Review: LEGO 21352 Magic of Disney
4
2023 was a huge year for Disney as they celebrated their 100th anniversary with year-long launches, activities and more.
As part of the #Disney100 celebrations, LEGO Ideas had the opportunity to run the 100 Years of Fairytales challenge that culminated with 2A2A‘s winning entry transformed into 21352 Magic of Disney, a celebration of all things Disney.
21352 Magic of Disney will be released on 1 October 2024 and this is going to be an extremely successful set as it does so many things right, and nails the vibe of the timeless magic enchantment that is Disney.
With 7 mini-vignettes surrounding a large brick-built Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey Mouse, this is a dream set for Disney fans (who love minifigures!), and a great way to cap off Disney’s 100th anniversary.
Let’s dive into my review of 21352 Magic of Disney to experience Disney magic in LEGO form!
Check out the global pricing and regional product pages for links to purchase:
- 21352 Magic of Disney [US] – US$99.99
- 21352 Magic of Disney [AUS] – AU$169.99
- 21352 Magic of Disney [UK] – £89.99
- 21352 Magic of Disney [EU] – €99.99
- 21352 Magic of Disney [CA] – CAD$129.99
Special thanks to LEGO for sending this set over for review.
If you’re planning on purchasing or pre-ordering this set, please consider using the affiliate links in this post. I may earn a small commission with each purchase that helps support the work I do on the blog!
LEGO 21352 Magic of Disney Set Details
21352 Magic of Disney
21352
Magic of Disney
4 (Geppetto, Bruno, Belle, Lilo)
2,193
US$99.99 / AU$69.99 / £89.99 / €99.99 / CAD$129.99
1 October 2024
TBD
Here’s the instructions manual. When you pop open the box, you’ll discover that there are ZERO sticker sheets in the set, which is always an indication of a great experience as all the decorations are printed!
Here’s a look at the instructions manual which contains some fun snippets of information about the fan designer, and influences behind the model.
For reference, here is Anna Chen’s original submission. You can see the choice of vignettes and characters have changed quite a bit compared to the final model, and Mickey also looks different with a closed mouth.
Here’s a look at the minifigures contained in 21352 Magic of Disney. The set comes with 4 minifigures, and 3 animals, Gepetto, Simba, Bruno, Belle, Sebastian, Flounder and Lilo.
All the minifigures are new and so far exclusive to the set, plus Simba makes his debut as a Friends Lion Cub as well. The minifigure selection is great as it expands the LEGO Disney minifigures collection, and Disney Princess fans will be delighted to finally get their hands on a Belle minifigure!
Very excited to finally get a proper Lilo minifigure which will delight fans of Lilo & Stitch. Lilo uses a printed 2×1 brick for the bottom half of her dress to give her a shorter childlike stature. It works quite well here and the prints generally extend well.
Her mischievous alternate face is also incredibly cute!
And here’s a look at her back printing. Shame her skirt piece isn’t printed on both sides..
But it’s been a longtime coming, and it’s taken 8 years since LEGO Disney Minifigures Series 1 for Stitch to finally reunited with Lilo and they look SO good together.
Next up, we have Geppetto from Pinocchio. I wouldn’t say Geppetto is a hugely important Disney character, but with Pinocchio making his debut in 2023’s Disney 100 Minifigures Series, I guess it makes sense to include his dad.
Geppetto’s minifigure looks pretty good, with his kind face and moustache matching his on-screen appearance really well.
Here’s a look at his back print and alternate face which has a worried expression which makes sense as he’s aboard his tiny raft on choppy waters on his vignette.
Next we have Bruno from Encanto. Yes, the guy we don’t talk about, but I’m contractually obligated to mention him as part of this review. This is the first Encanto minifigure we’ve got, and also Bruno’s first LEGO appearance so it’s a bit of an odd inclusion instead of a major character like Mirabel, but eh, Bruno’s cool.
His design is superb, and his green poncho is really striking, and I love the details printed on it.
Here’s a look at his back printing and alternate expression, which has his eyes magically illuminated as he starts seeing visions.
He also comes with a printed 2×1 tile which has a cracked shard of the Madrigal House vision.
