Duffy the Disney Bear (ダッフィー) is a Disney Parks character developed for merchandise, live entertainment and meet-and-greets. The character is especially popular in Disney's Asian theme parks — Tokyo Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland — and can also be found at Disneyland Paris and the Aulani resort, as well as the Disney Cruise Line. The character has struggled to find an audience at the American parks Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney World. Duffy's design has two connections to Mickey Mouse: the light area on his face is shaped like a "Hidden Mickey", and there is a Mickey birthmark on his hip. Duffy is unique among Disney characters in that he did not appear in a Disney movie or TV show before being featured in the parks. Related characters have been introduced in the parks, expanding into a merchandise line called "Duffy and Friends", which includes ShellieMay, Gelatoni, StellaLou, CookieAnn, 'Olu Mel and LinaBell. The franchise is Disney's best-selling line in Asia, with sales topping $500 million in 2023. LinaBell, a pink fox introduced at Shanghai Disneyland in 2021, is especially popular in China.

History

The "Disney Bear" was originally created in 2002 as a unique product for the opening of Once Upon a Toy, a merchandise store in Walt Disney World's Disney Springs shopping area. It was not particularly popular at the time. With the Oriental Land Company executives looking for fresh ideas for the Tokyo Disney Resort in 2004, the company adopted the character, giving him a name, a sailor suit and a backstory. According to the new story, Minnie Mouse gave Mickey a teddy bear to keep him company when he's traveling; Mickey named the toy "Duffy" because Minnie gave it to him in a duffle bag. The Oriental Land Company aggressively marketed Duffy in the Tokyo DisneySea park, and he was added as a walk-around character in 2005. As Duffy's popularity grew, executives started to retheme the Old Cape Cod area at Tokyo DisneySea to add Duffy, which included changing the show "Donald's Boat Builders" at the Cape Cod Cook-Off Theatre to "My Friend Duffy", which tells the story of how Duffy comes to life. Due to Duffy's popularity amongst Japanese fans, limits were set on the number of Duffy items a guest could buy. People lined up at stores for any new costume release. Duffy was introduced at the American Disney parks on October 14, 2010. He then joined Hong Kong Disneyland Resort on November 19, 2010. In 2012, he appeared in Disneyland Paris. Capitalizing on Duffy's success at Tokyo DisneySea, the park began introducing new characters. On January 22, 2010, a female bear named ShellieMay debuted in the park as Duffy's friend. On June 30, 2014, they introduced Gelatoni the Cat. StellaLou the Bunny was introduced on March 23, 2017, as part of the Easter celebration. The next three friends debuted at other Disney parks and resorts. On April 30, 2018, Hong Kong Disneyland debuted CookieAnn the Dog. 'Olu Mel the Turtle was introduced at Aulani on July 17, 2018. On September 29, 2021, LinaBell the fox was introduced in Shanghai, as part of the park's 5th anniversary celebrations.

Duffy's friends

All characters in Duffy and Friends are plush toys but come to life in Mickey's imagination.

Park attractions

Online appearances

On June 30, 2020, the Disney Parks posted on YouTube a stop motion short called "Morning Glories" featuring Duffy and Friends. In 2021, another stop motion short called "Spring Surprise" was released.