Start Your Week With A “Sketchy” Disney•Pixar Contest

Remember last week’s post about the blue-pencil sketches on the back of the Mail a Smile stamp sheet? Well, now’s your chance to show us how well you know the five Disney•Pixar movies featured on the stamps.

Here is the back of the stamp sheet again:

Can you name all the characters shown in the sketches? If so, you could win one set of Mail a Smile postcards, which include the stamp art and five of the sketches.

To enter, send your name and address along with the name of each character and the movie in which he/she/it appears to uspsstamps [at] gmail [dot] com. Three winners will be selected at random from those who answer correctly. You have until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, 9/12 to submit your answers. Good luck!

Disney/Pixar Materials: © Disney•Pixar

Disney•Pixar Stamps Continue to Charm

If our Instagram feed is any indication, you all love the new Mail a Smile stamps. These “cute,” “adorable” stamps are the second in a two-part issuance that began last year with Send a Hello. Both sheets feature favorite characters from Disney•Pixar movies like Finding Nemo, Up, and Toy Story 2. And all of them have helped make mail time the best time of the day!

Most of the pictures of the Mail a Smile stamps that we see on Instagram look a little something like this. (We took this one for you all! )

But have you ever turned the pane over and looked closely at the back?

Those illustrations are actually blue-pencil sketches created by artists at Pixar Animation Studios. Even though Pixar is responsible for almost every major breakthrough in computer animation and continues to reset the bar in technology, the company begins every project the old-fashioned way: with a simple sketch. For Pixar, science inspires art and art challenges science. Both always serve the story; that’s the secret of Pixar’s success.

Want to share the stamps *and* sketches with your friends? The Mail a Smile postcards include both. (Click image to order.)

Come follow USPS Stamps on Instagram and show us your favorite stamps! And if you’re as crazy about Disney•Pixar movies as we are, head over to our newest Pinterest board, The Wonderful World of Disney.

Disney/Pixar Materials: © Disney•Pixar

Experience the Magic of Mail a Smile First Day of Issue Ceremony Again and Again

If you weren’t able to make it to the Mail a Smile (Forever®) First Day of Issue ceremony at Disney World on Friday—or watch it on our live feed—you can catch all the action you missed! Watch the entire dedication and be taken away on a magical journey.

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You can still purchase Mail a Smile , including a standard cancellation with the date and location of the stamp issuance, and  to add to your collection. They make great gifts, too!

Bring Sunshine to Someone’s Mailbox: Mail a Smile Stamps Released Today

Today’s the day, folks! The Mail a Smile (Forever®) stamps are available now! Not at Walt Disney World for the First Day of Issue ceremony? Don’t worry! You can still be part of the fun and excitement by watching a live feed of the entire dedication by following the link.

From ants who march to a different drummer to fish who learn to swim with the flow, from monsters with work challenges to superheroes with identity crises, Pixar’s unique characters have reminded us of our fears and foibles, challenges and victories, and made us laugh while doing so. Now some of those film friends are lifting our spirits once again on stamps that remind us that it’s always a good time to “Mail a Smile.”

Digital Color Postmark Keepsake (click to order)

This pane of 20 stamps includes five different designs featuring Disney•Pixar characters: Flik and Dot from A Bug’s Life (1998); Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) and Dashiell “Dash” Parr from The Incredibles (2004), with “Dash” also shown running in the background; Nemo and Squirt from Finding Nemo (2003); Woody, Bullseye, and Jessie from Toy Story 2 (1999); and Boo, Mike Wazowski, and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan from Monsters, Inc. (2001).

The Mail a Smile stamps are the second in a two-part issuance featuring Disney•Pixar characters. The first issuance, Send a Hello, was released in 2011 and featured characters from Disney•Pixar’s Ratatouille, Cars, Toy Story, WALLE, and Up. A natural outgrowth of the successful Art of Disney stamp series issued between 2004 and 2008, the Send a Hello and Mail a Smile stamps tap the Disney•Pixar characters’ contemporary humor and lively personalities to convey an animated message about the positive impact of communicating by mail in any season and for any reason.

Since 1995, Pixar has won 29 Academy Awards, and its 12 feature films have grossed more than $6.5 billion at the world wide box office to date. Toy Story 3 is one of only three animated features ever nominated for Best Picture. Responsible for almost every major breakthrough in computer animation, Pixar Animation Studios continues to reset the bar in technology with every film—but for Pixar, science inspires art and art challenges science. Both always serve the story; that’s the true secret of their success.

Ceremony Program (click to order)

The Mail a Smile stamps are being issued as Forever® stamps in self-adhesive sheets of 20. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

Disney/Pixar Materials: © Disney•Pixar

The Incredibles Stamps Will Save the Day Tomorrow

The Mail a Smile (Forever®) stamps will be issued tomorrow at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and we can hardly wait! The colorful and fun stamps feature characters from five Disney•Pixar movies, including Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) and Dashiell “Dash” Parr from The Incredibles (2004).

Creating believable muscle movement, skin, and hair in computer animation was widely considered nearly impossible until The Incredibles, the first Pixar film with an all-human cast.

Director Brad Bird wanted protagonist Robert Parr (aka Mr. Incredible) and his friends and family to have a comic-book quality yet still be believable. A computer program that gave an organic inner glow to their skin helped achieve the effect. Inspired by 1960s futuristic architecture and design, more than 100 sets were created for this meticulously detailed world, nearly three times more than any previous Pixar film.

The Incredibles won the Academy Awards for Best Animated Film and Best Sound Editing and swept the Annie Awards with a record-setting 10 wins, including Best Animated Feature.

The First Day of Issue ceremony for the Mail a Smile (Forever®) stamps will begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Will you be joining us?

Disney/Pixar Materials: © Disney•Pixar