My faves are Stitch, Dug, Tick Tock Croc, Ratigan, and Joanna from Rescuers Down Under. I'd love to see them all in this hypothetical series, especially the last two - Ratigan only has a few pins, and Joanna has a whopping two. Oh, and Pua from Moana! So adorable and sooo underused in the film. Still not over it. Although tbh, despite being a huge animal lover, a lot of the animal sidekicks really annoy me, like Abu, the mice from Cinderella, and literally any animal character from Tarzan. And don't get me started on the depressing animal-centric films - Bambi, Dumbo, and The Fox and the Hound all traumatized me as a kid! Not to mention the cats almost drowning in Aristocats and the freaking PLANNED SKINNING OF DOGS in 101 Dalmatians (wtf, Disney??)
I love the idea of Heroic Tales, though. They sort of started that with the Love is Strength set from LIAA, and those turned out awesome. I love pins that reference specific scenes instead of generic character poses. Makes me remember why I love Disney movies so much in the first place. These are several personal favorites that I think would make for stunning pins:
- Mulan climbing the pole. I'd also suggest the hair-cutting scene, but I suppose there's already the 30th Anniversary pin for that and it's really beautiful.
- Hercules rescuing Meg's soul. I'd LOVE a pin of him swimming toward her, reaching out for her hand - maybe they could even work in the Fates preparing to cut the string. Such an epic moment!!
- Meg pushing Herc out of the way of the falling column.
- Quasimodo raising Esmeralda above him as he shouts for sanctuary.
- Esmeralda standing up for Quasimodo at the Festival of Fools. Maybe cutting his ropes, or raising her fist when she yells "justice!"
- Belle sacrificing her freedom to save her father.
- Beast saving Belle from the wolves.
- Anna saving Elsa. Would look really cool with the sword shattering against her hand!
Those are just my fave ideas, but there are so many other possibilities! Flynn sacrificing himself by cutting Rapunzel's hair, Pocahontas flinging herself on top of John Smith, Philip and the fairies battling Maleficent's dragon (honestly, the fairies don't get enough credit for their role in that!), Merida in the archery competition, Mufasa saving Simba from the stampede... can I just make this a fantasy series myself??