Long ago (well, last week to be exact), my glorious quest to find all the best exclusive merch at the 2019 D23 Expo was coming to an end...and what an amazing journey 'twas! I can attest that there is still plenty of magic in the world, as I experienced it firsthand.
Some of the coolest treasures I accumulated weren't even things I paid for, but rather freebies given out at panels and booths! Like this Onward pin for instance (inspired by the already iconic "Guinevere" van from the film), which was given to fans who took a picture with the real life replica van that was parked at the Pixar booth and shared the photo on social media using the hashtag #PixarOnward. Such a cool exclusive that I'm grateful to have! The pin is an awesome sparkly purple color and measures about 1.5" in size.
Check out my detailed photos of the full scale, working van replica below. This thing was like it drove right out of the movie screen and onto the expo floor!
Some of my favorite details are the mix tapes (very 80's inspired) that can be seen on top of the dash through the windshield and the "New Mushroomton" (which is the main characters' town as seen in the film's teaser trailer) GWNIVER license plate.
FUN FACT: This "real life Guinevere" project was lead by none other than Pixar Creative Director Jay Ward. Because he's the resident car guy there at the studio (many of you may know his name from his work on the Cars franchise), he took the lead on getting the van built—this meant finding the right donor vehicle, overseeing the shop crew who was doing the work and granting creative approvals along the way. Can we just go ahead and give him and the team a huge round of applause? Every single square inch of this replica is movie accurate thanks to Jay's incredible attention to detail.
I'm so thankful that me and some friends were able to spend quite a bit of time with Jay over the weekend last week.
Lastly, now that I'm home, I remembered to take a picture of back of the pin as well. It reads: Disney·Pixar Onward, D23 Expo 2019, Disney/Pixar, Made in China.
What do you think of this pin and the van design? How about that replica? Are you excited for Onward? Having seen about 12 minutes of the film (an eight minute clip and a four minute clip there at the expo), I can tell you that it should be a great film with a touching story, signature Pixar humor, stunning animation, clever world-building details and all the heart you'd expect.
Let me know your thoughts down in the comments! If you're interested in snagging one of these pins for your collection, be sure to check out this direct link to current eBay listings.
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