And lastly, here’s a look at the long-awaited Belle minifigure, one of the last remaining Disney Princesses that until now, hasn’t had a minifigure variant. The Belle minifigure is definitely the highlight and star of this set, and she looks wonderful with highly detailed prints across her torso, and dress piece.
There’s even printing that extends to the back of her dress piece which is sensational. Oh, and Belle also gets a new wig. We’ve previously had this style in the minidoll version, but that version is made out of soft rubber, whereas this is hard ABS plastic.
And here’s Belle’s alternate face, and a better look at the back printing of her torso. One really amazing detail is how well LEGO has colour matched her skin to her arms/head. Granted its printed on a lighter yellow base, but it looks really good this time, which fills me with hope that LEGO have figured out a solution to the slightly duller printing of skin tones.
And here’s a comparison with the Belle minidoll.
With the Belle minifigure now officially introduced… we finally have a near-complete LEGO Disney Princess collection of minifigures. In fact, there are 12 in this photo which equates to a whole LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series-worth of Princess minifigures!
She’s an excellent and long-awaited addition, especially as she’s one of Disney’s major princesses, alongside Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine, Elsa and Aurora.
Another fun Disney debut is Simba, printed on a Friends Lion Cub mould. It’s a younger version of Simba, with prints on his paws, chest and face, with a cheeky yet confident expression.
It’s quite a rare occurrence for LEGO to include a Friends animal mould in a minifigure-based set, but nevertheless, it’s still great to have a minifigure-scale LEGO Simba. Now, hopefully we get an adult version too, with an epic mane which would be so cool.
And last but not least, we have Flounder and Sebastian. The correct cartoon Flounder and Sebastian, not the weird realistic versions from the live action Little Mermaid set…
Remember these guys?
This is a really solid minifigure lineup, with no repeats and all-new characters introduced which is great as we can now further expand the collection of Disney minifigures.
I hope these won’t be gated and exclusive to this particular set, but Disney minifigures are quite rare themselves, so there’s always a high chance they will be. If you’re a Disney fan, you’ll love the lineup.
Here’s the completed model which has plenty of display presence as there’s so much going on. With Fantasia’s Sorcerer Apprentice Mickey as the centerpiece, he’s surrounded by small vignettes commemorating Disney films through the ages.
It’s a fairly compact and dense build, and the designers have done a fantastic job squeezing in so much detail and still keeping the composition fairly engaging.
There are two main components, the three vignettes at the front are attached to the Mickey section with two Technic pins. The front vignettes do obscure some of the really cool wave and water designs that flank Mickey’s sides.
And here’s how it looks from the back. Let’s take a closer look at each of the vignettes and Disney characters featured!
Encanto (2021)
We start with one of Disney’s modern classics, the Encanto vignette which tells the story of the magical Madrigal family. We have a micro build of the Magical Madrigal House, the intergenerational family home which is really well designed.
Bruno is the lead character here, which I still find slightly odd as a Mirabel minifigure would’ve been so much more exciting. But Bruno (yes from that earworm song) is still well-designed and he comes with a rat.
In Encanto, Bruno is ostracised by his family and is forced into hiding because they didn’t like his “visions”, so being lonely, he struck up a connection with the rats who lived in the walls.
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Next up we have a bona fide Disney classic, Belle from 1991’s Beauty and the Beast. The vignette is simple but contains the most visually interesting elements from the movie, Belle looking at the enchanted rose, housed in a glass dome.
The rose makes use of a relatively new flower element which looks fantastic!
But the most interesting element here is this gorgeous stained glass featuring the LEGO enchanted rose. This printed element is just exquisite, so huge props to the graphic designers who pulled this one off.
The Lion King (1994)
Next we have the Lion King, featuring a very nice looking mini version of Pride Rock, the home of Simba’s pride. The shape looks decently believable, with a spot to place a hugely oversized Simba.
The use of dark tan and tan elements for contrast is done very subtly, and there are also small studs and flower pieces on the ground… which I think may be Lions and Lionesses from Simba’s pride?
Either way, very happy to finally get a minifigure-scale Simba, and see Disney finally embrace the Lion King for their LEGO sets.
