This year, Citizen is releasing 14 new Disney-inspired watches, with a new drop each month, on its website in honor of the Walt Disney Company’s 100th anniversary.
New York—The Walt Disney Company is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and Citizen is joining in on the festivities with a new, year-long campaign.
In January, Citizen started releasing new Disney-inspired watches on its website, accompanied by the story and inspiration behind its design as well as character trivia.
The character line-up includes Disney icons like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck as well as Marvel and Star Wars characters, which also fall under the Disney umbrella.
The watches in the “Disney100 Collection by Citizen” are all powered by Eco-Drive, said Citizen, its proprietary technology that uses the power of natural and artificial light rather than a battery.
Each of the 14 watches will celebrate a decade of Disney, from the 1920s to present day.
More information about each watch, including pricing, will be available as the watches debut.
Take a look through the Disney100 Collection by Citizen below.
1920s: The Disney100 Steamboat Willie Watch
The special edition Disney100 Steamboat Willie watch ($250) alongside a collectible pin
The special edition Disney100 Steamboat Willie watch honors the 1928 cartoon short, which was the first of its kind to have synchronized sound, said Citizen.
The 40 mm watch has a silver-tone stainless steel case and gold-tone accents and markers, a Disney100 caseback, and a black crocodile-embossed leather strap.
The box set, priced at $250, includes a matching collectible pin.
1930s: The Donald Duck Watch
The design of the new Disney Donald Duck watch ($350) was inspired by a cartoon short called “Sea Scouts.”
Donald Duck made his debut in 1934 in the cartoon shorts “Silly Symphony” and “The Wise Little Hen.”
The new Disney Donald Duck watch shows the character trying to escape a shark, a callback to a short called “Sea Scouts,” said designer Jeff Shelley.
“Donald Duck is a favorite to work on because he has so many different moods that are always fun to draw, especially the early 1930s Donald Duck. When I saw the blue watch dial, my brain said, ‘do something nautical’ and immediately came up with the shark theme,” he said.
The 42 mm watch, priced at $350, has a tone-on-tone navy blue dial with a navy blue leather strap and contrasting yellow stitching with a silver-tone stainless steel case. The shark and indices glow in the dark. The nautical-themed watch is also water resistant to 100 meters.
1940s: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey Watch
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey Watch ($350) celebrates his magical character in the 1940 film “Fantasia.”
The classic animated film “Fantasia” was released in 1940, a “technical marvel” of its time, said Citizen. Theaters had to be equipped with special sound systems to play the movie.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey Watch, priced at $350, celebrates Mickey’s character, showcasing him casting a spell to turn the dial’s markers from Arabic to Roman numerals.
It features a 40 mm gold-tone finished bezel with a matching stainless-steel bracelet and a gold-tone crown.
1950s: The Disney Mickey Mouse Fan Club Watch
The Disney Mickey Mouse Fan Club watch was inspired by the original “The Mickey Mouse Club” TV show, which premiered in 1954.
The original “The Mickey Mouse Club” premiered in 1954 and became one of the decade’s most popular children’s television shows.
The special edition Disney Mickey Mouse Fan Club watch is an homage to the show, featuring a vintage television with the show’s original logo and the date window in the channel space, topped with a pair of Mickey Mouse ears.
The 42 mm watch has a gray leather strap and an engraved Disney100 caseback and is water resistant to 100 meters. The box set includes a collectible pin.
1960s: The Disney Mickey Mouse Aviator Watch
The Disney Mickey Mouse Aviator Watch features the iconic character in a vintage airplane.
The Disney Mickey Mouse Aviator Watch celebrates the vintage Mickey Mouse design of the era.
The 40 mm watch has a tan leather strap with ivory topstitch and rivets with a stainless steel case and an ivory dial, featuring Mickey Mouse flying a vintage airplane. The plane’s propeller is the sub second hand.
1970s: The Luke Skywalker Watch
The Luke Skywalker watch features notable elements from the Star Wars franchise, like an X-wing starfighter and a hyperdrive.
The first Star Wars movie debuted in 1977, kicking off decades of films and fandom.
The Luke Skywalker watch features a 44 mm blue dial and bezel and a brown leather strap and is water resistant to 100 meters. The caseback reads, “The Force is strong with this one.”
