Unlock the secrets of the Elsa doll with magical movements

The Elsa doll with magical movements is a popular toy among children who love the Disney movie Frozen. This doll is designed to resemble the character Elsa, with her signature icy blue dress and long blonde hair. However, what sets this doll apart from others is its magical movements. With the push of a button, the doll comes to life, mimicking Elsa's graceful motions from the movie. Her arms and head can move, allowing kids to pose the doll in various positions. The doll also sings Elsa's famous song "Let It Go" and says phrases from the film.

The doll also sings Elsa's famous song "Let It Go" and says phrases from the film. Overall, the Elsa doll with magical movements provides an interactive and imaginative play experience for children who adore the Frozen franchise..

Elsa doll with magical movements

Well, I am making some progress through my crazy-busy week (seven more lanterns done!) and wanted to post a short review of a Frozen doll. in honor of yesterday's much-anticipated DVD release. Many of us were hoping for an enduring re-stock of Disney Store Frozen dolls to accompany the DVD debut, but this hasn't happened yet. Most of the dolls seem to have come back into stock a few days ago (I don't know exactly when..I missed it), but they quickly sold out again. As I'm writing this, only the mini doll set is still available.

I reviewed the Disney Store's 16" Singing Elsa doll a few months ago, and so today I want to give you a quick overview of one of Mattel's musical dolls, Musical Magic Elsa. There is also a Musical Magic Anna, and these dolls have a retail price of around $26 each. Musical Elsa, like every other Elsa doll on the planet these days, has become quite scarce, and so her current asking price is more like $50-$60.

This doll's musical feature is activated by touching two metal discs on the palms of her hands. The box has holes in the plastic window so that you can sample the music before you buy her. This test gives a very short snippet of music, rather than activating the full song.

Elsa's ice dress looks really frumpy in the box. This is partly because of the clumsy yoke neckline, and partly because one of the plastic strings that holds the doll in place is wrapped around the train, making the outfit look like a loose-fitting, dropped-waist pinafore. or maybe a flapper dress:

Here's Musical Elsa removed from her box. The dress looks a little better with the train released from the packaging, but it's still not a very attractive dress:

Elsa has a sweet, slightly blank face with features that are very similar (identical?) to the Mattel Anna doll:

Elsa's hair is styled into a messy, lopsided, thick ponytail with one stray curl of bangs in the middle of her forehead. This might be the worst I have ever seen play doll hair look right out of the box:

Elsa is wearing a large, glittery blue plastic tiara. The tiara is held on with a clear head strap, but is also stapled to her head with plastic ties:

Elsa is wearing a tunic-style cape and a blue skirt with an elastic waistband. I was disappointed (but not surprised) to see that the pretty snowflake decorations on the cape do not continue in back. Ironically, it's the back of the dress that really needs some decoration--to hide the obvious singing apparatus.

The fabric of this outfit is extremely cheap and very few of the edges are finished. The neck piece is sewn all around both edges, but it's not sewn particularly well:

The polyester skirt is simple and unadorned, but it's very easy to slide on and off and would be perfect for younger children just getting started with changing the clothes on their dolls.

The design of the cape makes this piece of clothing slightly difficult to put on and take off. The garment opens in the back, but only at the top. In front, the collar prevents the cape from sliding on over Elsa's shoulders. You have to have Elsa step into the cape, pull it up, wrestle her arms into the arm holes, and then fasten it in back.

I think these shoes are the only thing about Mattel's Elsa that is superior to the 12"Disney Store Elsa dolls.

Musical Elsa's body has only five points of articulation (her knees don't bend). Her hips have ball-jointed movement, but her shoulders can only spin around. Her head can look up and down a little bit.

In order to facilitate activation of the music and lights, this doll's arms are slightly bent at the elbows, and angled away from her body. This position is great for triggering the song (and joining hands with Anna, as we'll see. ) but it's not so great for playing or posing.

Elsa has a very glittery, translucent torso with a molded snowflake pattern This area lights up when the music is playing.

The back of the doll reveals all of the features necessary for the song mechanism. There's a small speaker, a battery compartment and a plastic tab that prevents the whole song from playing in the stores.

At this point, I was anxious to activate the musical part of the doll. In order to play the song while I was filming, I attached a wire to one of Elsa's hands and then touched the other end of the wire to her other hand once I got the camera ready:

As you can hear, there are no words to the song, but it is a fairly pleasant (maybe slightly shrill) version of Let it Go. It's hard for me not to love this song in any form. The nice thing is, Elsa stops singing once the connection between her hands is broken, so she can't be left crooning on for ages like the Disney Store dolls. I do wonder how easy it is for younger kids to maintain this connection throughout the whole song, though.

As much as I enjoy the a cappella Let it Go sung by the Disney Store's Singing Elsa doll, this instrumental version really invites a child (or adult. ) to sing along.