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Moving up to more modern Disney, we have Lilo from the delightful Lilo & Stitch surfing on one the waves conjured up by Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey! It’s a really small inclusion, but a really smart way to integrate Lilo into this set, which is just a great excuse to introduce Lilo as a minifigure.
Pinocchio (1940)
Riding on the top of the choppy waves, we also have a small raft with Geppetto onboard. The raft makes use of printed wood plank tiles which looks great.
The build is quite small, but accurately conveys one of the more well-known scenes from Pinocchio and integrates very nicely against the rest of the model.
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Swinging over to the other side of the waves, we have Sebastian and Flounder. They’re really just attached to the waves and don’t have a scene of their own BUT it’s nice of LEGO to include both the OG versions of Flounder and Sebastian, which have only previously appeared in Disney Princess sets that most adult fans might not own.
Fantasia (1940)
And last but not least, we have the centerpiece itself, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey Mouse from Fantasia in 1940. It dwarfs all the other mini builds and it’s a pretty impressive looking brick-built model, with his hands outstretched as if to embrace all the other films and Disney icons.
The face does look a little off, mostly because Mickey has his mouth closed as opposed to the original design, which had a more prominent smiling mouth. That and the the shadows cast by the semi-circle tiles over his printed eyes does make it look quite angry as if he were scowling.
I do like the printed cones used for his Wizard hat, and how uniform and round his ears look.
That said, there are some angles that look better than others. I quite like Mickey.. It looks a little rough around the edges, but at this scale where a limited number of bricks are available, then sculpting and shaping comes pretty close to the real thing, and the ears, wizard’s hat and red robes make for an unmistakable Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
The silhouette also looks pretty good, with Mickey’s outstretched arms making him look animated and dynamic, especially with the waves on each side.
Oh and in case you’re wondering, here’s how the Sorcerer’s Apprentice compared with the minifigure version, which is sadly not included in the set!
And on the side, we have a bunch of enchanted broomsticks carrying buckets of water from Fantasia!
Oh, and there’s actually an 8th movie represented in this set and it’s such a cool Easter Egg left in by the designers. Hidden in the side of Mickey’s body (before you attach the arms), you’ll find this lo-fi 2D image of Woody from Toy Story!
It’s a very clever Easter Egg which pays homage to fan designer Anna Chen’s favourite Disney movie, Toy Story and I love that a Pixar movie made it into the set!
What I liked:
- A wonderful homage to Disney films from different eras
- Great cast of minifigures, especially Belle and Lilo
- Lots of stuff going on and the vignettes provide plenty of visual fun
- Very competitively priced for all the value you get
What I didn’t like:
- Mickey looks odd from certain angles
- There are only 3 full vignettes
- Should’ve used this as an opportunity to re-release older/rarer characters
Final Thoughts
Disney fans are absolutely going to be enchanted by 21352 Magic of Disney and how solid it is as a model that celebrates different eras of Disney.
My favourite thing about the set is that LEGO have kept the price fairly accessible. A licensed Disney set, with 4 new minifigures + Simba, printed elements that looks as good as this feels like LEGO could’ve gotten away with a US$120 pricepoint, but this set feels very fairly priced.
The set with Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey as a centerpiece makes for an eye-catching display model and everywhere you look, there’s something visually engaging and interesting going on. The vignettes especially are like little Disney minifigure habitats and provide neat little “homes” for the hero minifigures.
Belle, Bruno, Geppetto, Lilo and Simba are the big drawcards of the set, and Disney fans will be delighted to get these minifigures, especially Belle to come one step closer to a complete set of Disney Princess minifigures, plus Stitch can finally reunite with Lilo.
There’s so much to like about this set if you’re a Disney fan. It looks great on display, is fun to build, is very colourful and comes with a nice set of minifigures, all for US$100. Oh, and no stickers too.
With this being launched so close to Christmas, and Disney fans absolutely clamouring for more minifigures (instead of minidolls), this one will be an absolute hit and fly off the shelves, so if you want to build this set, I recommend getting it at launch before it inevitably sells out and goes on backorder.
Final Score
Audience rating
21352 Magic of Disney will be released on 1 October 2024 exclusively from LEGO.com or your local LEGO Store.
What do you think of the LEGO Magic of Disney set? Was there a character of vignette you would’ve liked to see included?
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