children | USPS Stamp of Approval

Today is Video Game Day, and while it may not be a Federal holiday, it’s definitely something we’re going to celebrate. Believe it or not, the U.S. Postal Service has showcased video games before. In 2000, a Video Games stamp was part of the 1980s stamp pane in the Celebrate the Century series. What game do you think the two kids on the stamp are playing?

While you mull it over, here are our top five favorite video games from the late 1980s and 1990s.

5. Tetris (1989)
There’s no better word to describe this puzzle game than “addictive.” The 1989 version, available for Game Boy, was endlessly entertaining. Subsequent versions are just as good.

4. Super Mario Kart (1992)
Twenty years after it was released, this simple and fast-paced Super Nintendo game is still fun. (If anybody out there still has a Super Nintendo, please let us know. We’d like to play Mario Kart right now!)

3. Madden NFL 97 (1996)
Back then, no sports game felt more realistic.

2. Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990)
Kids across the country spent way too many hours trying to beat this Nintendo game. Were you able to do it?

1. Tecmo Super Bowl (1991)
The first truly great sports game. It featured real NFL teams and players and caused players to mash the buttons on their Nintendo controllers until their fingers hurt.

Don’t see your favorites? Let us know what your top five list looks like in the comments section.

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, WALL•E, 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.

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?

On this day in 2009, Disney•Pixar’s 10th feature film, Up, opened, and introduced Carl Fredricksen, a curmudgeonly former balloon salesman, to the world. At age 78, Carl finally fulfills his lifelong dream by tying thousands of balloons to his house to fly away to the wilds of South America. But when he finds himself on his great adventure with an overly-enthusiastic eight-year-old named Russell, a talking dog named Dug, and a 13-foot-tall rare flightless bird, Carl discovers that life’s true adventure can be found not in travel or great accomplishments, but in small, everyday moments with family and friends.

The film garnered five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, winning for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score. Up was only the second animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture in the Academy’s history.

The Up (Forever®) stamp was part of the 2011 Send a Hello issuance, which also featured characters from Disney•Pixar films Cars, Ratatouille, Toy Story, and WALL•E. These fun, lovable stamps are still available for purchase!

Don’t forget, stamp fans! The new Mail a Smile (Forever®) stamps—the second issuance in a two-part series of fun Disney•Pixar characters—will be issued in one week, on June 1!

The Mail a Smile stamps feature beloved characters from five Disney•Pixar movies: A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), and The Incredibles (2004).

This stamp pane is a follow-up to Send a Hello (which are still available!), a 2011 issuance featuring Disney•Pixar characters that grew out of the Art of Disney series issued from 2004 through 2008.

These fun, lively stamps are a great way to brighten up anyone’s mailbox and put a smile on a loved one’s face!

The First Day of Issue ceremony will be held at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Will you be joining us? In the mean time, you can pre-order your Mail a Smile stamps today!

USPS Stamp of Approval

Tag Archives: children

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