Mail a Smile.” The stamps were echoed by individual postal cards (UX628-UX632) and a booklet of 20 cards (UX632a).

The five different designs featured characters from A Bug’s Life, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc.

The next Disney/Pixar film, Brave, was released in 2012. To date, no stamps have been issued featuring Brave, though Israel released a souvenir stamp sheet with a tab (label) depicting heroine Merida and her three brothers.

A prequel to Monsters, Inc., called Monsters University, was released in 2013, but has not been commemorated on any stamps. Another film, Newt, was canceled when it was found to be too similar to Rio, a film released by Blue Sky Studios.

Pixar and Disney/Pixar’s list of achievements so far includes commercials, shorts, feature-length films, television shows and Disney theme-park attractions. Their honors include 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards. The company shows no signs of slowing down.

Inside Out, the company’s 15th feature film, was released June 19, and a sequel to The Incredibles is under consideration. A sequel to Finding Nemo, titled Finding Dory, has been announced for release in June 2016.

To take advantage of the current 3-D craze, Disney/Pixar has released many of its films in enhanced 3-D versions.

A complete list with illustrations of Disney/Pixar philatelic items appears on the Disneyana on Stamps Society’s recently released compact disc, Handbook of Disney on Stamps — Part 3 — Unauthorized Stamps, Stamps and Tabs and Personalized Stamps. Email the author at disnemation@yahoo.ca for more information.