Jadis the White Witch is the powerful northern sorceress who was responsible for casting Narnia into the 100-year winter, and, in turn, creating that surreal snowscape that I got so eagerly lost in as young reader. I was always captivated by evil queens, especially those that managed to avoid the cliches of black cloaks and evil laughs. I must admit that I haven't seen The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie from 2005 that this figure is based on, but I have read the books, seen at least two British movies/television serials based on the books, and I was even cast in an awkward stage version of it when I was 16. So I have a lot of love for this character, and I have been a huge fan of Tilda Swinton since she first caught my eye in the late nineties. Needless to say I just guilted myself into putting this movie on my netflix queue - hopefully my critique of the movie holds up to my love of this action figure.
This figure was a Disney Store Exclusive in 2005. There was a separate retail line with a smaller scale and much less detail released at the same time, but this exclusive is the only White Witch figure produced aside from a McDonalds toy. This figure is often listed as being produced by Disney, but the back of the packaging clearly lists Hasbro as the manufacturer.
The details and textures are executed very well on this figure. I think they went the extra mile to make this figure really dynamic, since the monochromatic nature of the character could so easily lead to a boring final product.
She comes with an ice sceptre and her fur cloak (made of a soft rubbery plastic) is removable.
She has a very distinct forward slant when viewed from the side without her fur cloak.
Some of my favorite details are the pale purple and blue geometric shapes in the pattern of her dress, the dingy hem of her skirts as they graze along the ground, and the fact that she has wheels on her base (!). I actually looked up youtube clips of her to see if she had a "gliding" scene in the movie which this feature could be attempting to replicate, but I couldn't find anything.
The likeness of Tilda Swinton is very good.
Time for a comparison pic!
Here is the White Witch alongside DC Direct's Hush Catwoman and Mattel's MOTUC Adora.
Cheers!
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