When my oldest was really little, she enjoyed watching Stanley on the Disney Channel while I got ready in the mornings. Stanley was a funny-looking kid who had a brilliant British goldfish named Dennis, who seemed to know almost as much as the Great Big Book of Everything, an animal encyclopedia of sorts that frequently carried Stanley and his friends to far off places to learn more about particular animals. In late 2004, we found the Disney - Stanley 2004 Hallmark Ornament Set and my husband wanted to get it for our tree.

This set includes two ornaments: a three inch tall Stanley holding Dennis's fish bowl in front, with his feet kicking behind him, and a flat-ish Great Big Book of Everything, opened up. Ironically, this Great Big Book is actually kind of small, about an inch wide.

Both ornaments are made of a plastic-like material that is definitely breakable. The proof in that pudding is in the fact that Stanley's back leg broke off a couple years ago, while being gently handled. We were able to Krazy glue it back on, which worked well last year, but our Destructo Boy has already broken it off a second time this year, and it happened so quickly I'm not even sure he did anything rough (for this one--the other broken ornaments are a different story).

Aside from the minor durability issue, my main gripe with the Stanley Ornament Set is that they aren't very festive and they don't hang well on the tree. Both ornaments come with a tiny gold hoop on top, to loop a string or other hook through (I used thread, soon to be replaced by kite string). The Great Big Book of Everything looks pretty much the same from all angles, so the spin factor doesn't matter to me, but it's kind of small and gets hidden by our bushy tree branches every year.

Stanley, on the other hand, looks really cute from the front, but we rarely see that. His head is so heavy compared to the rest of the ornament, that it constantly spins into the tree stem (every single year), leaving us with a view of his back side. To be honest, I'm tired of spinning Stanley back around, to the point that I'm almost willing to leave his leg broken and permanently put him back in the box, never to see our tree again. My only problem is that my husband still has a soft spot for the show (translation: he still sings the "Great Big Book of Everything" song incorrectly when he sees anything with Stanley on it), and he'll actually remember that the ornament is missing.

Overall, I really would only recommend the Stanley 2004 Hallmark Ornament Set for people whose kids were die-hard Stanley fans back in the day. Those kids will probably have a soft spot for the ornament when they are older and sentimental about their childhood, despite the un-festive design. They probably would even be willing to deal with the constant view of the back of Stanley's head.


This is a triple-dipper, my eighth entry in wlswarts's Twelve Ornaments Before Christmas Write Off an entry in chelledun's Get Those Holiday Reviews Out Write Off, as well as an entry in carstairs38's All Things Disney Write Off.

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): memory foggy