As of this writing, Shrek
has yet to hit the theaters. But already the toys are all over the place
and so we begin our coverage of this sure-to-be-popular series with
Donkey (6").
Eddie Murphy provides the
voice for Donkey in the movie, but it’s obvious the animators (and in
turn the sculptors) also used him to create the character. Look no
further than the head. The brows are slightly inclined and the toothy
grin has Eddie Murphy written all over it. Layer that with the jaw
gibbering action, and you have the quadruped version of Mr. Murphy.
(Parents, don’t worry he’s not doing stand-up routines!)
Donkey lacks great
amounts of articulation. In fact, there are only three. The neck swivels
and so do the ears. That’s it. The tail looks like it should turn but
it doesn’t. (A departure from articulation out the wazoo that’s
become expected from McFarlane.) However, the lack of articulation means
that breaking miscellaneous parts off isn’t easy, which makes it safer
for younger children to play with. The gibbering jaw action is a perfect
action for Donkey to have and is "activated" by pressing a
button on the back of his head. The button doesn’t stand out since
McFarlane has incorporated it into the strip of hair, which runs
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from
his head down his back. Donkey fits very easily into small hands. My
21-month old son can’t play with Donkey enough and I have to pry it
out of his hands after he falls asleep. For him, operating the jaw is
important since he attempts to feed Donkey everything. Even when gunked
with food and orange juice, the jaw action still works. Washing Donkey
off with some lukewarm water makes him sticky-free, but it remains to be
seen how this will affect the mechanism inside Donkey’s head that
operates the jaw. And be warned, Donkey’s feet can mark up walls and
floors.
The base that comes with
Donkey is practically essential for keeping Donkey standing if he’s on
display. The sculpt is such that only three of the legs touch the
ground, and if not on the base falls over quite easily. Detail and
likeness are very good. Sometimes likeness is sacrificed when toys based
on movies are released. (While this hasn’t been the case lately,
it’s a legacy that has not been forgotten.) Donkey easily manages to
look like his movie counterpart. Closer examination of the head reveals
that the eyes are attached separately, which means we’ll likely see
variants of Donkey with repositioned eyes. The paintjob is very good on
both the base and Donkey. There’s no oversplash or spotty paint, even
with the eyes. He’s good for display but he was really made to be
played with and if there are kids in the house, he won’t spend much
time just sitting around. Watch the bulrushes though. They fall out
fairly easily and I recommend securing them with some strong adhesive
before they get lost.