Ever since the days of "Uncle Miltie," television shows have ingrained themselves into popular culture, and I Dream of Jeannie, which debuted in 1965 and ran for five seasons, is no exception. Baby boomers remember watching it in its first run, and Generation X remembers seeing it in reruns, often on the same night as Dallas - "that other" show which starred Larry Hagman. Of course, Larry Hagman was only a part of the show's success: the real appeal of the show was Barbara Eden, who played the genie Jeannie.
The vast majority of the I Dream of Jeannie collectibles over the years have been based on the Jeannie character rather than on the Major Nelson or Major Healey. Even Barbie® has celebrated Jeannie, with a "Barbie as Jeannie" doll in 2001.
Electric Tiki Design is the latest company to create a collectible based on Jeannie, an I Dream of Jeannie maquette which is hand painted cold cast porcelain. A maquette is a small model or statue used by animators for reference, to help maintain consistency for the character or subject they are working on. Electric Tiki was founded by Tracy Lee, who was an animator at Disney for 13 years, so it is a fairly natural step that his company would produce maquettes.
The Jeannie maquette is part of a series of "Tooned-Up Television" maquettes - popular television characters translated into "toon" versions. Other licenses in this series are Bewitched, Married with Children, and the Dukes of Hazzard. Jeannie's sister (who was also named Jeannie) from I Dream of Jeannie will also be made. In addition to the Tooned-Up series, Electric Tiki also plans products based on comic book characters such as Paul Dini's Jingle Belle and Mike Kunkel's Herobear and the Kid, as well as "Teeny Weeny" mini-maquettes of characters from comics such as Richie Rich and Casper.
Including the base, the Jeannie maquette is just under ten inches tall to the top of her pony tail. She is sculpted in the "classic" arms-crossed position, with her sly smile indicating that she is about to grant a wish. Her back is arched to balance her weight, since she has so much hair - the arching positions her head in the center of the piece and prevents her from falling backwards.
The paint application is primarily flat, with sparkly gloss paint in the sections of her outfit where the fabric would be more sheer and flimsy, such as her veil and the harem pants. That paint combination is effective in recreating the visual effects of the weights and textures of the fabric.
Jeannie was designed ("tooned up") by Tracy Lee and sculpted by Jim McPherson. This piece is a limited edition of 1,500 regular editions and 50 artist proof editions. The maquette is packed sturdily inside the box with molded Styrofoam pieces and has a numbered color Certificate of Authenticity. (The bottoms of the maquette and the box are also numbered.)
The Jeannie maquette is available directly from Electric Tiki Design for $99, or from several other online retailers.