This doll's hair looks much nicer once it's taken down. It is very thick and reasonably soft. While it brushes out well, I had a hard time re-braiding it in a way that looks tidy. I think part of the problem is that the hair isn't long enough for a solid braid, and also that the ends are quite rough and tend to frizz out.

Of course I had to see what Anna and Elsa sound like when they're singing together. I was very curious about how this would work.

Rather than playing an instrumental version of For the First Time in Forever (as I had hoped) Anna just plays back-up to Elsa's song:

The mechanism for making the dolls sing together is actually quite clever: the metal contact points on the dolls' hands stick to each other with magnets, so it's very easy to activate the songs and keep the dolls connected until the music is finished. The problem is, the dolls will keep singing until you pull them apart.

The bigger problem is that if they are left connected, they will continue to sing. but will get increasingly out of synch. It becomes downright unbearable after a while:

The dolls look adorable when they're singing together, though:

Bottom line? I am ridiculously excited to have the Frozen DVD in my house. I cannot wait until this weekend, when I plan to make some serious popcorn and watch this amazing movie again. and then maybe again. Unfortunately, I am not as enthusiastic about the Musical Magic Elsa doll. I certainly don't think she's worth the inflated prices on eBay and Amazon. She is minimally articulated, with awkward, half-bent arms that stick out from her body. Her clothing is very cheaply made and is nowhere near as attractive or movie-accurate as the Disney Store outfits. The combination of a molded bodice and an elastic-waisted skirt is a great idea for making the doll easy to handle for younger children, but the awkward tunic-like cape negates this by being unnecessarily difficult to use. This Elsa's face is not bad--she's happy and bright, but her features are missing all of the movie character's wonderful spunk and personality.

This doll's electronic features will probably delight younger Frozen fans, provided that the activating mechanism isn't too difficult for small hands. Elsa's blue illuminating torso is quite pretty. In fact, the glowing plastic bodice of the dress is the best part of the whole outfit. The instrumental version of Let it Go might be missing Idina Menzel's voice, but it will invite children to sing the words themselves, karaoke style. Singing along to the music (as I've discovered from personal experience) is really fun (although maybe a little off key. ). Whatever you do, though, don't let the two sisters sing their duet. It's a train wreck.

The Elsa doll market is difficult to navigate right now. Prices and availability are highly unpredictable, and while reason and experience tell me that both the Mattel dolls and the Disney Store dolls will come back into stock eventually (at their regular prices), how much help is that for an excited young child who desperately wants a Frozen doll to play with now? Given the current market, I would say that if you are shopping for a child, and can find this Musical Magic Elsa for $25, go for it. That's about as good as you'll get right now, and the musical element of the doll is a fun reminder of the movie. However, if all of the prices remain inflated, I'd much rather pay too much for a Disney Store doll than for a Musical Magic doll. The Disney Store's 12" Elsa has more articulation, a beautiful outfit, softer hair, a more unique face, and better overall quality. Even my J.C. Penney version of Elsa, with her simplified dress and unarticulated arms, is a superior doll in my opinion.

I think that the best option by far is to get a Disney Store Elsa doll at its normal, reasonable price. That seems a bit like a fairy tale right now, granted, but the dolls will be re-stocked eventually, and they--just like the DVD, will surely be worth the wait.

Elsa is wearing a large, glittery blue plastic tiara. The tiara is held on with a clear head strap, but is also stapled to her head with plastic ties:

.

Reviews for "Frozen fun with the Elsa doll and her magical movements"

1. Emily - 2 stars - I was really disappointed with the Elsa doll with magical movements. The doll barely moved at all and the movements were not impressive whatsoever. Additionally, the doll's dress kept getting stuck and it was frustrating to try and fix it. Overall, it was not worth the money and I regret purchasing it.

2. Mike - 1 star - The Elsa doll with magical movements was a complete letdown. The movements were so basic and lacked any kind of magic or excitement. The doll also had a very cheap feel to it, and it just didn't live up to the hype. I would not recommend this doll to anyone.

3. Sarah - 2 stars - I purchased the Elsa doll with magical movements for my daughter, but she quickly lost interest in it. The movements were very limited and repetitive, and my daughter got bored with it after playing with it for only a few minutes. It also didn't seem very durable, as parts of the doll started to break off quite easily. Overall, I was not impressed with this doll and wish I had chosen a different one.

4. Tom - 1 star - The Elsa doll with magical movements was a waste of money. The movements were so minimal and hardly noticeable. It seemed like a cheaply made toy that wouldn't last long. My daughter was excited about it at first, but quickly lost interest. I would not recommend this doll to anyone looking for an interactive and engaging toy.

Step into the world of Frozen with the Elsa doll and her magical movements