Fans of the saga will also notice an X-wing starfighter, a hyperdrive and a nod to the light versus dark duel scene between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, all of which are luminous. The pushers are the colors of the light-side lightsabers.
1980s: The Darth Vader Watch and the Disney Mickey Mouse Astronaut Watch
The 1980s watches are space-themed, including the Darth Vader watch and the Disney Mickey Mouse Astronaut watch.
The two 1980s watches are all about space, a nod to the Space Race of the decade.
While the 1970s Star Wars watch was all about Luke Skywaker, the 1980s watch crosses over to the dark side, highlighting the infamous Darth Vader.
The 44 mm Darth Vader watch features a signature black IP case with red markers, luminous details, and sub-dial art. The caseback reads, “Come to the Dark Side.”
Continuing with the space theme, the 42 mm Disney Mickey Mouse Astronaut watch has a silver-tone stainless steel case and bracelet, black and red bezel and luminous details.
1990s: Ariel and Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” Watches
Ariel and Ursula of “The Little Mermaid” inspired these two nautical watches.
“The Little Mermaid” debuted in theaters in November 1989, growing in popularity in the 1990s. It was the first Disney animated film to be based on a classic fairy tale in three decades, said Citizen, inspired by the original story by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.
To commemorate the film, Citizen reimagined its Ariel and Ursula watches, creating new box sets with collectible pins.
The Ursula watch dial features her silhouette alongside a conch shell with crystal “sound bubbles,” a callback to her stealing Ariel’s voice in the film. There are teardrop-shaped crystal settings at 3, 9, and 12.
The caseback has a notable Ursula movie quote, which reads, “You got it sweetcakes. No more talking, singing, zip.”
The Ariel watch takes inspiration from the sea, featuring an illustration of the mermaid diving. The markers are a wreath of music notes to represent Ariel’s voice. The caseback reads, “Making waves my way.”
2000s: The Disney Mickey Mouse Classic Watch
Illustrator Jeff Shelley was inspired by the 2000s-era Mickey Mouse and an older 1936 design for the Disney Mickey Mouse Classic watch.
The “Mickey Mouse Works” children’s show ran from 1999 to 2000, and helped to establish the character’s modern look, said illustrator Shelly.
For this watch, Shelly said he took inspiration from Mickey’s new millennium look as well as an old-school design from the 1936 short “Thru the Mirror.”
The Disney Mickey Mouse Classic watch is a 36 mm gold-tone stainless steel watch with a silver white dial, featuring an illustration of Mickey Mouse with a flower bouquet.
2010s: The Spider-Man Watch and the Disney Frozen Watch
For the 2010s, Citizen created watches for two of the decades’ biggest film series, Spider-Man and Frozen.
Spider-Man made his comic book debut in 1962, but the 2010s was when he crawled across the silver screen in a series of movies.
The new Spider-Man watch has a stainless-steel case and bracelet with a 43 mm dial decorated with a spiderweb and other luminous markers. The caseback features a Spider-Man mask.
Also in the 2010s, the nearly instant hit “Frozen” debuted in 2013 and became one of the highest-grossing animated feature films ever.
The new Frozen watch pays tribute to character Elsa’s ice palace with cool blue tones and snowflakes. Ice crystals mark each hour and the caseback reads “Queen of Snow.”
2020s: The Disney100 Mickey Mouse Fanfare Watch
The Mickey Mouse Fanfare Watch features an Art Deco style that harkens back to the company’s founding in the 1920s.
The last watch of the Disney100 collection is inspired by the hidden images of Mickey Mouse all over any Disney theme park, which super fans know as the “Hidden Mickeys.” The parks will also be celebrating the company’s 100th anniversary throughout the year.
The special edition 40 mm Mickey Mouse Fanfare watch has a gold-tone stainless steel case with a brown textured leather strap and features Mickey in a top hat on the dial. Along the outer border of the dial are hidden Mickeys in a 1920s Art Deco style. It also comes with a collectible pin.
Citizen and Disney have worked together since 2018, with Citizen serving as the official timepiece of the Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort as well as the runDisney Races and the Countdown to D23 Expo in 2022.
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