Tag Archives: movies

Disney•Pixar Stamps Continue to Charm

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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

Happy Birthday, Bob Fosse!

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Today we’re celebrating the birthday of choreographer Bob Fosse. Check out this great performance from Fosse’s second film, Cabaret (1972), which starred Liza Minnelli as an American nightclub performer in Berlin when the Nazis come to power.

Cabaret is regarded as a landmark in the history of Hollywood musicals. Fosse was determined to set the action in the “real world” of Berlin in the 1930s, so he eliminated the stage convention in which characters sing in the course of their daily lives; here, the singing is “realistic” and occurs only in the context of the cabaret or beer garden.

The film won eight Oscars, including one for Fosse as best director, in 1973. That same year, he won two Tony awards as best director and best choreographer for the musical Pippin, as well as three Emmy awards for his direction, choreography, and production of the television special Liza With a Z. No other director has won the “Triple Crown” (Oscar, Tony, and Emmy awards) in the same year.

Bob Fosse will be featured on the Innovative Choreographers stamps, which will be issued July 28 in Los Angeles, California. We can’t wait! For more information about the stamps, visit Beyond the Perf.

Summer Shivers with Director Billy Wilder

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It’s Friday. How about some film noir?

This clip is from Double Indemnity (1944), written by director Billy Wilder and author Raymond Chandler. It stars Barbara Stanwyck as a woman who teams up with an insurance agent (played by Fred MacMurray) to murder her husband. The film, considered risky material for its time, set conventions for later noir films and brought Wilder his first Academy Award nomination for best direction.

Billy Wilder, who was born on this day in 1906, is featured on the Great Film Directors stamps, which were issued May 23, 2012, in Silver Spring, MD. For more information about the stamps, visit Beyond the Perf.

Wilder worked successfully in various genres, from the noir of Double Indemnity to the wild farce of Some Like It Hot (1959),and created several of Hollywood’s most unforgettable pictures. Want to see more of his work? You’re in luck because TCM is hosting a birthday tribute tonight! Films include the screwball comedy Ninotchka (1939), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Love in the Afternoon (1957), and The Spirit of St. Louis (1957). Throwing a Billy Wilder theme party? Send us some pictures to uspsstamps [a] gmail [dot] com (they must include the stamp!), and we may feature them here.

Some Like It Hot © 1959 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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

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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

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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.

Disney/Pixar Materials: © Disney•Pixar