Disney Is Sitting on a $500 Million Property That Few in America Know Exists

Exit through the gift shop. It’s the perfect combination of attraction and marketing. You have no choice but to walk through the gift shop, and perhaps something will catch your little kiddo’s eye, and before you know it, you’ve just dropped $40 on a stuffed animal that will be in the back of the closet by month’s end. It is the genius of Walt Disney Company marketing and the agony of being a parent on a trip to a Disney theme park.

Disney has plenty of marketable properties to sell to the consumer, starting with Mickey Mouse. One would imagine that Walt Disney’s creation that started it all would be the best-selling piece of merchandise at Disney parks. Who doesn’t want to leave Walt Disney World with a stuffed Mickey? Or maybe pick up a shirt with your favorite Star Wars or Marvel character on it. But despite having some of the most recognizable properties in the world, one of the best-selling Disney souvenirs is something that most of us wouldn’t even recognize.

Fortune Magazine reports that Duffy Bear is one of Disney’s best-selling pieces of merchandise, netting the company more than $500 million in annual sales. Duffy isn’t relatively well known in the United States, but in Disney’s Asian theme parks, the bear routinely sells out.

Duffy was created in 2002 by Disney Imagineers, who originally sold the bear in Central Florida’s Once Upon a Toy store. But Duffy never caught on with the American market. But when the product went to Asia, Duffy became a huge hit. It was first brought to Disney’s TokyoSea Resort and immediately sold out. Customers routinely purchase two or three bears at a time.

The popularity of Duffy spread to Disney’s Tokyo Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, and eventually Shanghai Disneyland. The Duffy trend has even spread to Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii. Despite the international success, Duffy is not as famous at Disneyland in California or the Walt Disney World Resort in Central Florida.

Duffy’s is Mickey Mouse’s teddy bear. His backstory is that Minnie Mouse created him for Sailor Mickey to keep him company on a long voyage from Cape Cod. But since that origin story, Duffy has taken his own life. Disney Imagineers created new sidekicks for Duffy, even though he has yet to appear in a single movie or television show. However, he does have his show and dinner at Tokyo Disneyland and a festival at Shanghai Disneyland.

But Duffy’s merchandise sales may be about to take off in America. Duffy and his friends are slated for a six-episode animated series on Disney Plus for next year.

With his popularity in Asia, another continent may be about to fall in love with Duffy, the Disney bear. Disneyland and Disney World guests are about to see what the world already knows: Duffy the Disney Bear is a hit.

We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.