The celebrations for 100 years of Disney are not slowing down anytime soon.
The LEGO Group revealed an all-new LEGO Disney Castle set as an homage to the iconic castle at the beginning of all Disney movies. This 4,837-piece set not only features the castle building, but also references from 14 classic Disney films over the past 100 years, from Steamboat Willie and Snow White (the first Disney princess) to The Princess and the Frog and Moana.
The set comes with eight minifigures, representing some of the Disney princesses and their male counterparts. Inside the castle are various rooms including a kitchen and dining room, a ballroom, and a bedroom. There is even a secret turret for fans to discover a Disney time capsule with references to the 100-year history. On the outside, the castle is decorated with fireworks. The LEGO Disney Castle set will be available via LEGO stores and at lego.com from July 4 for $399.99.
To celebrate the launch of this new set and to honor 100 years of Disney, London-based artist Lakwena Maciver has unveiled her latest artwork, Kaleidowaves, a more-than-14-feet-tall castle window inspired by the storytelling possibilities of the new LEGO set. The mural features 220,000 LEGO bricks.
“When I lived in Ethiopia as a child in the 90s, there wasn’t access to many films, so we would watch Disney videos on repeat,” says Maciver. “Later, when living in the U.K., I also remember visiting my uncle in the Ashdown Forest, which inspired Winnie the Pooh, and we would play Pooh Sticks on Pooh Bridge. And now, with my young family, films like The Lion King offer a nice way for me to talk to my children about our ancestral homeland. The idea of magical possibilities that Disney captures so well definitely had a big impact on my imagination as a child, and has therefore informed my adult work and life as an artist.”
Maciver’s design is part of a series of four murals created with two other artists, Paris-based Amy Jones and U.S.-based Kristin Texeira. The murals feature some of their favorite Disney characters, such as Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, Woody, Ariel, Tiana, Mirabel, Buzz Lightyear, and Daisy Duck.
The three remaining murals will be available for families to build together at free events on July 7-9 near the LEGO Store, Paris; July 14-16 at the Manchester Arndale; and July 27-29 at Pier 17, The Seaport in New York. There is also an opportunity to create a LEGO castle window online at lego.com/castle, or visit a local LEGO store to take part in LEGO Disney building activities. The four complete murals will then be displayed at LEGO House in Billund from Aug. 23.
